Enlarge/ For just $199, you could be having as much fun as this paid model.
Meta has announced it’s permanently lowering the price of its aging Quest 2 headset to $199 for a 128GB base model, representing the company’s lowest price yet for a full-featured untethered VR headset.
And the Quest 2 is far from the company’s state-of-the-art headset at this point. Meta launched the surprisingly expensive Quest Pro in late 2022 before dropping that headset’s price from $1,499 to $999 less than five months later. And last year’s launch of the Quest 3 at a $499 starting price brought some significant improvements in resolution, processing power, thickness, and full-color passthrough images over the Quest 2.
But for how long?
Those looking to get the Quest 2 at its new bargain MSRP should keep in mind that Meta may not be planning to support the aging headset for the long haul. Meta is currently winding down support for the original Quest headset, which launched in 2019 and no longer has access to important online features, security updates, and even new apps. The Quest 2 is just 18 months younger than the original Quest, and the new price might represent an effort to clear out defunct stock in favor of newer, more powerful Quest options.
Enlarge/ The Quest 2 (left) has a 40 percent thicker profile than the pancake-optics on the Quest 3 (right).
The Quest 2’s new price is the first time Meta has offered a headset below the “$250 and 250 grams” target former Meta CTO John Carmack once envisioned for a “super cheap, super lightweight headset” that could bring in the mass market (the Quest 2 weighs in at 503 grams). The new price is also stunningly cheap when you consider that, just six or seven years ago, VR-curious consumers could easily end up paying $1,500 or more (in 2024 dollars) for a high-end tethered headset and the “VR-ready” computer needed to power it.
If you’ve waited this long to see what virtual reality gaming is all about, this price drop is the perfect opportunity to indulge your curiosity for a relative pittance. Heck, it might be worth it even if your headset ends up, like mine, a Beat Saber machine most of the time.
With such an alluring price point on Quest 2 during the Black Friday period, it makes sense the headset would sell more than Quest 3. But what will it mean for the company’s effort to make mixed reality the main selling proposition of its headsets?
Twitter user JustDaven pointed out that Amazon reveals some coarse sales figures in certain cases, including for Quest 2 and Quest 3. We thought it would be interesting to look at all of the major Amazon territories where Quests are sold to find out what the numbers look like.
Across all major Amazon territories (just one of many places where the headset is sold), we found that Meta has sold some 240,000 Quest headsets. What’s more interesting than the raw number however is that Quest 2 is outselling Quest 3 nearly 3:1.
Even though Quest 3 is the hot new model that’s getting all the marketing, it’s not surprising how this happened.
The Quest 2 had a pretty stellar Black Friday discount with a sticker price of $250, including a $50 gift card (pricing it effectively at $200). Compare that to the lowest sticker price for Quest 3 which was $500, including a $15 gift card and a copy of Asgard’s Wrath 2 (pricing it effectively at $425).
Considering the Black Friday sticker prices ($250 vs. $500), people will naturally ask: “At twice the price of Quest 2, is Quest 3 twice as good?”
What It Means
In any case, the cheaper headset appears to be the clear winner so far this holiday season. But what does this mean for Meta—which has been trying to pivot from pure VR to mixed reality with its last two headsets?
Demeo Mixed Reality mode | Image courtesy Meta
Meta has pushed mixed reality as the primary use-case for both the Quest Pro and Quest 3. But while developers still need time to build killer apps and use-cases for mixed reality, a fresh surge of Quest 2 users is about to hit—a headset which just barely supports mixed reality experiences with a grainy black & white view.
This creates a difficult decision for developers: build for the new-fangled headsets with their greater power, better visuals, and much improved mixed reality capabilities? Or cater to the much larger audience of Quest 2 users?
This is of course always the case when game developers need to choose when to shift their focus to a next-gen game console. But this is different.
Between PS4 and PS5, for instance, there is no significant difference between the consoles that compares with the difference in mixed reality capabilities between Quest 2 and Quest 3. For PS4 and PS5, it’s comparatively easy for developers to build a single game and tune it to run well on both systems.
That’s arguably the same case for Quest 2 to Quest 3, but only if we’re talking about pure VR apps.
But a great mixed reality game built for Quest 3 is really going to struggle to provide a good experience on Quest 2; not only because of the lower resolution and black & white passthrough view, but also Quest 2’s lack of depth-sensor—a critical component for creating reasonably accurate maps of the player’s environment to truly mix the virtual and real worlds.
Quest 2 is already three years old. That’s not long for a typical console generation, but it is in the much faster moving landscape of standalone VR headsets.
