Unique Article (January 26, 2021): From a unit standpoint, it’s unlikely that the $1,000 Valve Index is promoting all that many headsets in comparison with cheaper headsets like Oculus Quest. However from a income standpoint, the headset appears to be treating Valve very properly.
Though Valve doesn’t share how a lot income particular person merchandise make on its platform, Steam does rank the highest promoting merchandise, by income, every week. SteamDB maintains an archive of the weekly prime 10.
With Valve Index provide ramping again up after provide disruptions, we will see that the $1,000 headset has been among the many prime 5 greatest promoting merchandise for 13 weeks operating.
It’s value remembering that the rating is by income; to place issues into perspective, every Index equipment offered prices the identical as about 17 video games at $60 every. Nonetheless, it appears fairly spectacular that the headset’s income is rating alongside among the world’s greatest promoting video games. On sure weeks over its 13 week streak, Index has surpassed the weekly income of main video games like Cyberpunk 2077, Pink Useless Redemption 2, and others.
Trying on the historic knowledge, we will see how typically the headset has permeated the highest 10 greatest promoting Steam merchandise of every week, together with eight separate weeks the place it’s topped the charts at #1.
Given how sometimes Valve’s personal Half-Life: Alyx has appeared within the prime 10, we’d wager that the headset has earned the corporate way more income. Granted, revenue is a distinct story; Valve isn’t believed to be making a lot revenue from every Index offered, however nonetheless, a big income stream generated by the headset is general a very good factor for the corporate, so long as it’s breaking even or higher.
Whereas the headset’s placement among the many prime 10 greatest promoting Steam merchandise is actually affected by the seasonal nature of main sport releases, the long run take a look at the rating seemingly additionally alerts how the headset’s availability has fluctuated since launch. We are able to see giant gaps within the headset’s prime 10 look for six weeks proper after its launch in mid-2019, in addition to a 12 week hole at first of 2020, and a 4 week hole in mid-2020.
In a current interview with New Zealand’s 1 Information, Valve head Gabe Newell defined how the Coronavirus pandemic hampered the corporate’s means to satisfy the demand for the headset.
“We even have parts which might be manufactured in Wuhan [where the outbreak began] and whenever you’re establishing your manufacturing strains it doesn’t happen to you that you simply’re all of a sudden going to be depending on this peculiar transistor that’s sitting on one board you can’t get,” Newell mentioned.
“[Everyone who builds electronics] ended up operating into the identical downside concurrently—you go from, ‘Oh, we’re in nice form,’ to, ‘What do you imply Apple or Microsoft simply purchased the following two years’ provide of this simply so they may be certain that they aren’t going to expire?’”
“You went from a state of affairs the place every thing was getting achieved simply in time to individuals shopping for up all of the obtainable provides.
“[…] we’re very a lot manufacturing constrained.”
Whereas the corporate certainly struggled to maintain up with demand in 2020, provide seems to be selecting up quickly as 2021 will get underway.