Last week Meta released the latest version of the Meta Quest Developer Hub tool which has been optimized to work natively on Apple’s M-series chips for better performance.
The Meta Quest Developer Hub (MQDH) is a collection of tools to make VR development easier for Quest developers. In addition to giving devs an easy way to manage their headset and the files on it, it also provides access to Meta’s various VR SDKs, and includes tools to profiling and optimizing VR applications.
While MQDH has supported MacOS since it launched back in late 2020, the latest version v3.2, is just now getting around to supporting Apple’s modern M-series chips which the company uses in all of its most recent computers. The tool now has native support for the ARM64 architecture of the M-series chips, improving booting time and performance.
It’s a somewhat curious update considering this is the only major change in MQDH v3.2, and considering that VR developers working on MacOS seem to be a tiny minority compared to those on Windows.
There’s no telling exactly why Meta chose to do this now—rather than say, months if not years ago. Possibilities range from the insignificant (perhaps a handful of Meta’s internal VR devs work on Mac and wanted the extra performance) to the strategic (maybe Meta wants to improve the experience of Mac VR developers in an attempt to sway them away from Apple’s long-rumored headset.
Meta-owned developer Downpour Interactive announced it’s pulling Quest 1 support for Onward, the hit team-based mil-sim shooter.
First launched on PC VR headsets in Early Access back in 2016, Onward managed to garner a hardcore following over the years thanks to its realistic squad-based gameplay and unrelentingly faithful reproduction of real-world weaponry.
In mid-2020, Downpour decidedly slimmed down Onward across the board with its Early Access launch on Quest—just a few months before Meta launched the more powerful Quest 2. Its launch on the original Quest was met with some pretty intense backlash from the PC VR-playing community at the time, as Downpour significantly reduced the Onward’s graphics in addition to limiting community-generated content.
Now the developer, which was acquired by Meta in 2021, says it’s slated to drop support for Quest 1 on July 31st, 2023. In the studio’s FAQ, Downpour says Onward will no longer be playable on Quest 1 in any capacity after the July cut-off date.
The studio isn’t offering any special refund scheme outside of Meta’s standard policy, which allows you to return a game with less than two hours of gameplay time, and within 14 days after purchase.
Onward however benefits from cross-buy, so owners can continue playing on Quest 1 through the Meta Store version, which requires a VR-ready PC to play, or on the still natively supported Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets.
In comes as no real surprise that some developers are pulling the plug on Quest 1 support only three years after the headset’s launch. Meta announced earlier this month it was set to deprecate first-party social features on the original 2019 Quest in March, which includes access to Parties and Meta Horizon Home. From now until 2024, Meta will only push critical bug fixes and security patches.
Meta and its child-studio Ready at Dawn today announced plans to shut down the popular free-to-play multiplayer game Echo VR, with plans to turn off severs come August 1st.
Echo VR has had a storied journey, having originally launched as an Oculus Rift exclusive title all the way back in 2017. In 2020 the game made the leap to Quest, allowing cross-play multiplayer between Rift and Quest players. Shortly thereafter, Meta announced that it had acquired the game’s developer, Ready at Dawn.
Although not mentioned specifically, it’s hard to imagine that the broader layoffs at Meta (and other major tech companies) has nothing to do with the announcement. Especially considering that Ready at Dawn released its last game, Lone Echo II, more than a year ago; ostensibly the studio has been well at work on its “next project” for quite some time now.
In addition to being one of the platform’s most popular free multiplayer games, Echo VR also had one of the most robust in-app purchase offerings of any VR title so far, with a battlepass-style system that allowed players to pay for the chance to unlock cosmetic rewards over the course of seven seasons. Unfortunately the studio has confirmed that refunds for in-game content will not be offered.
Image courtesy Ready at Dawn, Oculus
As a parting gift, at least, the studio says players who play the game between now and when it shuts down will receive a heap of premium cosmetic items for free:
From now until August 1, 2023, play just one match of either Echo Combat or Arena to unlock:
All Epic + Superb rarity chassis/booster/bracer sets from Echo Pass seasons 1–6 Season 7 rewards to be released at a later date
All Chassis Variants
All non-3D rewards from Echo Pass seasons 1–6 Season 7 rewards to be released at a later date
All Echo Shop items Including Starter Bundle
All previous event rewards
Some previously unreleased rewards
The following rewards will NOT be included in the event
VRML rewards
LE2 Chassis
Legendary rarity chassis/booster/bracer sets from the previous 7 seasons
Leveling Track Rewards
Leveling Track
We will now be granting all leveling track items at lvl 1 so everyone gains access to these rewards without impacting matchmaking quality.
Echo Shop
We will place all legendary chassis/booster/bracer sets for sale on the Echo Shop at reduced prices until the game shuts down.
And last but not least, Ready at Dawn confirmed that Echo Combat, the lesser-played FPS variant of the game (which never made the leap to Quest) will also be shutting down as of August 1st, and is already no longer available for purchase.
Following a Bloomberg report which claimed Sony had cut its production forecast for PSVR 2, the company flatly refuted the claim.