A new surge of users for the last-gen headset will inevitably slow the transition to the next generation. That means developers will stay focused on the broader Quest 2 audience for a longer period, leaving Quest Pro and Quest 3 with less content that truly takes care of their main differentiator of higher quality mixed reality.
Image courtesy Meta
Ever since Quest Pro, Meta has focused its Quest marketing very heavily on mixed reality, giving customers a sense that there’s lots of great mixed reality content for the devices. But that’s far from the truth as things stand today. Mixed reality games and apps are still barely gestating, with most simply attaching a passthrough background to an existing game. Sure, that might make those games better in some cases, but it doesn’t really make use of the headsets’ mixed reality capabilities.
So while Meta would apparently like to see developers accelerate their transition to Quest Pro and Quest 3’s unique capabilities, the market is incentivizing them to decelerate that transition. That puts the platform and its developers at odds, with customers stuck somewhere in the twilight zone between.
Dungeons of Eternity (2023), the VR hack-n-slash adventure, has big plans for post-launch content, as developers Othergate announced its roadmap for the next year.
Released on Quest in October, Dungeons of Eternity includes both co-op and solo gameplay, pitting you against ever-changing dungeons with up to three other players.
The game’s randomly-generated dungeons also include multiple game modes and realms, featuring stuff like combat arenas, puzzles, trap rooms, secret chambers, and more—basically everything you’d expect from a DnD-style VR game.
At any rate, that’s what the game launched with a little over a month ago, but now the studio says it has a bunch of new content on the horizon, as the studio released a roadmap projecting clear out to the end of next year. Check it out below:
Image courtesy Othergate
Studio co-founder Ryan Rutherford also says in a recent Reddit AMA that the team has a “precise vision of creating a long-lasting VR experience you can enjoy with your friends or by yourself,” noting that the studio is entertaining a host of other improvements beyond those mentioned above.
You can find it on the Meta Store for Quest, priced at $30. At the time of this writing, Dungeons of Eternity is sporting a [4.65/5] user rating.
It’s pretty unlikely we’ll see any deals this year on Meta’s latest and greatest VR standalone, Quest 3. Before the holiday season kicks into gear though, the company is dropping the price of Quest 2 to just $250.
Both variants are on sale from now until December 31st, dropping the 128GB version from $300 to $250, and the 256GB version from $350 to $300. It’s a limited-time deal though, so there’ no telling when the company will pull the plug.
Launched in 2020, that puts Quest 2 now at half the price of the new Quest 3, which sells for $500 for the 128GB version and $650 for the 512GB version.
Image courtesy Meta
Thankfully, with Quest 2 you can play every game on the Quest Store today. Granted, it doesn’t have the full-color mixed reality capabilities of Quest 3, but you can rest assured knowing that (at least for now) there are no Quest 3 exclusives to make you too envious. Check out the spec sheet below to get a better idea of how the headsets differ.
You can find the deal on Quest 2 over at Meta.com, but also participating retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.
And what games can you play on Quest 2? Well, you don’t need a computer—just the headset—to play a host of popular VR titles such as hit rhythm game Beat Saber, battle royale shooter Population: One, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted, Among Us VR, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, NFL PRO ERA—the list of best-selling Quest titles goes on.
You can also hook the headset up to a VR-ready computer to play award-winning games such as Half-Life: Alyx, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, Lone Echo, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice VR, and more. Make sure your computer is capable first though since PC VR games can be really resource intensive.
So while Quest 2 has everything in the box to get up playing VR games, there are a few pain points that accessories can solve—many of which can be bought from third parties and not Meta itself if you’re looking to save a buck.
Check out the specs below, but also get a look at our Quest 3 review to learn more about what separates Meta’s consumer VR headsets.
Quest 3 vs. Quest 2 Specs
Quest 3
Quest 2
Resolution
2,064 × 2,208 (4.5MP) per-eye, LCD (2x)
1,832 × 1,920 (3.5MP) per-eye, LCD (1x)
Refresh Rate
90Hz, 120Hz (experimental)
60Hz, 72Hz, 80Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz
Optics
Pancake non-Fresnel
Single element Fresnel
Field-of-view (claimed)
110ºH × 96ºV
96ºH × 96ºV
Optical Adjustments
Continuous IPD, stepped eye-relief (built in)
Stepped IPD, stepped eye-relief (via included spacer)
Better keep a tight grip on that wallet—the next month and a half will see the launch of a flurry of anticipated games for Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 (and a few which are also coming to PSVR 2 and PC VR). Here’s what should be on your radar.
If you’ve been looking for something new to play, you’re about to have some decisions to make. Here’s a chronological breakdown of new Quest games coming before the end of 2023, starting with five that are already available but shouldn’t be missed!
