• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Current Best Selling VR Games Of All Time Thread [Updated]

(Thread to be updated as sales are revealed/leaked/announced)

As we all know, the new generation of VR has been around proper since about 2015 in terms of trying to seriously engage the market, and while between 6-7 million Gears sold, 5 million PSVR1's, sold, over 15 maybe near 20 million Quest 2's shipped, and everything in between, there has been a major question regarding software.

How has VR software been doing during this entire time? This thread will list the Diamond million selling VR games that have been announced so far. This will give people perspective on how software in the VR market is doing, and what people are buying or not buying. Here is the current list below in order of sales based on the most recent data(not final),

  1. Gorilla Tag VR - 5 million "players" (as of Dec 2022)
  2. Beat Saber - Over 4 million copies (as of Feb 2021)
  3. Super Hot VR - 2 million copies
  4. *Half-life Alyx - ~2 million (*Unconfirmed Also free with Vive, Vive Controllers, or select HTC headsets)
  5. Rec Room - 2 million ("Unique users")
  6. Resident Evil 7 VR - 1.17 million "users" (PSVR1, Capcom does not define "users" however over 1 million claimed.)
  7. Job Simulator - 1 million copies
  8. Among Us VR - 1 million copies (within first 3 months released Nov 2022)
  9. CREED Rise to Glory - 1 million copies
  10. Gorn - 1 million copies
  11. Moss - 1 million copies
  12. Skyrim VR - ~1 million copies
  13. The Wizards VR (entire franchise) - 200k
  14. Space Pirate Trainer - 150k
  15. Boneworks - 100k (First week, no reports after)
  16. Deisim: VR god simulator - 30k

Many of the games listed reached their sales goals over a period of time, meaning that their sales are pretty much done. Though more recent releases like Beat Saber are excluded from that having sold over 4 million as of 2021, so by now it may be over 5 million or more but Facebook is keeping quiet on that for now. It is currently the best selling game in VR.

There's one PSVR1 exclusive on here, Resident Evil 7 VR. Although while it's not clear what constitutes "users" in this case, Resident Evil 7 reached this milestone on PSVR1 in January 19th 2021. While we don't know if it's the best selling PSVR1 game compared to games like Beats Saber or other cross-platforms, I would say it's likely its at minimum second, and clearly the best selling exclusive. This may give us a preview of how Resident Evil Village may perform although things are different now compared to when RE7 VR first released in the VR market, so time will tell.

RE7 was actually on the quest as well, and it seems that contributed to its user count. We had some games sell well frontloaded like Space Pirate and Boneworks but then they crashed and burned. Rec Room uses "unique" users which may or may not translate to real sales, but it had an active presence for the time, but then players kind of stopped using it.

Gorn and Moss both sold 1 million, and both have sequels coming. It will be interesting to see how well those end up doing.

Skyrim was close to 1 million at the time of that article, but people have been buying Skyrim VR since then so I think it's safe to say it crossed over that threshold at least.

The newest entrant is Among US VR. It launched just in November and sold over 1 million within 3 months from launch. 2nd fastest selling VR games. The question is is it frontloaded or will it keep up momentum and be the next 2 million seller since SuperHot VR?

Anyway, these sales might seem low based on the amount of hardware sold over the years, and if you think that you would be correct. Software does need some work in the VR market. It's been ~8years since 2015 and we are seeing improvement. This year is going to have several new VR headsets releasing and there will be a push in software to entice consumers to buy one headset over another, so this may be a good year to see if software will finally start taking off.
 
Last edited:

nial

Gold Member
I wonder if Sony will ever reveal the sales of its PSVR software? PlayStation VR Worlds, for example, sold around 200k physical copies in Japan, so I'm guessing it hit +1 (or 2?) million copies worldwide (including digital).
 
I wonder if Sony will ever reveal the sales of its PSVR software? PlayStation VR Worlds, for example, sold around 200k physical copies in Japan, so I'm guessing it hit +1 (or 2?) million copies worldwide (including digital).

You're being optimistic about VR Worlds sales.

