Virtual reality adult videos became one of Pornhub’s fastest-growing categories, with viewing figures reaching around 500,000 a day and Britain among the fastest-growing markets.
Virtual reality was still a relatively new consumer technology when Pornhub reported a sharp rise in interest in its immersive adult videos. The platform said its VR catalogue had expanded from just 30 videos when the category launched in 2016 to more than 2,600 by May 2017. Daily viewing had settled at roughly 500,000, while Christmas Day produced an especially large spike as VR headsets became popular gifts.
VR viewing quickly expanded
Pornhub’s figures showed how rapidly the category developed during its first year.
When the service introduced VR material in spring 2016, the platform had only a small selection available. By the following year, hundreds of new videos were reportedly being added each month, taking the total beyond 2,600.
Daily views initially averaged around 200,000 before climbing through the year. The figure reached approximately 900,000 on Christmas Day 2016 before falling back afterwards and settling at about half a million views per day.
The timing of the Christmas surge was seen as potentially significant because VR headsets had become increasingly common as consumer gifts, giving new owners an opportunity to experiment with 360-degree content.
Viewers watched more videos
Pornhub’s data suggested that people who viewed its VR material tended to watch more individual videos during a visit.
VR users were reported to watch around 11 videos per visit, compared with approximately nine for visitors viewing other categories. Despite the additional videos, the average time spent on the site remained at just under 10 minutes. Pornhub suggested that the distinctive immersive nature of VR could encourage users to explore more content.
The most common searches included terms such as “VR”, “360 VR”, “360 Degree”, “Virtual Reality”, “3D VR” and “360 Cam”.
Men were significantly more likely to use VR
The demographic figures also showed a pronounced gender difference.
Pornhub reported that men were 160 per cent more likely than women to view VR content. The strongest age group was people aged between 25 and 34, who accounted for 47 per cent of VR viewers according to the figures reported at the time.
The figures provided an early indication that immersive adult entertainment was attracting a particularly strong audience among younger adult users who had access to VR hardware.
Asia led popularity rankings
The technology’s popularity varied considerably between countries.
Thailand was identified as the leading market for VR adult content, with Hong Kong and the Philippines also among the strongest markets. Taiwan was similarly prominent in the international rankings.
Britain and Ireland stood out for a different reason: their rate of growth was among the fastest recorded. Pornhub’s figures showed viewing in the UK and Ireland had increased by almost 250 per cent over the preceding year. WIRED reported that Britain recorded the highest growth rate, although Pornhub did not disclose the precise starting figure behind the percentage increase.
Japan, despite its established adult entertainment industry, was not among the leading countries in the rankings cited in the data.
VR became a new opportunity for adult entertainment
The figures illustrated how adult entertainment companies were experimenting with virtual reality as the technology moved beyond its early gaming audience.
Unlike conventional video, 360-degree VR allows viewers to look around an immersive scene using compatible headsets. Pornhub’s early statistics suggested that the format had found a substantial audience, even while VR hardware remained relatively new.
At the time, the company described VR as an important area for further development and said it intended to continue investing in immersive adult content.
The rapid expansion from 30 videos to more than 2,600 in roughly a year, together with hundreds of thousands of daily views, showed why the format had become an important part of the platform’s strategy.