Hack-n-slash takes on a new meaning in VR: swing swords, throw axes, use bows, wield magic staffs, and more to make it out alive. With the power of VR, you will be immersed in a fantasy adventure like no other.
COOP OR SOLO PLAY Band together for an unforgettable cooperative experience with up to 3 players, or delve into the dungeons yourself.
EVER-CHANGING DUNGEONS Explore randomly-generated dungeons across multiple game modes and realms – no dungeon run is the same. A vast array of chambers await, from combat arenas, puzzle, and trap rooms, secret chambers, and more.
FEEL THE DUNGEONS Hack-n-slash like never before with a visceral physics-based combat system and realistic interactions with the game world.
ENDLESS ARSENAL Every weapon is randomly generated, offering nearly endless loot within the dungeons. You will discover many weapon types, including swords, bows, magic staffs, and more.
PLAY YOUR WAY Craft your playstyle and appearance through loadouts, upgrades, and a diverse set of character customization options.
The classic game that chilled you to the bone in the 90s has been brought back to life, with cutting-edge VR technology that delivers an atmospheric story like no other.
Six guests have been welcomed to the foreboding mansion. But something sinister is at play. The wealthy recluse and toymaker, Henry Stauf, hides in the shadows, and there is a dark power here, shrouded in mysteries. Who is the 7th Guest? What does Henry want with them? And who will live to tell the tale?
As you explore the eerie mansion, the puzzles become increasingly challenging, and there are dangers lurking around every corner, with every shadow, creak, and flicker of light adding to the haunting tension.
Unlock new rooms and uncover hidden secrets, all while trying to keep your wits about you against the eerie horrors. The 7th Guest VR is the ultimate adventure for fans of mystery-puzzle games and those seeking a new and terrifying VR experience.
Team up with friends and become a Ghostbuster in this made-for-VR adventure.
Immerse yourself in the thrills and fun of bustin’ ghosts like never before on the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3. Quash a Mini-Pufts invasion in your own home in the exclusive game mode, Mini-Puft Mayhem – featuring the Meta Quest 3’s unique mixed reality capabilities.
In this VR app, you explore the worlds within worlds around you from inside your mobile scale lab as you travel to five levels of scale – molecular, bacterial, insect, human, and mountain. You’re joined by STEVE, the lab’s AI assistant, who shows you the different effects of biology, physics, and chemistry in each realm. Together you’ll scan objects, find hidden ducks, and observe science in action. You will complete four missions around giant ants, a tardigrade, a protist, and giant fungi that have accidentally been scaled up by using scientific concepts and scaling objects up and down yourself.
In addition to the base game, there is a Multiplayer Theater where players can invite their friends and watch Kurzgesagt videos together in VR. There’s also a Mixed Reality Sandbox where players can bring objects and creatures they’ve unlocked in the game into their home.
It’s been almost two centuries since Hari Seldon predicted the fall of the Galactic Empire and forged a Foundation to mitigate the chaos and destruction that would come.
You are an agent with the Commission of Public Safety, a shadowy organization that maintains order in the Galactic Empire. What begins as a mission to investigate deserters in the Periphery quickly becomes a battle for control of all humanity. With your superior officer in your ear, and the esteemed governor’s daughter at your side, you must journey to Foundation.
In this immersive roleplaying adventure, you decide who will rise and what is lost to the fires of anarchy. Disguise, hack, and blast your way through Asimov’s groundbreaking sci-fi universe using the most advanced tools the Galactic Empire has to offer.
The Foglands is an atmospheric 3D roguelike shooter where you’ll discover new paths, and uncover old secrets. Run into the unknown, fight monsters, scavenge loot, and try to make it back before you are swallowed by the Fog.
EXPLORE THE FOGLANDS – Play as a Runner, heroes of a sparse community living underground. Adventure from the wrecks of long-dead technology to the undiscovered depths where you’ll run, jump, sneak, and fight your way through the Fog.
ROWDY BAR-FIGHT ACTION – In a mysterious, fog-infested world, dangerous forces lurk in the shadows. Punch, throw, shoot, and smash through each run as you go toe-to-toe with strange, malevolent monsters and vicious, roving factions.
A MYSTERIOUS TALE – A great creature reawakens in the Fog. With the survival of your community in peril, you must strike a deal with a mysterious stranger in this sci-fi-western-horror story. Follow the network of tunnels to learn the long-buried truth and remember, sometimes the best way to move forward… is to look back.
SCAVENGE AND GROW – Scavenge precious items, unearth hidden secrets, and collect powerful abilities that can mean the difference between victory and death
Become a vampire. Strike from the darkness and drink the blood of your prey. Use stealth, persuasion, and an arsenal of upgradable abilities to sneak past enemies undetected or punish the guilty in the seedy backstreets of Venice.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice is an open-ended, narrative Adventure RPG set in the World of Darkness universe. You have the power to strike fear into the hearts of criminals as an untraceable shadow, picking off targets one-by-one.
