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Oculus Is Getting Interest from Streaming Fans

Oculus Is Getting Interest from Streaming Fans

Are Oddball Streaming Devices a Thing?

September 6, 2022

Everyone has a favorite streaming device. For me, it cycles between Roku and my smartphone. For slightly under 50% of all Americans, connected TV devices (like Roku) still dominate, with smart TVs not too far behind. Nielsen finds that smartphones reach 72% of the viewing market in any given week, so it's pretty clear that that's the device of choice for most of us. But what about uncommon devices, like the Oculus VR headset? Is streaming on odd devices really a thing?

Oddball Streaming Devices Aren't As Oddball As We Thought

Facebook has been making a lot of weird choices recently. The whole "Meta" thing is certainly one of them. There are now articles claiming the Metaverse is "as dead as

Zuckerberg's cartoon eyes

". Ouch. The company's

purchase of Oculus

in 2014 for $2 billion was possibly surprising and weird to some at the time, although it was, in retrospect, all part of the grand Metaverse plan.

Still, one might think devices like VR headsets (which are inherently antisocial for in-real-life engagements) aren't great for anything beyond gaming and exploring the Metaverse. It appears that might not be the case.

1. Yes, virtual reality (headsets) is actually a growing market

This one was hard for me to wrap my head around, and maybe it's because I'm a bit curmudgeonly on the topic. But yes, the VR headset market is actually growing. Some people do enjoy the experience of using of VR gaming headsets, most notably the Oculus Quest.

According to the International Data Corporation, VR sales were

up 242%

as of Q1 2022. That's pretty massive. The Oculus Quest 2 has like sold over 15 million units by this time of writing. That's nothing to sneeze at.

2. But are people streaming video content on VR?

I'll admit, this one's really messing with my geriatric Millennial brain right now. Simply put, yes, people are actually showing some interest in streaming content on VR headsets like the Oculus Quest 2. Note that when we say "interest" we don't necessarily mean "yes, they're streaming content on Oculus Quest". Interest in a capability of a device doesn't always materialize into action.

As it were, though, there's a lot of interest in using the Oculus Quest stream popular content. Take these two Google Trends charts as proof text:

Exhibit A: Google Trends device searches for Disney+

Exhibit B: Google Trends device searches for Netflix

Both show very different comparative volume behavior, but what's interesting is that the Oculus not only shows up, but at times, its searches even exceed some other popular devices. It must have been a great Christmas for Facebook, as there was a huge spike during that week for searches on how to use Oculus to stream both Disney+ and Netflix.

3. VR still has an uphill battle for larger acceptance

While it's true that the numbers are looking positively for VR headset streaming, there's still a long way to go. Most streaming service providers do not have native apps available for the Oculus Quest or any other VR headset for that matter. Heck, many of them don't even support popular video game consoles yet.

At present, the only major streaming services that have apps for the Oculus Quest are

, and

. For its part,

claims to work with Oculus, but it doesn't have a native app on the Oculus app store, so far as we can tell.

The lack of app support is obviously going to put a damper on Meta's plans to make the Oculus a big deal. For the time being, it's still too niche. People are at least interested, but wider market adoption is going to be elusive at best for quite some time.

This Week's Streaming Guide

1. HGTV Show 'Good Bones' Back with New Series

The hit renovation show 'Good Bones' returns TODAY (Sept. 6) with a new, grittier offshoot series: 'Good Bones: Risky Business'. Streaming starts at 9 PM EST on Discovery Channel. -

Watch Discovery Without Cable

2. Hulu Drama 'Tell Me Lies' Streaming Wednesday

"Tell Me Lies follows a tumultuous but intoxicating relationship as it unfolds over the course of 8 years." Streaming on Hulu Wednesday (Sept. 7). -

Watch on Hulu

3. Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi Documentary Streams Thursday

While you wait for the new series, take a look at the Disney+ documentary, 'Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return" this Thursday (Sept. 8). -

Watch on Disney+

4. 'Cobra Kai' Returns on Netflix this Friday

The action continues this Friday (Sept. 9) as 'Cobra Kai' Returns for Season 5 -

Watch on Netflix