Update (January 31st, 2023 – 12: 51PM PT): Sony refuted a Bloomberg report earlier today that claimed the company had cut its production forecast for PSVR 2 in lieu of lower than expected pre-orders. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the company said it has “not cut PlayStation VR2 production numbers,” and further claimed it is “seeing enthusiasm from PlayStation fans for the upcoming launch, which includes more than 30 titles such as Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and Resident Evil Village.”
The original article, detailing the Bloomberg report, continues below.
Original Article (January 31st, 2023 – 5: 31AM PT): Slated to launch on February 22nd, Sony was expected to produce an initial run of two million PSVR 2 headsets, however a recent Bloombergreport maintains the company has reduced those forecasts to just one million in the first quarter.
Citing people familiar with deliberations, Sony reportedly told a supply partner to expect reduced display panel orders, allegedly stating that it only expects to sell 1.5 million units between April 2023 and March 2024.
Only Aiming to Meet PSVR (2016) Unit Sales?
To put it into perspective, the original PSVR for PS4 sold two million units after about 14 months on store shelves. At the time of PSVR’s launch in October 2016, over 70 million PS4s were in the wild, making for a pretty large potential install base.
Out of the gate, PS5 unit sales were largely held back by the global manufacturing cooldown starting in 2020, so many of those console sales are probably fairly recent. At CES 2023 earlier this month, Sony said it has sold 30 million PS5 consoles to date, noting at the time that December 2022 was the biggest month ever for PS5 console sales.
Here’s a chart of PSVR unit sales spanning launch up to 2020, showing an early bump to one million sales, and a slower protracted growth period to five million units over the course of three years.
Data courtesy Sony
Although less than half as many PS5 consoles are in the wild in comparison to PS4, the VR landscape has changed a great deal over the years. Market leader Meta hasn’t released Quest 2 sales figures, however analysts suggest Meta has shipped somewhere between 10 and 15 million Quest 2 units since launch in late 2020, meaning potential interest in VR is at an all-time high.
Provided the reports are true, Sony is only hoping to essentially match its original sales figures of PSVR over the next 14 months, which may signal it has markedly lower expectations for its next-gen VR headset overall. But why? In the end, it probably comes down to the all-in price of PSVR 2 and the lack of strong anchor titles to convert PS5 owners.
Photo by Road to VR
At its cheapest, PS5 costs $500, while PSVR 2 (and included controllers) costs $550, putting the all-in price of just the hardware at $1,050. This is undoubtedly a barrier to entry for newcomers, especially since the company’s best PS5 sales period was just a month ago. Brand new PS5 owners may not be able to rationalize another large gaming expense, especially in face of a worsening economic recession.
Then there are launch titles, many of which are remastered versions of extant Quest and PC VR games. Of the 30+ PSVR 2 launch day games announced by Sony, there are really only a handful of standout anchor titles: Horizon Call of the Mountain, Gran Turismo 7, and Resident Evil Village—the last two are flatscreen games getting VR compatibly support at PSVR 2’s February 22nd launch.
Notably missing is the slew of innovative first-party, ground-up VR games like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Blood & Truth, as well as taster packs like PSVR Worlds. The lack of heavy investment in exclusive content out of the gate may signal Sony is again forecasting long term growth similar to the original PSVR, casting it more as an optional accessory than a must-have expansion of its console gaming experience.
Granted, Sony has to think more in the long-term for its VR headsets than, say, standalone manufacturers like Meta, HTC, and Pico Interactive. Sony likely doesn’t expect to ship a prospective PlayStation 6 until 2028, recent reports contend, which means this is possibly the only PlayStation-compatible VR headset we’ll see for quite some time.
For now, at least, PSVR 2 represents class-leading hardware, but it will only be able to attract and retain users in the long-term with an increased focus on exclusive content, better bundling strategies, and a PS5 install base that will hopefully continue its path towards strong growth like we’ve seen in the recent months.
Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social VR platform for Quest users, is expanding with alpha tests of new members-only spaces, allowing creators to manage up to 150 card-carrying members in their private worlds. Meta says it’s also gearing up to release Horizon Worlds on non-Quest devices for the first time.
Meta is now rolling out alpha access to its new members-only worlds, which aims to let creators build and cultivate a space in Horizon Worlds. Each members-only world can have up to 150 members, although only 25 concurrent visitors can gather at any given time.
“Every community develops its own norms, etiquette, and social rules over time as it fosters a unique culture,” the company says in a blogpost. “To enable that, we’ll provide the tools that allow the creators of members-only worlds to set the rules for their communities and maintain those rules for their closed spaces.”
Meta says moderation responsibilities can be shared among trusted members, so creators can better control who gets in and who’s kicked out, however the company says its Code of Conduct for Virtual Experiences is still in effect in privately owned spaces.
What’s more, the Quest-only social platform is also going to be available on the Web and mobile devices “soon”, the company says, adding that rules will be made and enforced “similarly to how mobile operating systems manage experiences on their platforms.”
As it is today, Horizon Worlds plays host to a growing number of user-generated content in addition to first-party worlds. The release of Horizon Worlds outside of Quest would represent a massive potential influx of users and user-generated content, putting it in direct competition with cross-platform social gaming titans such as Roblox and Rec Room.
As a similar free-to-play app, Horizon Worlds offers an Avatar Store featuring premium digital outfits—very likely only a first step in the company’s monetization strategy. For now, the company says it allows creators to earn revenue from purchases people make in their worlds, which includes hardware platform fees and a Horizon Worlds fee, which Meta says is 25 percent.