STEALTH IS YOUR WEAPON Shadows are your ally. Take to the rooftops and seek new paths away from enemy eyes. Use Shadow Traps to snatch up unsuspecting prey and drag them into Oblivion. Activate Cloak of Shadows and slip unseen through enemy defenses. In Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice, stealth is your weapon.
BECOME A POWERFUL VAMPIRE Punish the guilty with brutal abilities. Launch yourself towards opponents with immense force or boil their insides with Cauldron of Blood. Sink your fangs into their necks to stock up on blood. Load your crossbow with special bolts to kill, distract or knock out guards from afar. Dish out Justice with a vengeance
LEVEL UP AND EXPLORE The dark skies of Venice provide ample opportunity to level up powers and build a character suited to your playstyle. Tackle side-missions to earn more experience. Convince NPCs to aid your quest, solve puzzles, uncover collectibles and test yourself with optional tasks in each mission.
Enhancing everything players love about the freerunning nature of STRIDE, the full-fledged sequel ‘Fates’ pushes the parkour action formula even further with new gameplay and a story-driven campaign.
MEET YOUR FATE
Raised in the slums of dystopian Airon City, at the very bottom of the food chain, you got a golden ticket out.
To survive and climb the ladder in elite police forces of SkyChase, you will have to deal with power shifts in gangs, dirty family feuds, corporate secrets, forbidden tech and much more. Your fate is bound with other motley characters in this story. Will you accept the destiny or fight against it?
FEEL LIKE A PARKOUR SPEC-OPS OFFICER
Climb buildings, vault through windows, and slide down cables with lightning speed.
Explore open-world locations under the watch of snipers and drones.
Feel the thrill of close-quarters combat with tactical shooter gameplay.
Use your gadgets and hacking skills to outwit thugs and corporates.
Welcome to the arena! Demeo Battles is a competitive turn-based strategy game for 1-4 players, featuring:
Turn-based Tactics – Battle your opponents in dungeons, forests and more as you square off against your enemies in grid-based action combat across 10 maps tailored for intense PvP competition — but don’t fall victim to “The Burn”
Monstrous Minions – Assemble an army of chaotic critters to fight alongside you — from rats and goblins to cave trolls to giant slimes — a rotating cast of 37 creatures to pick from at launch, all with a mind of their own!
Heroic Teamwork – Bring two champions to the battle in every match and leverage their synergies; control both heroes directly or partner up with another player to defeat competitors cooperatively
Play Your Way – Choose a champion to match your play style from 7 classes — hunter, sorcerer, assassin, guardian, bard, warlock or barbarian — to unleash magic, melee mayhem and more, with 89 possible cards to pick from when raining fury down on your opponents
Bespoke Builds – Spend your coins wisely when you enter the arena to build a unique loadout in every game, choosing from a randomized selection of action cards and monsters
Speedy Strategy – Challenge yourself to battle after battle with average matches lasting just under 20 minutes
Cross-Play – Play with your friends across all supported devices
Embody three legendary Assassins in this all-new full-length Assassin’s Creed action-adventure game. Experience firsthand the thrill of parkour, the rush of combat, and the tension of stealth as you become the Assassin like never before. Uncover new memories from Ezio Auditore, Kassandra, and Connor as you work to stop Abstergo from gaining the power to manipulate people’s beliefs.
PARKOUR: Feel the exhilaration of parkouring freely across expansive open maps. Explore Renaissance Italy, Ancient Greece, and Colonial America. Immerse yourself in history as you engage with NPCs and interact with historical figures like Leonardo Da Vinci.
COMBAT: Deploy your Hidden Blade with a flick of your wrist. Use your hands to block, parry, counterattack, and duel a variety of enemies. Immerse yourself in the action with weapons including bow and arrows, swords, throwing knives, the tomahawk, the crossbow, the Hidden Blade, and bombs, all of which attach to your full-body avatar.
STEALTH: Sneak up on a target from behind or surprise them with an air assassination. Evade enemies by blending into a crowd or distract them with objects in the environment.
Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR features all of the iconic gameplay from the series, including the dazzling Leap of Faith. You will become the Assassin, choosing how to achieve your missions as you sneak, traverse, and fight your way through open maps in an unforgettable campaign.
Ironstrike – November 16th ($20)
From the Developer:
Ironstrike is a co-op VR fantasy roguelike combat game developed by E McNeill. Players can go at it alone or party up with friends with a wide array of character classes to choose from to dispatch waves of challenging enemies. Utilize a wide array of weapons as a ranger or become an arcane mage to use magical spells to buff teammates or compromise opponents.