This list is terrifying. If you adjust the pacing from 10 years to a typical console cycle of 5, this is worse software sales than the Jaguar alligned.
 

Freeman76

Member
Jesus, easy to see why most VR games are 3 hour demo type experiences. Hard to imagine a company spending a huge budget on a full length AAA game that will only sell a million or so.

Seems like a hybrid style where VR is an option is the way forward.
 

nial

Gold Member
You're being optimistic about VR Worlds sales.
Nah, it's been one of the most popular games on the platform alongside stuff like Beat Saber, so I could imagine it actually sold well. Maybe not 2m, but 1m? I don't doubt it.
 

Fredrik

Member
Jesus, easy to see why most VR games are 3 hour demo type experiences. Hard to imagine a company spending a huge budget on a full length AAA game that will only sell a million or so.

Seems like a hybrid style where VR is an option is the way forward.
It’s a hen and egg scenario.
What comes first :
Millions of people buying VR headsets to play awesome full length AAA games
or
Devs making awesome full length AAA games to get millions of people to buy VR headsets
?

Tragic numbers anyhow.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
It’s a hen and egg scenario.
What comes first :
Millions of people buying VR headsets to play awesome full length AAA games
or
Devs making awesome full length AAA games to get millions of people to buy VR headsets
?

Tragic numbers anyhow.
The only way to bridge the gap is with more crossover games like RE7/8. I think Sony is in the best position to make that happen with PSVR2.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It tells us we don’t have the official sales number?

Just the announcement of half life Alyx is responsible for like a million index sales

Steamspy has it at 2-5M

https://steamspy.com/app/546560
Going by the stats, only about 700 people play concurrent at any given time now, and the average play time per owner is only 11 minutes. The median time played is just under 8 minutes. In the last two weeks, the average play time per user is less than one minute.

By the looks of it, either HL Alyx is a super short demo, or it's a game with some decent game length, but most players bail after only 11 minutes.

Most gamers would spend more time fiddling with editing lines and GM options playing a FIFA game for the first time.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I'm glad VR is still being pushed. It's the future.
When Job Simulator is one of the best selling games (and at only 1M too), it goes to show the state of VR gaming. Junk.

I took my nieces to a VR gaming store (it was like a Dave & Busters kind of place with food, arcade games and VR booths). We played a bunch of games. I tested Creed and also Job Simulator. Job Sim was me working at a variety store grabbing stuff and looking around. My 12 year old niece tried Job Sim too. Both of us thought it was awful. Only I played Creed. Shit game too.
 
Last edited:

FalsettoVibe

Gold Member
When Job Simulator is one of the best selling games (and at only 1M too), it goes to show the state of VR gaming. Junk.

I took my nieces to a VR gaming store (it was like a Dave & Busters kind of place with food, arcade games and VR booths). We played a bunch of games. I tested Creed and also Job Simulator. Job Sim was me working at a variety store grabbing stuff and looking around. My 12 year old niece tried Job Sim too. Both of us thought it was awful. Only I played Creed. Shit game too.

That's your experience and you're entitled to your opinion. I love VR and have friends that love it as well. I simply hope PSVR 2 and future headsets push the tech forward even further.
 
Last edited:

Crayon

Member
Really hope quest 3 can push up the baseline significantly. Graphics on quest 2 are already surprisingly good for what it is. Everyone is hoping for aaa games on pc and ps, and I think some will finally come. Hell, 3 just came in one day. But as we can see from these numbers, reaching the maximum players is very important right now. Hopefully q3 will be strong enough that games can look a full rung up from q2, and scale up higher on the pc and ps5, even if they don't use the maximum potential.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Jesus, easy to see why most VR games are 3 hour demo type experiences. Hard to imagine a company spending a huge budget on a full length AAA game that will only sell a million or so.

Seems like a hybrid style where VR is an option is the way forward.