In late October, Meta showed off a tempting preview of its next-gen avatars, although it’s clear there’s still a ton of work to be done to satisfy its existing userbase. Floating torsos are still very much a thing in Horizon Worlds, and that’s despite Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s insistence that full body tracking was in the works. It was too good to be true.
For now, Horizon Worlds is only available on Quest 2 headsets in the US, Canada, UK, France, Iceland, Ireland and Spain—something we hope they change well before it ushers in flatscreen users.
The social VR community was shocked and devastated to learn that AltspaceVR is shutting its doors. While it’s in the nature of emerging technology applications to come and go, many with few tears shed by fewer remaining users, this platform seems to have been taken from us in the prime of its life leaving many wondering where to go next.
“When AltspaceVR first launched, our vision was to create a place where people from around the world could connect and socialize in real time,” the team wrote. “It was a bold vision, and with the help of our passionate community, the platform became a place where users made lifelong memories, formed cherished friendships, found love — and even married in IRL (in real life).”
Much of the post waxes nostalgic about the platform, which launched in 2015 and was purchased by Microsoft in 2017. The post also encouraged “the many creators and developers who are part of the AltspaceVR community to host final events and download their content.”
“The decision has not been an easy one as this is a platform many have come to love, providing a place for people to explore their identities, express themselves, and find community,” wrote the team. “It has been a privilege to help unlock passions among users.”
Why, Microsoft? Why?
The team writes that they are closing AltspaceVR to “shift our focus to support immersive experiences powered by Microsoft Mesh.” Microsoft Mesh is the company’s mixed reality platform that was announced from within AltspaceVR during Microsoft Ignite 2021. The event, featuring Alex Kipman and James Cameron, looked at the platform as a tool for humanity.
“A dream you dream alone is just a dream. A dream we dream together is called reality,” Kipman said at the time, quoting John Lennon. “We tend to think of reality and dreams as separate. But, are they?”
Since then, Microsoft has focused on Mesh as more of an enterprise tool than a collaborative dream maker. At Microsoft Ignite 2022, CEO Satya Nadella announced that Mesh would be integrating with Microsoft Teams. Nadella also presented integrations between Microsoft Teams (presumably including Mesh) with Meta’s Horizon Workrooms at Meta Connect 2022.
“We knew early on that we wanted this to be a great place to get work done and with Microsoft, we can make that happen,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the event.
What About Us?
Shutting down AltspaceVR to focus on an enterprise platform is a strange play seeing as virtually none of the people using it were using it for enterprise. The always-full events schedule included comedy shows, community events, support groups and spiritual meetings, and musical performances. Where will they go?
Some of the events that you may know and love from AltspaceVR are already happening across multiple immersive platforms. For example, the live VR comedy show Failed to Render began in AltspaceVR but also has a home in Horizon Worlds and VRChat. Similarly, the Polys Awards takes place in AltspaceVR but also takes place in Mozilla Hubs, ENGAGE, and others.
But, what about those experiences that are only on AltspaceVR? Like BRCvr’s Burning Man experiences? An email from the organization said that they have plans for future events in another platform, but are respectfully waiting for the book to close forever on this chapter.
“Leaving AltspaceVR is difficult for all of us who have loved building this incredible community,” BRCvr co-founder Athena Demos said in the email. “Before we announce where we plan to continue our virtual Burning Man experiences, we want to honor the incredible friendships and creative partnerships we have forged on AltspaceVR.”
Kavya Pearlman, the CEO of XR Safety Initiative – which has been hosting events, such as Metaverse Safety Week, on the platform for years – said in a tweet that she was in talks with the group’s technical partner about moving to other platforms. Nothing official has been announced.
AltspaceVR had no enemies but it had many competitors. When the eulogy of a blog post went live on Twitter, representatives from a number of immersive platforms spoke at the wake.
We have some sad news, Altspacers. #AltspaceVR is shutting down on March 10th.
Though we hate saying goodbye, we also feel such pride and gratitude for all the magic that happened here. ✨
There was no gloating at the grave, but tweets from Somnium Space, Spatial, and Mona invited displaced worldbuilders to take their events and spaces along. While this may be an option for events and assets, it’s not a meaningful option for users.
As mentioned in the blog post, users can download their data from the platform. However, there isn’t much that can be done with it. Photographs taken within the platform can be cherished but avatars can’t be transferred. It’s possible to download profile data from users that you met on the platform, but that’s not likely to help you connect with them on other platforms.
And, what are those platforms likely to be? Where will we meet next? A couple of solutions have already been named.
Where Will We Go?
VRChat is a proven and robust platform, but isn’t necessarily friendly towards new users, particularly when it comes to avatar creation. It has more tools and options than AltspaceVR but that can make it feel unwieldy. Somnium Space is in a similar category.
Spatial is a strong contender. The lightweight and easy-to-use platform runs in-browser, which is another strong bonus. Integration with Ready Player Me also means that creating an avatar is easy and bringing one with you if you already have one is even easier. Mona is in a similar category.
Mozilla Hubs has been putting in a lot of work, but they charge for that. With the new $20/month subscription price, many casual users won’t be signing on anymore.