Take on the role of the deadly assassin Kenshiro as you travel across feudal Japan to defeat the Six Oni of Iga, a bandit group spreading chaos across the land. Through a wide variety of weapons, tools, and techniques, you’ll infiltrate conquered castles and outwit your enemies as you hunt down each Oni.
With the innovations of Next-Gen VR hardware, immerse yourself in the ultimate shinobi fantasy. Leap from rooftop to rooftop, hide in shadows and perform lethal sneak attacks, survive impossible odds in sword combat, and vanish from the scene just as quickly as you arrived. Heightened graphical fidelity and carefully tuned controls make each new battle more engaging than the last.
Each castle you conquer is capped off with an exciting battle against one of the Six Oni. Each bandit leader is a unique combatant both in style, personality, and abilities, putting your mastery of the sword to the test. Prove yourself against these fearsome foes as you hone your skills with each new encounter.
Your mission for justice is not one you take alone. With your canine companion Haru by your side, praised for her advanced AI and usefulness, Arashi brings a unique sense of companionship not found in other VR titles.
Customize your arsenal as you see fit before each mission with blades, grenades, mines, arrows, blowguns, pistols, and more! Whether you want to make it through unscathed and unseen, or want to face your enemies head-on with style, your choices are always supported.
Awaken, Cosmic Guardian – The fate of reality lies in your hands. Travel across vast realms inhabited by the gods in pursuit of the Trickster God Loki, who threatens to undo the threads of the universe. It’s up to you to battle gods and monsters alike as you take on one of the biggest and most epic scale Action RPGs ever experienced in VR.
Alongside legendary Egyptian gods, you’ll fight deadly warriors and awe-inspiring mythical creatures through physics-based, visceral combat with unique weapons and playstyles. Possess unique mortal heroes and convert loyal animals into your own warrior followers as you explore a massive, free-roaming and living world and solve mind-bending god-scale puzzles.
What Didn’t Make it in 2023
While that’s a solid lineup before the end of the year, two big Quest games that we hoped to see this year won’t be out before the New Year.
Image courtesy Skydance Interactive
First is the highly anticipated Behemoth from Skydance Interactive, the developer behind the Walking Dead VR games. Original slated for a 2023 release date, the studio recently announced a major delay for the game until 2024. Also coming to PSVR 2 and PC VR.
Image courtesy Rockstar Games
And last but not least is GTA: San Andreas VR. Announced way back in 2021, we figured the game would be set for release not later than the launch of Quest 3… but with no release date set, it’s almost certainly not going to land in 2023. And with no recent updates on the game, we might not ever see it.
Meta announced at Connect 2023 that Xbox Cloud Gaming is heading to Quest in December, meaning you’ll be able to play all of your favorite flatscreen games on offer through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Meta’s full unveiling of Quest 3 yesterday came with a fair bit of news, including specs, price, pre-orders and shipping dates; long story short, you can get Meta’s $500 consumer mixed reality headset starting October 10th, with pre-orders now live.
Sometime in December, Meta says we’ll also get support for Xbox Cloud Gaming on Quest too, which users will be able to use on a virtual screen that can be adjusted and resized.
There’s no specific date yet for when to expect Xbox Cloud Gaming to the Quest platform. On stage, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg only mentioned that it’s “coming to Quest in December,” so it’s possible we’ll see even Quest 2 included in the list of supported hardware in addition to Quest 3 and (presumably) Quest Pro.
As it stands, there are a few standard caveats. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and a supported controller (sold separately) is required. Meta says in a blogpost that some streaming limitations may apply as well, including variable server availability and wait times, and geographical restrictions.
Want to know if Quest 3 is worth it? We haven’t gone in for our deep dive review yet, although we got a full hands-on with the headset right before Connect 2023 this week that goes into everything from confort to clarity.
Coming alongside the big Quest 3 info dump today at Connect 2023, Meta revealed that Quest Store games and apps have generated over $2 billion in revenue. While the store is still earning for developers, looking at revenue over time shows that things have cooled off over the last year.
Meta’s Head of Developer Relations Melissa Brown announced the figure on stage, further noting that 100+ new and upgraded titles are coming to the Quest Store before the year’s end, more than half of which will be brand new games and apps.
While $2 billion sounds like an impressive number—it certainly is for the XR industry at large—it pales in comparison to what Meta regularly spends on its Reality Labs division.
Quest 2 next to Quest 3 | Image courtesy Meta
Back in July, the company reported a quarterly loss just south of $4 billion in Q2 2023; Reality Labs’ revenue was down by 39% due to lower Quest 2 sales, making for the worst quarterly performance in the past two years.