Hybrid was always the best way forward for most VR games. Sony been realized this. And so did Capcom.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Really hope quest 3 can push up the baseline significantly. Graphics on quest 2 are already surprisingly good for what it is. Everyone is hoping for aaa games on pc and ps, and I think some will finally come. Hell, 3 just came in one day. But as we can see from these numbers, reaching the maximum players is very important right now. Hopefully q3 will be strong enough that games can look a full rung up from q2, and scale up higher on the pc and ps5, even if they don't use the maximum potential.

Isn't Quest 3 supposed to be only a 50% bump in power vs. Quest 2. Which isn't really that big.
 

Crayon

Member
Isn't Quest 3 supposed to be only a 50% bump in power vs. Quest 2. Which isn't really that big.

Oh that sucks. And no eye tracking to help. Okay then there will continue to be a mobile baseline and we'll be left hoping sony subsidizes big ones. Valve should get on that train too. If they want vr to grow then subsidizing vr modes like in re8 (I assume sony paid up for capcom to do it. It's exclusive, after all) is more effective than releasing a single thing like alyx. They have less incentive to, tho.
 

FunkMiller

Member
It’s a hen and egg scenario.
What comes first :
Millions of people buying VR headsets to play awesome full length AAA games
or
Devs making awesome full length AAA games to get millions of people to buy VR headsets
?

Tragic numbers anyhow.

Things will speed up when the size and the cost of the headsets come down. Which they will. Eventually. There's enough of a market to justify the R&D.

Hit the sweet spot of something the size of a pair of glasses that's wireless and comes in under $300 and you're looking at Wii numbers. It's a ways off, but it'll happen. Seven or eight years by my best guess.

Right now though? Too fucking clunky, too fucking expensive, and not enough decent, full length games.
 
Last edited:

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
When Job Simulator is one of the best selling games (and at only 1M too), it goes to show the state of VR gaming. Junk.

I took my nieces to a VR gaming store (it was like a Dave & Busters kind of place with food, arcade games and VR booths). We played a bunch of games. I tested Creed and also Job Simulator. Job Sim was me working at a variety store grabbing stuff and looking around. My 12 year old niece tried Job Sim too. Both of us thought it was awful. Only I played Creed. Shit game too.

Going by the stats, only about 700 people play concurrent at any given time now, and the average play time per owner is only 11 minutes. The median time played is just under 8 minutes. In the last two weeks, the average play time per user is less than one minute.

By the looks of it, either HL Alyx is a super short demo, or it's a game with some decent game length, but most players bail after only 11 minutes.

Most gamers would spend more time fiddling with editing lines and GM options playing a FIFA game for the first time.
Glad that you and your niece can provide us with the lowdown on the state of VR gaming after your afternoon trip to a low rent Dave and Busters.
Also glad we have your great insight on the playtime figures of Alyx. Here I was thinking that the average playtime was 11 hours but thankfully you were here with your unbiased opinion and were able to show me those figures were minutes and seconds.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Things will speed up when the size and the cost of the headsets come down. Which they will. Eventually. There's enough of a market to justify the R&D.

Hit the sweet spot of something the size of a pair of glasses that's wireless and comes in under $300 and you're looking at Wii numbers. It's a ways off, but it'll happen. Seven or eight years by my best guess.

Right now though? Too fucking clunky, too fucking expensive, and not enough decent, full length games.
$300 is a stretch IMO.

Kinect and Move were around $100-150 worth of parts and sales topped out. I know VR is a different kind of experience, but game wise not that much different as they are mostly demo/indie quality games for $20 or $30.

If good sleek VR sets can come out for $100, sales will zoom up the charts but only so much. There's lots of people who dont want to game with a brick on their face no matter what price. Even worse for games where people like to do marathon sessions like shooters or sports or RPGs. That's why most of the games are meant to be played in short sessions, not for gamers to spend a lazy afternoon playing for 6 hours straight like a COD or Fortnite gamer might.

If Bethesda announced a full budget ES6 VR Edition for $30, I'd skip it. I'd prefer to pay normal price for the traditional gamepad game.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It’s a hen and egg scenario.
What comes first :
Millions of people buying VR headsets to play awesome full length AAA games
or
Devs making awesome full length AAA games to get millions of people to buy VR headsets
?

