A lot of people seem to have high expectations for the Oculus Rift release date. A gaming analyst clarified that the sales may be significantly lower than predicted.
According to Venture Beat, tech advisor Digi-Capital predicted that the VR industry will generate $30 billion in spending after four or five years. As proven by GDC 2016, hardware companies and content creators are pretty ecstatic about the new platform.
With the Oculus Rift release date happening this Mar. 28, 2016, it is believed that the Facebook-owned VR headset is set to take the lead. However, R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian does not think that it will guarantee a hit in the market.
"We share some of the optimism for the industry as one of the few growing sectors of media and entertainment," he noted. "However, our near-term expectations for VR are more constrained. We expect Oculus to sell 500,000 to 1 million units this year. That's versus consensus expectations of 1 to 2 million."
Sebastian was able to meet with Google, Activision, Riot and Steam, among others, who were all very excited about the future of VR. Although the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR have the potential to do well, the analyst explained that most consumers may opt for a low-end device first.
"If there was one dominant theme at GDC, it is the rise of virtual reality gaming concurrent with the launches of Oculus Rift, HTC/Steam Vive, and PlayStation VR this year," Sebastian said. "We continue to view mobile VR as currently the leading VR interface for consumers, although PlayStation VR has some notable advantages among 'platform' devices, including lower price point, console integration, decent game lineup, and a relatively comfortable headset."
Meanwhile, Express reported that PlayStation VR will beat its rivals, the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, as the top-selling VR device. Apparently, it is the only product that has the potential to win over a mainstream market.
