One of the reasons PS VR has had such a successful launch thus far has been due to the massive catalogue of games it launched with – 31, to be exact, which is quite notable for an entirely new platform. Thanks to the large library of games and an easy way to get them – either through retail outlets like GameStop or the PlayStation Store – PS VR is going to be doing some serious business for developers.

Of course that number is a fraction of what developing for a traditional console/PC game will earn, but what’s notable here is how much more revenue PlayStation VR will be generating compared to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive which launched months ago. Yuji Nakamura writing for Bloomberg:

 Another key metric to watch will be how many games each player buys for the PSVR, Raynard said. The device will generate $134 million in revenue for VR content makers this year, about twice the $69 million it expects from Facebook’s Oculus and HTC’s Vive headsets, IHS estimated. 

In order for VR to succeed, both hardware vendors like Sony and developers will need to be able to make money. Sony has already confirmed that they’ll be making a profit on day one from each headset sold and it’s looking like developers will be joining in on that success. Of course revenue doesn’t equal profits and I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony’s helped fund many of the VR developers in the interim till more headsets sell that will in turn give developers a larger audience to cater to.

This scenario can sometimes turn into a catch 22 with developers not supporting a piece of hardware due to low sale volumes and more units failing to sell due to low developer support (look no further than PS Vita). Fortunately this time around, Sony has managed to negate this conundrum which often faces new hardware by creating demand for PS VR, which is already profitable. From there, they can divert profits towards furthering the platform and supporting developers, which helps make the platform more attractive to consumers, which leads to further hardware sales – and thus, a healthy business pattern is born.

Discuss:

Are you optimistic about the future of PS VR?