Tragic numbers anyhow.
Since VR sets are an additional cost to a console or PC rig, most gamers tempted to buy VR will either wait for the price to come down or until meatier games are released. So right now, were in #1. Devs wont follow until VR unit sales and game sales show its worth doing. When Beat Saber is the best selling game at 4M and a slew of other cheap games are around 1M copies, the gamer interest isnt there. The outlier seems to be HL Alyx.

VR has been around for probably 10 years. Oculus came out 10 years ago and PSVR came out 6.5 years ago. Thats plenty of time to make bigger budget games. Over that time, there's shit loads of VR games made and most of them are dirt cheap. I dont think there are too many $60 or $70 VR games killing a gamer's wallet.

IMO the best way to increase VR set sales are 1. Make them way cheaper. 2. Make full budget games as normal, and include a good VR mode into them. Kill two birds with one stone - traditional gamepad gamers and VR gamers. Sort of like GT7 which can do both.


The internal documents reportedly show that Quest retention rates are also struggling, with overall decline in the past three years. Over 50% of Quest headsets are no longer used six months after they are purchased.
So despite tons of cheaply priced games to try, a good chunk of VR users quit after 6 months.
 

Fredrik

Member
Right now though? Too fucking clunky, too fucking expensive, and not enough decent, full length games.
Yeah, PSVR2 is sold at $700 here in Sweden. That’s nearly 2x what Quest 2 used to cost. And then you need a PS5 too, which is also $700 now.

So $1400 total if someone get tempted to experience GT7 in VR after Linus and DF John and NX etc has called it a system seller.

It’s obviously too much.

The vast majority of those who will jump in are those who already have a PS5, but then it’s still a $700 niche accessory for mostly smaller games.

I’m not going to outright say it’ll bomb but my highly uneducated guess is that within 1 year most who bought it will only use it occasionally.


And now that Quest 2 has gone up in price as well ($500) and it’s getting old hardware wise I don’t see it keep on selling much either.


And if Meta can somehow push out a powerful and lightweight Quest 3 for $300 it’ll still face the same software related problems as every other VR headset out there.
IMO the best way to increase VR set sales are 1. Make them way cheaper. 2. Make full budget games as normal, and include a good VR mode into them. Kill two birds with one stone - traditional gamepad gamers and VR gamers. Sort of like GT7 which can do both.
Yeah. Plus, they can’t have walls up that prevent the consumer to use it on whatever box they have available.

Seriously, walls needs to come down, publishers needs to drop the walled garden strategy and work together to gather up whatever big games that gets made so the small group of gamers already interested in VR can jump in and play them all without having to juggle multiple headsets.

Multiplats, multiplats, multiplats. Consoles, PCs, Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android.

Boast about how many platforms that are supported instead of boasting about having 5 exclusive games for your walled garden.

And the headsets needs to be capable of wireless streamed VR from all supported platforms.

Then things could possibly change.
 

Robb

Gold Member
That’s a sad list for sure, but not unexpected

A bit surprised not to see Half-Life: Alyx on there though. They really should make a non-VR version of that game so people can actually play it.
 

Fredrik

Member
That’s a sad list for sure, but not unexpected

A bit surprised not to see Half-Life: Alyx on there though. They really should make a non-VR version of that game so people can actually play it.
How about making a AAAA Half life 3 exclusively for VR instead to kickstart the VR industry?
 

Robb

Gold Member
How about making a AAAA Half life 3 exclusively for VR instead to kickstart the VR industry?
Sure, but if HL:A didn’t even get the motor running and sold less than 1M I don’t think that’ll be considered a worthwhile investment.
 

Fredrik

Member
Sure, but if HL:A didn’t even get the motor running and sold less than 1M I don’t think that’ll be considered a worthwhile investment.
It wasn’t Half-Life 3. No surprise for me. I doubt Horizon Call of the Mountain will get the motor running for PSVR2 for the same reason. What people want is the real deal, no side crap. A full scale big budget Half-Life 3 which is highly anticipated by the whole industry would be the perfect test to see if VR will ever fly.
 

