Throughout history, the adult industry has been a trailblazer and key driver of emerging technology. Sony’s decision to not allow porn on Betamax was a major reason why VHS became the standard format that was widely adopted in the 80s. Similarly, the porn industry’s adoption of Blue-Ray was a defining factor that eventually made HD DVD obsolete. Virtual Reality is the next frontier, and once again, emerging trends in the VR porn space can provide insight into where the VR headset market is going.
BaDoinkVR, the world’s leading provider of adult virtual reality entertainment, has been a pioneer in the adult VR space since its launch in 2015. As the largest VR porn content provider in the world, they have access to a wealth of information the reflects how their subscribers engage with their content. Metrics pulled from 2019 provide compelling insights into the future of VR technology and specifically which VR headset will likely emerge as the industry standard.
Ogling Porn with Oculus
Based on the VR headsets that BaDoinkVR subscribers used to view their content in 2019, Oculus is the clear winner. The Oculus Go is the most widely preferred headset, amassing 30% of BaDoinkVR subscribers. The Oculus Quest came in second at 18% – moreover, it is the fastest-growing VR headset by far, having only launched 8 months ago. Collectively, the Oculus Go, Quest and PC-powered Rift account for 59% of the VR headsets used with the BaDoinkVR platform.
Stand Alone Headsets Prevail
Another interesting trend is the proliferation of standalone headsets, which accounted for 60% VR headset usage. Google Daydream is the 4th most used headset, trailing mobile-based Samsung Gear VR – which historically had been the most popular VR headset on the BaDoinkVR platform, prior to the launch of the Oculus Go in 2018.
On the flipside, PC powered VR headsets did not fare well in 2019. The recently released HTC Vive Cosmos and the Valve Index were two of the least popular headsets used last year. Even Google Cardboard, which is provided for free to all BaDoinkVR subscribers, was more widely used.
The only console-based VR headset, PlayStation VR, remained stable sitting at 6.4%, and was more popular than both HTC headsets and the Valve Index combined. But still, the PSVR is significantly less popular than all of the Oculus headsets.
The biggest fall from grace was with the Samsung Gear VR, which dropped from 45% to 15% in three years. The lack of Gear VR support with the Galaxy Note 10 was likely a sign of the end for the mobile VR headset which was once the market leader. Similarly, Google Cardboard fell from 23% to 1.6% in the same period
The United Horny States
Based on website traffic, the United States is once again the global leader accounting for 55% of BaDoinkVR’s audience. Within the US, the more connected cities that are known for driving emerging technology (e.g. San Francisco, Austin, Seattle) are like the reason why California, Texas, and Seattle are the most popular states for VR porn.
Outside of the US, Germany had the biggest audience boost in the past three years – accounting for 5.2% of traffic to take the second spot, narrowly beating Canada. Japan also provided a huge increase in customers, becoming the first Asian country to make the top ten. Similarly, Nigeria became the first African country to make the top 10.
