The STATE of VR in 2026!

A sponsored overview of the VR industry in 2025-2026 based on GDC research and Meta's Horizon Insiders program. Key highlights: VR development tools (Meta SDK for Unity with drag-and-drop building blocks and AI-assisted scene setup) are easier than ever. The VR market is stable but not booming — 2025 saw record Quest usage despite no new hardware, and over 100 titles have crossed $1M in gross revenue. Meta Horizon Plus subscription service has 1M+ subscribers and paid out $20M to developers. Three distinct user segments are identified: VR elites, teens (most active, e.g. Gorilla Tag with 3M MAU), and mainstream adults (expected to grow, preferring hand tracking over controllers). Quest 4 and a lightweight headset are rumored, and Valve is re-entering VR. Marketing on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube is more important than store optimization for Quest games.