Robb

Gold Member
It wasn’t Half-Life 3. No surprise for me. I doubt Horizon Call of the Mountain will get the motor running for PSVR2 for the same reason. What people want is the real deal, no side crap. A full scale big budget Half-Life 3 which is highly anticipated by the whole industry would be the perfect test to see if VR will ever fly.
I guess. It’s still a continuation of the mainline games though and is structured/plays like the mainline games. If Alyx didn’t do much I don’t think HL3 would do much either if you lock it to VR.

I don’t think Horizon is comparable since it doesn’t play anything like a mainline Horizon game and isn’t positioned as a sequel to Forbidden West, it’s basically a climbing sim with a Horizon skin.
 
Last edited:

Crayon

Member
Isn't Quest 3 supposed to be only a 50% bump in power vs. Quest 2. Which isn't really that big.

I looked it up and I don't think this is true. I'm seeing rumors say XR3 chip and guessing 2.5x more power. Saw 2.4tf mentioned. That is pretty good. A ps4 is 1.8 and this being much more modern arcitecture it should be way better. I'm optimistic.

Given that jump will be from some really basic graphics, then it will be a big improvement. The only problem then is having to support all those quest 2's that are still in use as stand alone systems.

I think questx is going to define the baseline for 95% of games and I'm okay with that. Right now, only sony or valve is in a position to subsidize aaa games. If a big hit is only going to to sell one million, that 2.4tf quest3 might be the appropriate power to let those smaller games have more headroom and they will be able to use better assets and effects. The for ps and pc they can scale that up with higher grade assets and settings and we'll at least be getting better looking games than we've seen the last several years.
 

Fredrik

Member
I guess. It’s still a continuation of the mainline games though and is structured/plays like the mainline games. If Alyx didn’t do much I don’t think HL3 would do much either if you lock it to VR.

I don’t think Horizon is comparable since it doesn’t play anything like a mainline Horizon game and isn’t positioned as a sequel to Forbidden West, it’s basically a climbing sim with a Horizon skin.
Okay I haven’t played Call of the Mountain yet but I think you get what I’m saying. I just think it’s every bit as important for VR to have big new games in well-known IPs you can’t play on your old platform as it is for the new consoles. I know why my Quest 2 is collecting dust now and why I’m not jumping head first into PSVR2 - it’s not because I don’t like VR, I love VR - it’s because of the lackluster game output. I’ve already bought droves of cheap experimental indie games and short AA games. I’ve done my part. Now it’s up to the industry to show that they’re serious. Invest properly and big and I’ll do the same, invest cautiously and take a wait and see approach and I’ll do the same.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Sure, but if HL:A didn’t even get the motor running and sold less than 1M I don’t think that’ll be considered a worthwhile investment.
That isn't an official list, just what someone could cobble together. Alyx had sold 680k before the launch of Quest 2 from links I could find so is almost definitely over a million by now.
 

Robb

Gold Member
but I think you get what I’m saying.
Yeah, more big games are definitely needed. Doubt we’ll see many mainline games being VR only anytime soon though.

But looking at GT7 maybe we’ll get a bit of both going forward, that’d be a pretty good compromise in the meantime. Like having the next mainline Horizon game being fully playable in both VR and non-VR, for example.
That isn't an official list, just what someone could cobble together. Alyx had sold 680k before the launch of Quest 2 from links I could find so is almost definitely over a million by now.
That’s good news at least, thanks!
 
Last edited:

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
That list doesn't bother me, I bought VR cause I want to play first person games inside the game, if Sony pays for or mandates it's own studios to simply add a VR mode for all it's FPS type games then I'm happy, as I've said before I don't need to be able to touch, break and manipulate every object I see in a game, I just want more Resident Evil 7/8 type games where the world is relatively static but oh my being inside it elevates the game to a completely different league.

