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Recently, Meta introduced a dedicated store page showcasing the top 50 best-selling games for its Meta Quest platform. The announcement caught my attention when one of my favorite VR titles, Walkabout Mini Golf, shared on X that it ranked as the 20th best-seller. Interestingly, Walkabout Mini Golf shares a commonality with many titles on this list.
However, this shared trait does not relate to the genre, pricing, or intricacy of the games. Rather, the diversity evident on the official list is impressive, with nearly all major genres represented—except perhaps for strategy titles.
Remarkably, only 11 games from the top 50 belong to established franchises such as Among Us, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Resident Evil, The Room, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, The Walking Dead, and four entries from the Star Wars series. Most of these are either original spin-offs or ports.
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For those unfamiliar with the VR gaming scene, nearly 80% of the best-sellers are titles from developers not widely recognized. While this could be a concern for some in the gaming community, it reflects a positive trend worth noting.
Out with the Old
Metro: Awakening (Image credit: Vertigo Games)
In the past, I discussed how the detachment of major publishers from the VR market could be beneficial. Many of these corporations prioritize profits over the artistic value of gaming. Take Assassin’s Creed Nexus as an example; it has generated substantial revenue for Ubisoft, particularly around the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, yet it does not feature among the top 50.
Notably absent from this list are titles like Metro Awakening, Batman Arkham Shadow, and the recent Alien: Rogue Incursion. In fact, only a handful of games synonymous with traditional AAA definitions, such as The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Resident Evil 4, and Arizona Sunshine, made the cut. This contrasts sharply with the list of best-selling PlayStation 5 games, which primarily features established franchises and widely recognized titles.
This scenario aligns with the prevailing viewpoint that “VR gaming has limited financial returns” among major publishers, yet the truth might be more nuanced. While AAA games may not achieve massive sales on the Quest, they can still generate significant revenue.
Orion Drift (Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Examining the top-earning games of the week further illustrates this point. The leading titles are predominantly free-to-play, which have recently fueled substantial revenue growth on the platform. Below these, several of the AAA titles mentioned earlier maintain presence in the top 50.
Games like The Walking Dead, Alien, and Assassin’s Creed appear on this weekly list, demonstrating their ongoing popularity. However, few additional games of comparable prestige are found there.
This trend suggests that VR players are drawn to innovative and fresh experiences rather than repeatedly engaging with long-established titles. As the industry progresses toward 2025, and developers continue to discover novel ways to enhance user immersion, it is likely that the most inventive games—such as Dimensional Double Shift or Orion Drift—will secure spots on the best-seller list well into the future.
Source
www.androidcentral.com