Following a series of controversies, Facebook’s virtual reality (VR) wing Oculus is facing its first drop in users, with SteamVR reporting a 0.42 percent decrease in usage compared to last month’s figures.
The report comes amidst an arduous journey Oculus faced as it released its 128GB Quest 2 headset.
Launched in late August, the Facebook-owned VR vendor expected an increase in usage due to the new model’s doubled storage space, but instead saw a unusual 1.74 percent drop in Oculus usage.
SteamVR’s Valve Index headset also found a 0.24 percent drop in use, and other big names such as HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift, and Pico Neo saw a respective 0.36 percent, 0.41 percent, and 0.05 percent decrease.
VR headsets such as the original Oculus Quest and Rift S climbed 0.37 percent and 0.29 percent, respectively.
Oculus and Facebook Facing Controversy
There may be many reasons for the fall in VR usage across SteamVR accounts, possibly due to the holiday season or a general draught of big releases causing the overall 1.74 percent decrease.
Despite this, the Quest 2 loss was the largest in the report, which may be due to the rocky road Oculus faced prior to the release of the 128GB Quest 2.
The Menlo Park-based firm faced numerous obstacles over the past few months, namely in early May after Facebook was hit with a flood of reports claiming Quest 2 foam guards were causing skin irritation issues.
The incidents led to the European Commission issuing a chemical alert, forcing Facebook and Oculus to pull Quest 2 headsets from the Amazon EU marketplace.
Start training that download finger. This August 24th, it’ll be put to the test when we release the 128GB Quest 2 for just $299. Double the storage. Same great price.
— Oculus (@oculus) August 9, 2021
Customers also pushed back against Facebook announced plans in May to run adverts in Quest headsets in a bid to fund the device’s low cost and continued development.
Additionally, prior to the release of the 128GB Quest 2 and retirement of the 64GB Quest 2, a handful of online distributers leaked the new headset days before Facebook’s official announcement. XR Today also reported on Ebay listings of the 128GB headset ahead of its official release date.
