I’m always looking for shifts in the VR market to provide clues into where it’s going. At GDC 2025, Meta shared valuable insights into how their audience has evolved with their hardware, and I believe it has implications for not just the consumer market, but the location-based VR community as well. 

When Oculus Quest emerged, it appealed to the early adopter VR Elite—tech enthusiasts craving premium, immersive games like Beat Saber and Vader Immortal.

In 2020, the reduced price Oculus Quest 2 significantly broadened VR’s appeal beyond early adopters with improved hardware at a lower price, drawing in more mainstream gamers, including many women using it for exercise and fitness. 

Meta Quest Pro (2022) marked a strategic shift into professional markets, expanding VR’s use from entertainment into productivity and mixed-reality applications. This was a flop, so let’s just forget this happened. 

The Quest 3 (2023) introduced sophisticated mixed reality capabilities, attracting Mainstream Adults (mostly men in their 30s) who used VR increasingly for immersive sports, concerts, and movies.

In 2024, Quest 3S, an affordable entry-level headset, resonated strongly with Teens and Young Adults (13-24), who embraced multiplayer, social, and free-to-play experiences similar to Fortnite. This younger and less affluent cohort popularized new monetization models—microtransactions, season passes, and regularly updated content.

By 2025, Meta identified clear trends:

• VR Elite growth plateaued, remaining important but no longer dominant.
• Teens and Young Adults emerged as the fastest-growing, most active segment, demanding dynamic, social multiplayer experiences.
• Mainstream Adults steadily grew, shifting VR’s role beyond gaming toward immersive media and live events.

Some of these shifts reflect the broader gaming and media consumption markets. And I think they have implications for location-based VR:

Free roam multiplayer PvP and PVE games cater to young users’ social gaming preferences. These games emphasize competition and collaboration, which is what the youngest gamers prefer. But where there’s opportunity is in more frequently updated content. The live services games like Fortnite, Gorilla Tag and Animal Company frequently update content to keep the players interested and engaged. Instead of annual or even quarterly updates, monthly changes to the game, content, weapons, skins, etc, will boost repeat visits and loyalty.

Mainstream Adults represent strong growth potential in exclusive virtual concerts, immersive sports, and premium film experiences, making your venue distinct from home entertainment. Long form storytelling content like Horizons of Khufu and the upcoming Black Mirror VR experience offer immersive, free roam VR experiences for adults. And fan engagement experiences at stadiums like Barcelona’s Camp Nou Immersive VR from Univrse has been successfully attracting audiences for 2.5 years. 

Flexible Monetization: Adopting dynamic pricing, season passes, microtransactions, and loyalty programs aligns venues with current consumer habits, optimizing revenue and retention. One of the challenges of the location-based VR business is that consumers don’t understand the amazing value of the experience until after they’ve done it. Instead of up front pricing, let’s experiment with in-game purchases, customizations, subscriptions and other models to expand the audience. If a “free-to-play” game like Gorilla Tag can generate $100 million in sales, then what options exist for LBE that have yet to be explored?

The shifting VR audiences present exciting opportunities for LBVR operators. By adapting strategically to attract broader demographics, location-based VR will continue to expand and grow in profitability.