With just one iteration forward, Meta has declared that its first Meta Quest VR headset gained’t be receiving any extra love or TLC.
In an e mail despatched to Meta Quest 1 customers and later posted to Twitter, the corporate spelled out how will probably be dropping assist for its unique, cheaper digital actuality gadget. Most significantly, the gadget will not obtain future content material updates. By 2024, the gadget will not get any bug fixes or safety patches.
Notably, customers will not have vital performance. Although Meta promised you’ll nonetheless have the ability to use the headset and its put in video games and apps, Quest 1 customers will not have the ability to be a part of events, and they’re going to additionally lose entry to Meta’s function product Horizon House on March 5 this yr. Customers will not have the ability to invite others to their houses or journey over to a different consumer’s residence.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced what was initially known as the Oculus Quest in 2018 because the premiere wi-fi VR headset. The corporate launched the headset in 2019 (so Meta is slightly off of their letter once they stated they launched the gadget “over 4 years in the past”), and this was all earlier than Meta formally renamed the gadgets and its numerous providers in 2021. So the Quest 1 is working off four-year-old tech, and it might make some sense why Meta wouldn’t need to assist getting older {hardware}.
G/O Media might get a fee
As much as $100 credit score
Samsung Reserve
Reserve the subsequent gen Samsung gadget
All you have to do is enroll along with your e mail and increase: credit score in your preorder on a brand new Samsung gadget.
The Meta Quest 2 has been billed as a finances, entry-level VR headset, however that was Meta making an attempt to engender assist for his or her entire idea of the “metaverse” whereas working at a loss, a technique which lastly bit them within the bottom in Q3 final yr. Meta then instituted worth will increase for the Quest 2, elevating prices to $399 for its 128GB model and $499 for its 256GB version.
The unique Quest debuted for $399 for a 64GB model and $499 for its 128GB rendition, however you’ll be able to simply discover cheaper variations nonetheless being offered for less expensive on-line. It simply means there shall be one much less low-cost(er) headset available on the market, and there don’t appear to be any new releases to interchange it.
The top of assist for the Quest 1 means entry-level VR will turn into that rather more costly for the common particular person. Pico, which is owned by TikTok guardian firm ByteDance, introduced its personal $425 and $499 headsets final yr, however the firm was absent at CES 2023, and we nonetheless don’t have any phrase of U.S. launch plans. Past that, there’s been little push for extra budget-friendly VR as of late. Meta has its personal $1,499 Quest Professional it launched final yr to decidedly blended evaluations. This yr, HTC launched its VIVE XR Elite blended actuality headset for $1,099, which Gizmodo received to strive at CES.
And, in fact, there’s Sony and its PlayStation VR2. The corporate had these headsets prepared for demo at CES, however scheduling difficulties meant Gizmodo didn’t get the chance to demo the gadget. We’ll simply need to see what occurs with Sony’s $549.99 headset when it lastly releases in February.