With today’s announcement, it’s also clear at what rate content sales have cooled off since Quest 2 was launched in 2020. The company announced at Connect 2022 in October last year that it had topped $1.5 billion in Quest Store revenue, accounting for everything since the first Quest’s launch in 2019, meaning it’s only managed to generate $500 million in the past 12 months, putting a clear end to any kind of take-off ramp that might have appeared to be forming.
Moving forward, this will undoubtedly put more weight on Quest 3 to fill in where Quest 2 left off, as stockholders will no doubt expect the $500 headset to meet or beat its forebear’s relatively meteoric success. Quest 3 pack in much of the functionality of the $1,000 Quest Pro headset, including color passthrough sensors for mixed reality, and has a significantly sleeker profile and more powerful chipset than the now $300 Quest 2.
Will that be enough for first-time VR users to jump in? Enough for Quest 2 users to upgrade? Whatever the case, Meta is undoubtedly subsidizing its XR hardware to make software sales more attractive. And if it doesn’t keep pumping out first-party titles like Asgard’s Wrath 2, they’ll need at least keep those multi-million-dollar success stories coming, like Gorilla Tag’s $26 million in revenue high-swinging success story, or the other 40 Quest games that Meta said had posted revenues over $10 million.
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Connect 2023 kicks off today, taking place September 27th and 28th at Meta’s Menlo Park headquarters. There’s been a ton of news already, so make sure to follow along by heading to our main page for all of the latest in Meta’s XR stuff.
Meta Quest 3, the company’s upcoming $500 standalone mixed reality headset, is probably going to get a big info dump at Connect 2023 later this month. It appears an ecommerce site in Europe has leaked some of the available accessories and prices.
As first reported by MIXED, Netherlands-based online vendor UnboundXR.eu listed a number of Quest 3 accessories and prices ahead of their official availability:
Meta Quest 3 Silicone Face Interface (Black) for €49.99
Meta Quest 3 Carrying Case for €79.99
Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery for €149.99
Meta Quest 3 Charging Dock for €149.99
Listings for everything but the Quest 3 carrying case have since been removed from the site.
Notably, those prices include value added tax (VAT), which in the Netherlands is 21%. It’s not clear exactly how that will look in US pricing, however when comparing previous accessory prices in the EU, US prices may look something like this:
Meta Quest 3 Silicone Face Interface (Black) for $39.99
Meta Quest 3 Carrying Case for $59.99
Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery for $119.99
Meta Quest 3 Charging Dock for $119.99
Granted, that’s only some healthy specualtion, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
If Quest 3 is anything like Quest 2 in terms of accessories though, there are sure to be many more to choose from, including prescription lenses, left and right replacement controllers, and a version Elite Strap without the built-in external battery.
Speaking of Elite Straps, if you were hoping to save a buck by reusing a Quest 2 Elite Strap (if it isn’t already shattered to pieces), a leak posted by X user ‘VR Panda’ potentially reveals that the Quest 3 attachment point is notably smaller than Quest 2’s, meaning you’ll need to buy a new Elite headstrap for Quest 3.
Whatever the case, we’re sure to learn more soon at Connect 2023, which takes place September 27th – 28th at Meta’s Menlo Park, California headquarters.
There are a lot of possible interactions in virtual reality. The standard Quest 2 controllers just don’t always cut it anymore. Fortunately, there’s a large market of accessories manufacturers making adapters for different games and use cases. Not least among them is YOGES.
YOGES at It Again
YOGES specializes in accessories for the Meta Quest 2 headset and Quest 2 controllers. We’ve already reviewed one of their head strap alternatives for the device and found it to be comfortable and competitively priced. When they invited us to try out their “handle attachments” of course we were curious.
Before we jump into the playthroughs, let’s look at what’s in the box.
Unboxing
The minimal YOGES packaging for the handle attachments packs one handle for each controller, one detachable lanyard for each controller, and a connector piece turning the whole set into one two-headed controller. There are also two extra velcro ties to hold the controllers into the adapters – just in case. A set of directions is included as well, but it’s a simple setup.
The standard Quest 2 controller sits into the adapters, which are each labeled “L” or “R”. Then, a velcro tab secures the controller into the adapter via the tracking ring – so, likely not compatible with the Quest Pro controllers. The bottoms of each adapter are threaded. Screw on a lanyard attachment or screw one of the adapters into either end of the connector piece.
The lightweight adapters are hollow core encased in durable-feeling molded foam. That hollow core keeps the weight and probably the cost down, but it also means that you can insert your Quest 2 controllers without removing the lanyards from them. That’s a handy feature because you might not want these adapters for everything that you do in VR.