I think we'll get plenty of those type of experiences throughout the PsVR2 life, I imagine the relative dev costs to be quite low
 
I'm not surprised by any of these numbers. VR is never going to happen until the tech is smaller and lighter and can be priced sub $300. The cost of headsets is too high for mainstream audiences and there's basically no VR exclusive games worth the current price of admission. As has been mentioned here, the best way to garner interest from a software perspective is to go the hybrid route; just make normal games with optional VR modes.
 

Connxtion

Member
Be careful playing super hot 😂 I punched my TV 🙈 (wall mounted) wish the game was controlled via the sticks instead of walking about.
 
I'm not surprised by any of these numbers. VR is never going to happen until the tech is smaller and lighter and can be priced sub $300. The cost of headsets is too high for mainstream audiences and there's basically no VR exclusive games worth the current price of admission. As has been mentioned here, the best way to garner interest from a software perspective is to go the hybrid route; just make normal games with optional VR modes.
So you do actually give a solution here to the VR content problem. Very nice :). I totally support the hybrid route btw. It'd be awesome if all Sony's big titles would have a full VR game support. Whether it just be a VR 3rd person camera or something else. As long as the complete game is supported it's great. VR will never be priced under 300 bucks. In a few years from now you pay about 300 bucks just to have breakfast with the wife and 2 kids. Content support is king and when the content is there, the price of the main device doesn't matter much. See e.g. Ipads or other devices which have much cheaper alternatives.
 

Synless

Member
Meh, it’s still the future.

As the great Gabe said once:
gabe-newell-time.gif
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Yeah, more big games are definitely needed. Doubt we’ll see many mainline games being VR only anytime soon though.

But looking at GT7 maybe we’ll get a bit of both going forward, that’d be a pretty good compromise in the meantime. Like having the next mainline Horizon game being fully playable in both VR and non-VR, for example.

That’s good news at least, thanks!
All those numbers are probably way low, the Superhot number is also from before the Quest 2 launch, Beat Saber number only has a couple of months of Quest 2 sales etc. Then you have all the titles that are hybrid VR, Flight Sim, War Thunder, DCS, Dirt Rally 2, Asseto Corsa, Project Cars 2, Skyrim, No man's sky, The Forest, GT7 etc.
 

Amiga

Member
Actually great numbers. Even better considering this is still evolving tech.

Yakuza and Tales games ,for many years, were franchises that produced many games from a small base of half a million fans.

Back in the PS3 era, 2 million was a great number for a PlayStation exclusive. That was a generation that made Infamous, Uncharted and Heavy Rain.

If PSVR2 can help push VR game sales to regular 1-2 million. that means publishers can re-invest in bigger VR games that can sell 3-4 million, and in turn re-invest that in bigger games that sell better.
 
Pure conjecture but a straightforward sample of what the peak and mainstream success look like:

1. Beat Saber (assuming 5m sales, average sale price of $30 minus 30% license fee):
$105m

2. Moss (average sale price of $20 minus license fee):
$14m

Quite the sizeable chasm between the prom queen and the next best, albeit I'm intentionally rounding down on the last one. But that's still a healthy amount of revenue for a small development company if they can achieve a hit product.
 
I wonder if Sony will ever reveal the sales of its PSVR software? PlayStation VR Worlds, for example, sold around 200k physical copies in Japan, so I'm guessing it hit +1 (or 2?) million copies worldwide (including digital).

Lol.

Actually great numbers. Even better considering this is still evolving tech.

Yakuza and Tales games ,for many years, were franchises that produced many games from a small base of half a million fans.

Back in the PS3 era, 2 million was a great number for a PlayStation exclusive. That was a generation that made Infamous, Uncharted and Heavy Rain.

If PSVR2 can help push VR game sales to regular 1-2 million. that means publishers can re-invest in bigger VR games that can sell 3-4 million, and in turn re-invest that in bigger games that sell better.

Which all 3 of those games sold more than 2 million, and 2 million was not considered great it was considered good, and made sense for the time. VR proper restarted in 2015, it's now 2023, and this is the result in getting closer to ten years, with during the time over 30-35 million headsets sold. These numbers are terrifying.
 
Top Bottom