Research firm SuperData reckons that consumer spending on XR software and hardware will clock in at $6.3bn for 2020.

That's down from the $7.7bn that the firm previously forecast for the AR, VR and MR field, with this $1.4bn reduction being due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that's impacting the sector.

This effect was mostly felt in supply issues, which saw VR headset sales to dip during Q1 2020. SuperData cites Valve Index sales, which fell from 103,000 in Q4 2019 to just 33,000 a the start of this year. This does mean that once supply chains are back to normal, sales should come back to their ordinary level as the issue isn't a lack of demand. Consumers have reportedly been turning to third-party sellers like Ebay and Amazon to find VR tech, though these have had a premium price point.

Half-Life: Alyx also reportedly sold 860,000 copies during March, which is an impressive feat. 1m sales has often been seen as a huge milestone for any VR title due to the sheer limitation of the number of people around the world with a virtual reality headset, so coming close to that within one month of launch is solid.

SuperData also reports that investment in XR companies is set to drop in the short term, with the firm forecasting total private investment of $923m for 2020, a decline of ten per cent on 2019.