The full rig measures in at almost exactly two feet. Each controller in a separate adapter with the lanyard attachment measures in at about ten inches – that’s some five-and-a-half inches longer than the Quest 2 controller by itself.
The adapters extend the Quest 2 controllers but don’t allow you to interact with them in any way. That is, you’ve still got to be holding the controller to press buttons and triggers. Fortunately, the lanyard on the end is long enough that you can put it around your wrist and still reach over the entire adapter to reach the controller.
Playtesting the Adapters for Quest 2 Controllers
I was worried that that length was going to throw off my game. It seems to me that if the adapter adds a few inches, that means that the Quest 2 thinks that my arm is a few inches longer than it is – right? This shouldn’t make much difference saber beating or gorilla tagging, but I was all set for playing pickleball to be a nightmare.
Playin Pickleball
But then, it wasn’t. I don’t know if the Quest 2 is smarter than I gave it credit for or if my brain was a lot more ready to accept the extended controller as a part of my arm, but I had no trouble hitting the ball reliably into targets in a practice mode.
layin Pickleball also might be the game that has seen the most flying Quest 2 controllers in my home – lanyards are a must. However, I didn’t use the lanyards to play with the YOGES adapter – the extra length and the molded foam made it significantly easier to hold onto a paddle.
Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat!
I had a bit more of a time getting used to the adapters when I played a round of Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat!. If you haven’t played the game, it’s very similar to Beat Saber but with smaller targets, smaller sabers, and different motion challenges.
Things took some more getting used to, possibly because the sabers are narrower than a pickleball paddle so my movements needed to be even more precise. I did also hit my overhead light at least once, though I’m not entirely sure that that was because of the adapter. Still, by the end of the first song, I had a pretty memorable streak going.
Bait!
From here, I really wanted to use the adapter as a sword handle in Battle Talent, but in Battle Talent you need to hold the trigger to hold the weapon, so that was a no-go. You also pump both arms and use the joysticks to run, so I couldn’t just leave a controller down and dedicate myself to two-handed weapons. I wondered about how the handle might work as a fishing rod in Bait!.
In Bait! you hold the rod and cast with one hand but use the trigger on the other controller to real it in. I let the left-hand controller (sans adapter) hang off of my left wrist as I used the right controller (with adapter) to do a double-handed cast. It was a little awkward because Bait! was still tracking the left-hand controller as it flopped through the air, but the cast was beautiful.
Is it Worth the Price?
Depending on where, when, and how you buy the YOGES Handle Attachments, they run between $18.58 (the price on Amazon at the time of writing) and $33.98 (the price currently listed on the YOGES website). That’s fairly competitive for adapters of this kind – and most adapter sets don’t include the connector piece.
As always, whether or not that’s worth the price depends on the games that you play. For as many games as I found improved by the adapters, I have at least as many that wouldn’t work. Maybe that’s not the case for you. Or maybe it is but you feel really passionate about improving your VR fishing cast or your virtual pickleball game.
I will say that on all of the games that were compatible with these adapters for Quest 2 controllers (and Bait!) my game was improved – or at least felt improved.
Parting Thoughts
So far, I continue to be pleased with YOGES. The Quest 2 Controller Handle Attachments, like the headset strap, are lightweight and low-cost comfortable adapters. While they may not be for all people or in all cases, they certainly have their place in the VR accessories ecosystem.
Meta’s latest quarterly results show its Reality Labs XR division is again reporting an operating loss just south of $4 billion. Now, for its Q2 2023 results, the company says Reality Labs’ revenue was down by 39% due to lower Quest 2 sales, making for the worst quarterly performance in the past two years.
Meta has been clear about its plan to spend aggressively on XR over the next several years, so it’s again no surprise we’re seeing operating budgets in the billions with only a fraction of that coming back in via Quest 2 hardware and software sales.
In fact, Quest 2 sales play such an important role in Reality Labs’ quarterly performance that Meta has reported $276 million in revenue in Q2 2023, or 39% lower than last quarter.
Image created using data courtesy Meta
Meta reported that Reality Labs expenses were $4 billion, which was up 23% since the same period last year. The company says this was due to lapping a reduction in Reality Labs loss reserves and growth in employee-related costs, bringing the XR division’s operating loss to $3.7 billion for Q2 2023.
Meta says it expects continued operating losses in the future, saying losses will likely “increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in AR/VR and our investments to further scale our ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, the company is preparing to launch Quest 3 in late 2023, the $500 follow-up headset that integrates many of Quest Pro’s mixed reality capabilities. Meta’s $1,000 Quest Pro has also reportedly been discontinued, however (without substantiating that particular claim) Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth implied earlier this month that a Quest Pro 2 isn’t off the table.