ENGAGE is a solid free option, though it does require an app download. The same goes for Horizon – particularly if Meta makes good on its promise to make the platform available on hardware other than Meta headsets.
VIVE has also been building out its immersive offerings, but these also tend to be clunkier than many users will want. Virbela has also shown itself a capable, robust, and user-friendly platform, though a free app download is required.
The End of an Era
This was the first immersive world I ever entered. The fact that you don’t need a headset to enter the free and easy-to-use platform made it an unparalleled introduction to VR.
From before and after I got my first headsets, I have many memories from this platform, including the first time that I really felt like I had made eye contact with someone across the country. After years in the industry, there were still times when I would put on a headset just to shoot hoops outside of my VR house. AltspaceVR will be missed.
If you’re looking for the very best overall PC VR headset, Valve Index is our pick. It’s pricey compared to the rest, but has an excellent balance of quality, performance, and comfort. That’s why we called it “the enthusiast’s choice” in our full review of the headset.
Pros
Things to love about Index are its excellent tracking performance, wide field of view, quality controllers, great audio, and range of ergonomic adjustments that make it easy to dial in a comfortable and clear fit.
Index is one of the only headsets that offers an eye-relief adjustment. This let’s you bring the lenses as close to your eyes as comfortable, allowing you to maximize your field of view; it also makes the headset easier to adjust for glasses. Index has a physical IPD adjustment which ranges from 58mm to 70mm, making it easy to align the lenses with the width of your eyes for the sharpest visuals.
Cons
But Index isn’t perfect. Compared to other headsets on the market, the external tracking system is more work to set up, typically requiring two tracking beacons mounted on opposite corners of a room, stuck on a tripod, placed up high on a shelf, or screwed into your wall. They also need to be plugged into their own power outlets. And while Index has cameras on the front for a pass-through view, it isn’t as quick or useful as we’ve seen on other headsets. Its resolution is on the low-end compared to the latest headsets, and did we mention the price tag of $1,000? You can get it cheaper though if you already have SteamVR Tracking base stations from an old Vive headset.
Valve Index Specs
Resolution
1,440 x 1,600 (2.3MP) per-eye, LCD (2x)
Refresh Rate
80Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz
Lenses
Double element Fresnel
Field-of-view
~130° diagonal
Optical Adjustments
IPD, eye-relief
IPD Adjustment Range
58–70mm
Connectors
USB 3.0, DisplayPort 1.2, 12V power
Cable Length
5m + 1m breakaway
Tracking
SteamVR Tracking 1.0 or 2.0 (external beacons)
On-board cameras
2x RGB
Input
Valve Index controllers (rechargable battery)
Audio
Off-ear headphones, 3.5mm aux output
Microphone
Dual microphone
Pass-through view
Yes
Content Compatibility
Valve Index is officially compatible with the SteamVR library where the vast majority of VR content is available. If you’re looking to play content that’s exclusive to the Oculus PC library (like Lon Echo II) you can use the free but unofficial Revive mod to play Oculus PC content on Valve Index. It may take some tweaking for performance and controller inputs, but for the most part Oculus content will play reasonably well on Index.
While Valve’s Index has great all-around performance, HP’s latest Reverb G2 is the headset you want if resolution is your most important consideration. Reverb G2 should be on your radar especially if you’re thinking of picking up a VR headset for seated PC VR games like driving and flight simulators—find out why in our full review.
ℹ HP has also released a slightly updated version of the headset (which we call the Reverb G2.1) that makes some small but noticeable improvements. Read more about Reverb G2.1 here.
Pros
When it comes right down to it, G2’s defining feature is its class-leading resolution of 2,160 × 2,160, which can look downright amazing with the right content. Thanks to a collaboration between Valve and HP, G2 also borrows the excellent headphones of Valve’s Index headset and brings improved controllers compared to previous WMR headsets. Not to mention the headset has inside-out tracking which makes it easier to use thanks to no external trackers. And who can argue with it being nearly half the price of the full Valve Index kit?
Cons
Although it boasts improved controller ergonomics compared to prior WMR headsets, Reverb G2’s controller tracking still has more latency and less reliability than its peers, along with less detailed (and somewhat noisy) haptics. The controllers will get you through most games just fine, but if you plan to primarily play competitive or fast-paced games, the controllers on other headsets tend to deliver better results. As for field of view, G2 is similar to most of its peers but loses out compared to Index. The pass-through view also isn’t as useful as some other headsets because of its odd ‘flashlight’ implementation.
HP Reverb G2 works natively with the Windows Mixed Reality store, but very few VR applications are available there. Fortunately a free and official plugin from Microsoft also makes it compatible with SteamVR content. If you’re looking to play content that’s exclusive to the Oculus PC library (like Lone Echo II) you can use the free but unofficial Revive mod to play Oculus PC content on Reverb G2.
If you have cash to spare, and especially if you’re looking for the ultimate VR sim setup, Varjo Aero could be a great fit. It has the most impressive visual clarity we’ve seen from any consumer-available headset, thanks to a very high resolution display and unique lenses. It also has some other nice-to-have features not found on most other headsets. But it’ll cost you far more than other headsets. For a deep dive, check out our full Varjo Aero review.
Pros
If you can even put a headset that’s this expensive in the same category as other consumer VR headsets, Varjo Aero easily has the sharpest, most immersive image thanks to its 2,880 x 2,720 (7.8MP) per-eye resolution. On top of that, the headset uses aspheric (rather than Fresnel) lenses, which means it doesn’t suffer from the glare and god-rays that plague most other headsets. Aero also has two features that aren’t available on most headsets: automatic IPD adjustment and eye-tracking. The latter can be used for foveated rendering and some other useful stuff, but most applications today don’t support it.
Cons
Aero’s biggest downsides are its price, lack of integrated audio, and some image distortion. The headset alone costs $2,000, and if you don’t already have SteamVR Tracking base stations and controllers, you’ll need to shell out an additional $580 to get them. And let’s not forget… in order to really get the most from the headset, you’ll need a PC capable of pushing all those pixels at high framerates; if you don’t already have a beast of a PC, this one might not be the best choice (Varjo recommends at least an RTX 3070 or RTX 2080 and Aero does not support AMD GPUs).
As for the lack of integrated audio—you’ll need to plug headphones or earbuds into the headset’s 3.5mm aux port, which means another wire to deal with and another thing to put on and take off every time you use the headset. And while the Aero’s image is incredibly sharp, it does suffer from distortion near the edges of the lens which can bother some people more than others.
Varjo Aero is officially compatible with the SteamVR library where the vast majority of VR content is available. If you’re looking to play content that’s exclusive to the Oculus PC library (like Lone Echo II) you can use the free but unofficial Revive mod to play Oculus PC content on Varjo Aero. It may take some tweaking for performance and controller inputs, but for the most part Oculus content should work on Aero.
Although Quest 2 is a standalone headset (which means games run directly in the headset without plugging into a PC) it also has a feature called Oculus Link which gives you the option to run PC VR games by plugging into a PC. And if you have a modern router (Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6), you can even do this wirelessly with Air Link feature.
Pros
Along with the useful passthrough feature, high resolution display, and great controllers, Quest 2 is a pretty great all-around headset. The hard-to-beat price makes it a great value, especially considering the fact that the headset also runs standalone VR games from the Meta Quest store. Meta has also consistently released software updates to improve the headset’s performance and features.
Cons
Unfortunately the cable that comes with Quest 2 isn’t long enough to work well for Oculus Link, and we can’t recommend the official cable because of its crazy $80 price tag. Thankfully you can get 26 feet worth of Oculus Link cable for $34. Or if you have a Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 router you can use Air Link to play PC VR games wirelessly.
Without being plugged into a computer, Quest 2 can only play games from the Meta Quest library. If you plug into a computer via Oculus Link, you’ll have access to everything in the Oculus PC and SteamVR libraries as well. That means that Quest 2 is compatible with the vast majority of top VR content out there, as long as you’ve got a powerful PC to plug the headset into.
Standalone VR headsets are fully self-contained and don’t need to plug into anything. They generally offer high ease-of-use thanks to their all-in-one nature and lack of tether. With their low overall cost (thanks to not needing a high-end PC) standalone headsets are a great way to take your first step into VR.
Quest 2 is an upgrade over its predecessor in almost every way, though it’s worth noting that you need a Facebook account to use the headset. It comes in a 128GB and 256GB version.
Pros
With an impressive resolution, powerful Snapdragon XR2 processor, useful ‘passthrough’ view feature, and great controllers, there’s a lot to like about Quest 2. What’s more, if you ever decide to upgrade to PC-powered VR, Quest 2 can plug into your computer and be used like a PC VR headset. When it comes to overall value, no other standalone headset is in the same ballpark right now. And another nice thing about the headset: it keeps getting better with each update.
Cons
There’s a few things we wish were better though. As we found in our full Quest 2 review, the included soft headstrap just isn’t that comfortable, which is why we recommend the Elite Strap ($60 on Amazon) or Elite Battery Strap ($120 on Amazon) accessories if you’re a serious VR user.
The hidden built-in speakers are convenient but we wish they were more powerful for better immersion (luckily there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack if you want to use your own headphones). And while Quest 2 has a pretty strong game library, since it’s a standalone headset you won’t be able to play any of the big PC VR games like Half-Life: Alyx or Asgard’s Wrath unless you have a powerful PC to plug into.
Meta Quest 2 is compatible with all content in the Meta Quest library. If you have a gaming PC (or get one in the future), you can plug it into your PC to play content in the Oculus PC library and the SteamVR library.
Although Meta is heavily marketing Quest Pro as a ‘mixed reality’ headset, Quest Pro is also essentially a better Quest 2 in almost every way. While the upgrades are nice, they won’t justify the extra $1,000 in cost for anyone but hardcore VR users; we explain why in our full Quest Pro review.
Pros
You can think of Quest Pro as a more compact Quest 2 with better visual clarity, better controllers, a better passthrough view, and some neat new features like face-tracking. Although the resolution is the same as Quest 2, the lenses are better which makes the image a bit sharper and improves clarity by eliminating glare caused by Quest 2’s less sophisticated lenses. The new controllers are self-tracking, which means they won’t lose tracking when they’re out of sight of the headset and they’re more compact. An included charging dock for both the headset and the controllers is also a nice touch which means your headset will always be charged and updated when you’re ready to play.
Cons
Given that Quest Pro is being pushed as a mixed reality headset, Meta opted for an open-front design which means you’ll be able to see the outside world more easily. This is nice for when you’re using the passthrough view, but for VR applications it can be less immersive. The headset includes some snap-on blinders that close off some of that outside view for more immersion, but you’ll have to drop an extra $50 for the ‘full light blocker‘ if you want maximum immersion from the headset.
Additionally, Quest Pro’s lack of top-strap makes the headset less comfortable for some than it could be and its battery life is pretty short at 1–2 hours. And finally, the headset’s most unique features, like full face-tracking and better passthrough for AR applications, are rather underutilized at this stage in the headset’s life.
Quest Pro Specs
Resolution
1800 × 1920 (3.5MP) per-eye, LCD (2x)
Refresh Rate
72Hz, 90Hz
Optics
Pancake non-Fresnel
Field-of-view (claimed)
106°H × 96°V
Optical Adjustments
Continuous IPD, continuous eye-relief
IPD Adjustment Range
55–75mm
Processor
Snapdragon XR2+
RAM
12GB
Storage
256GB
Connectors
USB-C
Weight
722g
Battery Life
1–2 hours
Headset Tracking
Inside-out (no external beacons)
Controller Tracking
Inside-out (headset line-of-sight not needed)
Expression Tracking
Yes (eyes, face)
On-board cameras
5x external, 5x internal
Input
Touch Pro controllers (rechargeable), hand-tracking, voice
Audio
In-headstrap speakers, dual 3.5mm aux output
Microphone
Yes
Pass-through view
Yes (color)
MSRP
$1,500
Content Compatibility
Meta Quest Pro is compatible with all content in the Meta Quest library. If you have a gaming PC (or get one in the future), you can plug it into your PC to play content in the Oculus PC library and the SteamVR library.
Yup, our value pick for standalone headset is the same as our ‘Best Overall’ pick: Quest 2! But if you’re brand new to VR and are just looking for a taste, you can probably hold off on the Elite Strap accessory and save yourself $60 in the meantime. If you find yourself using the headset often you can always add the strap later.
See the Quest 2 section above for thoughts and details on Quest 2.
If you know anything about VR, you’ll already know what we’re going to say! PlayStation is the only console maker that currently supports a VR headset (sorry Xbox fans). And unfortunately only Sony’s own headsets work with its consoles.
But at least that makes things easy. If you’re using PS4, the original PSVR is the best (and only) headset that will work with the console.
If you’re using PS5, the soon-to-launch PSVR 2 is the obvious choice. Even though the original PSVR is technically compatible with PS5 (if you get a special adapter), PSVR 2 is a big improvement across the board and will be the only headset to support the latest generation of VR games and content on PS5.
Image courtesy Sony
Our Take
PSVR launched in late 2016 and was a great headset for its era, including a handful of excellent exclusive VR games that you won’t find anywhere else. However, the headset is officially past its prime in 2023 and feels ‘last generation’ in resolution, tracking, and controllers compared to what’s available elsewhere in the VR landscape.
It’s hard to recommend buying the six year old PSVR today. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find new units at reasonable prices. Bundles are typically priced at $350, but good luck finding those in-store or online anymore. Ebay has a number of pre-owned options alongside unreasonably expensive new in-the-box units, so choose wisely.
That’s certainly because Sony is planning to launch its next-gen PSVR 2 on February 22nd.
PlayStation VR is only compatible with select VR content in the PlayStation store and does not support PSVR 2 games. However, its back-catalog includes a handful of excellent exclusives not available on PSVR 2 like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Blood & Truth. You can also use the headset to play non-VR PS4 or PS5 content in a ‘theater mode’ through the headset, but with relatively low resolution it’s not something you’re likely to do often. The vast majority of PSVR titles are also backwards compatible with PS5.
Launching in February, PlayStation VR 2 will finally bring an upgrade to Sony’s VR platform, but it will only be compatible with PS5. Priced at $600, it’s more expensive than something like Quest 2, but if you’ve already got a PS5 you’re likely to get a higher-fidelity VR experience thanks to the game console being far more powerful than the standalone Quest 2.
PSVR vs. PSVR 2 Specs
Resolution
2,000 x 2,040 (4.1MP) per-eye, OLED, HDR
960 x 1,080 (1.0MP) per-eye, RGB OLED
Refresh Rate
90Hz, 120Hz
90Hz, 120Hz
Lenses
Fresnel
Single element non-Fresnel
Field-of-view (claimed)
110° (diagonal presumed)
100° (diagonal presumed)
Optical Adjustments
IPD, eye-relief
Eye-relief
Connectors
USB-C (no breakout box)
USB, HDMI (breakout box)
Cable Length
unknown
4.4m
Tracking
Inside-out (no external beacons)
Outside-in (external camera)
On-board cameras
4x IR (external), 2x IR (internal)
None
Input
PSVR 2 Sense controllers (rechargable), eye-tracking
PSVR 2 is unfortunately not backwards compatible with PSVR games. That means it only supports games in the PlayStation store that are specifically marked with PSVR 2 support.
Didn’t get a Quest 2 this holiday season, which includes a free copy of Beat Saber and Resident Evil 4? Although the beat-slashing rhythm game and zombie-slaying classic aren’t part of the deal anymore, for a limited time new Quest 2 owners can nab both GOLF+ and Space Pirate Trainer DX.
Meta is including the two games as a bonus when you buy a new Meta Quest 2 between February 5th and June 3rd, 2023. New Quest 2 owners must activate their headsets by June 17th, 2023 and the offer must be redeemed within 14 days of device activation.
The deal represents $50 in content, which you can get either by buying a 156 or 256 version of Quest 2, priced at $400 and $500 direct from Meta.
GOLF+ ($30 value)
Rated by users as the most popular paid Quest 2 game in January by review count, GOLF+ offers up some serious driving and putting, letting you join friends for a round at both free courses and paid DLC premium courses, including Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, and more.
Realism is the main focus: you can customize the contents of your golf bag with a ton of different irons as you take on the game’s many courses, either solo in online multiplayer. As the PGA Tour’s official VR golf game, more courses are also coming down the pipeline in February, including THE PLAYERS Championship and the WM Phoenix Open.
Space Pirate Trainer DX has been the go-to wave shooter since the early days of VR, but don’t let its age fool you: it’s still one of the slickest sci-fi shooting games around, feeling like a mix of Space Invaders and some sort of Mandalorian combat simulator from a galaxy far far away.
While primarily a single-player game, if you have the physical space and a Quest 2-owning friend, you can also play Space Pirate Arena, which basically gives you a 1v1 all-out battle similar to how you might play paintball or airsoft, but in VR.
There’s a ton of free stuff out there on the Quest Store, which we rounded up in our top 25 free games and experiences to download first. You’re sure to spend tens of hours swimming through all of the free stuff on the Store, although once you’re ready for some paid games, make sure to check out how to spend your first $100 on Quest content to keep the ball rolling.
It’s only been three months since Meta launched Quest Pro, pitching its next-gen mixed reality standalone to enterprise and prosumers with the hefty price tag of $1,500. In an unusual move by the company, Meta has quietly slashed the price of Quest Pro for a limited time, putting it more directly in competition with HTC’s recently revealed Vive XR Elite standalone headset.
Update (11AM ET): Sale timing has been revealed; the price drop is in effect for one week only in the US, and two weeks in the UK (dropping to £1,300). We’ve included this in the body of the article below.
Released in late October, Quest Pro essentially set the tone of the next generation of standalone VR hardware. Typically, Meta is consumer-forward, pricing its headsets below (or close to) $500, but Quest Pro represents a pivotal shift in Meta’s strategy.
Starting with Quest Pro, the company is using mixed reality as “a key part of the journey toward full augmented reality devices,” Chief Technology Officer and Reality Labs Chief Andrew Bosworth described in a year-end blogpost.
Quest Pro | Image courtesy Meta
With the sale, it seems the company is quietly gunning to retain its share of the budding MR headset marketplace by knocking the price of Quest Pro to match its largest competitor, Vive XR Elite, which HTC revealed earlier this month, couching it as its long-awaited return to the consumer VR space.
Vive XR Elite | Image courtesy HTC
Now, Meta’s Quest Pro is priced at $1,100, or $400 below its previous MSRP, challenging Vive XR Elite’s unique selling points in the process. According to CNET, the sale is happening for one week only in the US, and two weeks in the UK (dropping to £1,300).
Notably, these aren’t entirely analogous devices; some hardware quirks might act as key differentiators, although the undeniable overlap now puts them squarely in direct competition. Still, it’s pretty close.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the headset specs side-by-side:
Feature
Vive XR Elite
Quest Pro
Inside-out tracking
wide FOV cameras (4), depth sensor (1)
wide FOV cameras (4), no depth sensor
Passthrough
single 16 MP RGB camera
single RGB (MP?) camera
Resolution
1,920 × 1,920 per eye (LCD)
1,800 × 1,920 per eye (LCD)
Display Refresh
90 Hz
90 Hz
Eye-tracking
Additional module required
Onboard eye-tracking
Face-tracking
Additional module required
Onboard face-tracking
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2
Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+
Storage & Memory
128 GB / 12 GB
256 GB / 12 GB
FOV
up to 110-degrees diagonal
up to 96-degrees diagonal
Optics
Pancake lens
Pancake lens
IPD Adjustment
manual, 54–73 mm range
manual, 55-75 mm
Audio
built-in open-ear audio
built-in open-ear audio, 3.5mm audio port
Weight
625g (including battery), 273g in ‘glasses’ mode
722 g (including battery)
Controllers
6DOF motion controllers (2), hand-tracking
6DOF motion controllers (2), hand-tracking
Playtime on battery
~2 hours
~2 hours
Retail Price
$1,099
$1,099 (MSRP $1,499)
A raw spec sheet doesn’t exactly tell the full story, although it’s clear HTC will need to play catchup if it intends on remaining competitive with Meta now that both headsets have achieved price parity, albeit temporarily. Vive XR Elite is still in pre-order, with a late February shipping window, while Quest Pro is available today, direct from Meta.
In Vive XR Elite’s favor is its convertibility: the traditional battery headstrap can be replaced with a glasses arm piece, which allows it to be used with an external powerbank for more casual content viewing, like watching a film in your own private theater whilst on a plane or train.
It’s a unique selling point, although the lack of 3.5mm sours this somewhat, as you’ll need to use Bluetooth headphones to watch anything if you want complete privacy in a public space. Still, the focus on every day, on-the-go use sets it apart from Quest Pro. On the flipside, Quest Pro however features both eye and face-tracking out of the box, something Vive XR Elite will gain in the future with the release of separate modules.
Hardware aside, Meta undoubtedly has a leg up with its content ecosystem, as all games designed for Quest 2 automatically support Quest Pro—that’s a lot of content out of the box in addition to the admittedly smallish drip of mixed reality experiences already on the Quest Store.
Meanwhile, HTC is still amassing games for its growing content library, which currently doesn’t boast any truly notable exclusives that might make you choose one headset over the other. Notably, HTC also openly refutes it will sell personal user data since it’s not a social media company—a clear shot across the bow at Meta’s spotty track record in user privacy and security.
“What’s the cost of your personal data? We’re not a social media company. Our business model doesn’t rely on advertising revenue, so it’s not something we’re doing. We want to build good hardware.” – @shen
The list of differences doesn’t end there. If you want to learn more about Quest Pro and Vive XR Elite, check out our in-depth hands-on articles with both headsets.
SUPERHOT’s time-pausing mechanic works so well in VR, it’s a surprise we haven’t seen more games use it to bring new and interesting stuff to life. Now, Omega Pilot developer XOCUS says it’s doing just that with the release of Presentiment of Death, a story-driven VR adventure that feels like a mashup of SUPERHOT VR and archery game In Death.
Like SUPERHOT, Presentiment of Death’s time dilation system means the enemy robots move when you move. The kicker: you have to draw your bow, which means you’ll have to really be your toes as the enemy arrows come flying in when you want to return fire.
We won’t have to wait long to play either, as XOCUS says it’s releasing the game on SteamVR headsets on March 1st, with the promise that it will eventually arrive on “all VR platform.” When, XOCUS hasn’t said. In the meantime, you can wishlist the game on Steam here.
Although it basically looks like SUPERHOT with archery, the trailer shows off more than just the same frangible enemies, as there seems to be a few different enemy types, including a larger tank enemy and and several flying types too, which ought to ratchet up the difficulty.
It’s a shame the Superhot team never got around to making its SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE DLC VR compatible, or pushing any additional levels to the VR game, released in 2017 and still sitting at the top of most VR platform charts. Still, we’re hoping Presentiment of Death can scratch that itch, if only for old time’s sake.
NotGames, the indie studio behind ingenious propaganda simulator Not For Broadcast (2022), announced it’s releasing a separate VR version in March, coming to SteamVR and Meta Quest 2.
Releasing on Steam and the Quest Store on March 23rd, Not For Broadcast VR is putting the power of mass media into your hands, as you control what people see and how they see it in your very own TV studio control booth, set in an alternate ’80s timeline in Britain.
Promising all of the original game’s dystopian tale of power, greed and resistance, the VR adaptation seems like a natural fit for the seated, button-heavy game—looking a bit like Please, Don’t Touch Anything.
The game is chock full of egotistical celebrities, dishonest politicians, and strange sponsors—and the show must go on uninterrupted. Pop in your lineup of VHS tapes, frame and edit shots, bleep out expletives, and keep everything moving smoothly—even as disaster strikes outside your window. Whatever you do, your mission is to keep those ratings up.
You can wishlist the game now on Steam. We’re still waiting for the Store link for Quest, however we’ll update this article when we see it. In addition to its VR launch, the game is also coming to PlayStation and Xbox on March 23rd as well.
At the time of this writing, the flatscreen version of Not For Broadcast has garnered an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ user review score on Steam, coming from over 7,000 players.
Starting today, the VR-supported stealth shooter Hitman 3 will be rebranded under the new umbrella name of Hitman World of Assassination. This not only includes Hitman 1, 2 and 3, but a free upgrade for previous owners of Hitman 3 on all platforms.
IO Interactive says the aim is to simplify the purchase experience for new players, who previously would need to either navigate the various deluxe editions, or buy additional access passes to play Hitman 1 & 2.
“Essentially, these […] changes will mean that all new players and existing HITMAN 3 owners will have the same base content ownership. There will be no more confusion over which edition to buy, what content you own, how to redeem Legacy packs or import locations, etc. We’re done with that,” the studio says in a Steam update.
So now, if you own the standard edition of Hitman 3 on PSVR or Steam for PC VR headsets, you’ll be able to jump into the rest of the trilogy starting today at 7PM CET (local time here).
If you haven’t previously bought Hitman 3, Hitman World of Assassination will get a price bump to $70 over the standard edition of $60.
Released on PSVR in January 2021, Hitman 3 suffered from the lack of motion control support at launch, and also wasn’t nearly as immersive as VR players would have hoped due to the lackluster object interaction. Then, the studio launched the VR-supported game on Steam a year later, giving the game its first taste of proper tracked motion controls.
Although Hitman 3 won Steam’s VR Game of the Year, the debate is still very much alive if Hitman 3 is truly a good enough VR experience to merit such high praise from the community.
