VR game downloads on Android are on pace for a record breaking year of growth according to SplitMetrics.
In the first half of 2024, the top 28 VR games on Android devices gained an estimated 5.5 million new downloads — 40% more year-on-year. At this rate, that number will grow to 11 million before the end of the year. This is a major milestone for the VR market as this total will surpass both 2022 (10 million and 2023’s (8 million) download totals.
“Much of the hype around the VR sector has dissipated which may lead you to believe that the sector is stagnating. However, that is far from the case. The VR gaming sector is quietly growing at a very impressive rate and looks set to post a record-breaking year for user growth,” said Thomas Kriebernegg, general manager at Splitmetrics.
“It’s important to note that we are still in the early stages of VR and XR technology adoption. As the industry develops and more companies invest, we’ll be seeing more game developers experimenting with VR. That’s why this is a crucial time for developers to refine their games’ user experience, while marketers identify and attract those early adopters.”
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Top 10 VR games on Android
Using data from its App Radar platform, Splitmetrics identified the top VR games based on Android downloads. The firm estimates their list captures roughly 90% of the market on the Android platform.
| Estimated VR game downloads on Google Play | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Release Year | Lifetime | H1 2024* | Q1 2024 |
| Rec Room – Play with friends! | 2021 | 32M | 2.7M | 1.5m |
| VR Thrills Roller Coaster Game | 2023 | 23M | 470K | 306k |
| Fulldive VR – Virtual Reality | 2015 | 11M | 295K | 179k |
| Backrooms | 2021 | 2.2M | 117K | 52k |
| Sky On Fire : 1940 | 2020 | 1.8M | 313K | 176 |
| Zombie Shooter VR | 2014 | 1.7M | 22K | 15K |
| VR Space Game | 2016 | 1.1M | 6K | 3K |
| VR Jurassic Dino Park Coaster | 2016 | 1.1M | 102K | 55K |
| VR Roller Coaster 360 | 2019 | 800K | 335K | 160K |
| Acron: Attack of the Squirrels | 2019 | 633K | 53K | 31K |
Out of the 28 VR games analysed, the top five downloaded in H1 2024 are Rec Room – Play with friends! (2.7 million), VR Thrills Roller Coaster Game (470,000), VR Roller Coaster 360 (335,000), Sky On Fire: 1940 (313,000) and Fulldive VR – Virtual Reality (295,000).
VR game portals
While VR game downloads passed 80 million, this does not include top VR games portals. Per Splitmetrics, both Google’s Cardboard and Meta Quest also saw significant growth. Together, these apps represent a combined 54 million lifetime downloads on Google Play.
| Estimated Google Play Downloads – VR games portals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Release Year | Lifetime | H1 2024* | Q1 2024 |
| Cardboard | 2014 | 37M | 2715K | 433K |
| Meta Quest | 2018 | 17M | 1.1M | 717K |
While the Meta Quest app has a long way to go to catch up to Cardboard, the Meta Quest 3 sparked a surge in downloads. The app saw a 277% increase in Android downloads in December 2023 and 147% in January 2024 — likely due to the holidays.