Apple’s Vision Pro is also looming, set to launch sometime next year. As rising tides lift all boats, hype around Vision Pro could actually benefit Meta in the short term. Apple’s $3,500 XR headset has attracted new attention to the space, however Meta’s consumer-friendly pricing and extensive game catalogue for Quest 3 may be well positioned this holiday to capitalize on that Apple-adjacent cachet.
According to a recent report from The Information, Meta is allegedly spinning down Quest Pro alongside a broader move to cancel the future ‘Pro’ line of XR hardware altogether. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says however, “don’t believe everything you read.”
Meta has reportedly stopped ordering new components for the Quest Pro from its suppliers, The Information maintains. While it’s thought Meta will continue selling its $1,000 Pro-branded mixed reality headset as long as there is enough stock, the report alleges the entire Pro line has been suspended, putting a second-generation Quest Pro distinctly out of the question.
Speaking in an Instagram Stories post yesterday, Bosworth rebukes the claim that a potential Quest Pro 2 has officially been cancelled for good, saying that his team is developing multiple prototypes in parallel for all of its projects. Notably, he doesn’t address whether it’s spinning down the current version of Quest Pro, however he implies that the report of Quest Pro 2’s demise was the result of a disgruntled employee whose project was cut.
Here’s Bosworth’s statement in full:
“I have to explain this every year. There is no Quest Pro 2 headset until we decide there is. What I mean by that is there are lots of prototype headsets—lots of them—all in development in parallel. Some of them, we say, “that’s not the right one,” and we shut it down. Some of them, we say, “that’s the right one,” and we spin it up. What you need to understand is, until it goes out the door, it doesn’t get the name. So, there might be a Quest Pro 2, there might not be. I’m not really telling you, but I will say don’t believe everything you read about what’s been stopped or started. A lot of times it comes from someone who’s unhappy their particular project got cut when there are other projects that did not get cut.”
Still, it’s clear there’s been some turbulence in how Quest Pro was handled from the get-go. Originally launched for $1,500 in October 2022, Meta decided only a few months later it would slash Quest Pro by $500, putting at its $1,000 price tag today. Meanwhile, Quest 2 has seen multiple price changes, ranging from $300 to $400 for the same 128GB variant.
Fluctuating prices aside, Quest Pro’s raison d’être has never really been clearly defined, as the company has nebulously pitched it to professionals as a would-be workstation. In practice, Quest Pro has been more of a developer kit for studios hoping to build consumer apps for the cheaper Quest 3, coming in Fall 2023 at $500. Meanwhile, Quest Pro users have reported a host of usability issues since launch, decidedly making it feel a little less ready for prime time than the company probably hoped.
Whatever the case, Quest Pro 2 would need a much clearer value proposition—provided whatever prototypes Meta has waiting in the wings also don’t also get cut.
Meta today announced a new VR game subscription service that will give you access to two hand-picked Quest games per month, priced at $8 per month, or $60 annually.
Called Meta Quest+, the subscription service will be available to Quest 2, Quest Pro and eventually Quest 3 users.
Similar to PlayStation’s PS Plus service, Meta is offering up two specific redeemable titles on the first of each month which you can download and keep for as long as you’re a paid member.
Meta says members can cancel at any time, which would mean you’d lose access to each game you redeemed, although the company says rejoining allows you to gain access to those previously redeemed titles.
The service is kicking off in July with Cloudhead Games’ physical action-rhythm FPS Pistol Whip and the nostalgia-fueled arcade adventure Pixel Ripped 1995 from ARVORE Immersive Experiences.
August is set to have Mighty Coconut’s highly-rated Walkabout Mini Golf and FPS roguelite MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE from Terrible Posture Games.
Meta Quest+ is set to cost $8 per month, or billed for $60 annually, a 37% savings over the monthly charge. You can learn more and also sign up here.
Meta says Quest+ titles are eligible for App Sharing across accounts, although if you happen to already own any of the games on offer monthly, you’ll just have to stick around to see whether something comes up that you don’t already own.
To sweeten the pot, the company is doing a deal for July that reduces the first month’s charge to $1, which is then followed by the regular $8 per month. That specific offer ends July 31st, 2023.
While Quest+ has been the subject of rumors for the past few months, it wasn’t clear which route the company would go—whether it would be a Viveport-style affair that allows you to pick from a pool of eligible games, or what they revealed today, a highly curated system like PS Plus. It’s an interesting route which could signal they’re expecting a substantial raise in new users in the coming months, as the company is set to launch its $500 Quest 3 headset September 27th, 2023, which has come along with a price reduction of Quest 2 to the original $300 price point.
