We’ve got a big number to report from the sole developer of Virtual Desktop, Guy Godin. Today Godin told UploadVR he’s cleared $3 million in gross revenue (that’s before Facebook’s cut of sales) on just the Oculus Quest standalone headset.
The figure establishes his software, which allows owners to operate their entire PC in VR wirelessly, as one of the most successful on Quest. In May, Facebook said more than 10 titles cleared $2 million in revenue on Quest alone and named several games to the list.
When combined with Virtual Desktop’s availability on Steam, Oculus Go, and Rift, the figure establishes the utility as one of the most successful pieces of VR software ever developed primarily by a single person throughout its entire development cycle. Godin says he brought on some contractors from time to time to help primarily with art.
Virtual Desktop’s Wireless Connection
Last year, Godin slipped a feature into Virtual Desktop which allowed buyers to play PC VR games on Quest wirelessly. Facebook pressured Godin to remove the feature from his app, though, citing comfort concerns. The feature co-opts your existing Wi-Fi network to make the connection from PC to Quest, and that makes it vulnerable to congestion and other factors which could create comfort issues for some users. Godin worked around Facebook to offer a patch for Virtual Desktop through sideloading platform SideQuest. This allowed anybody who bought Virtual Desktop to still access the feature, and the release helped anchor SideQuest as a useful tool for lots of Quest owners. Godin rebuilt the feature and improved its implementation considerably over the course of the year. In recent weeks Godin even added hand tracking support to the software.
“I don’t have an exact number but I estimate about 90% of users have patched it through SideQuest,” explained Godin in a direct message, who says he doesn’t use any analytics software to track app usage. “I could be wrong however, just guessing based on the numbers provided by SideQuest and the amount of support/help questions I get; it’s always about the VR feature.”
Here’s an interview we did we Godin in February if you’d like to learn more about his journey:
