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social-vr-platform-‘vrchat’-to-lose-quest-1-support-next-month

Social VR Platform ‘VRChat’ to Lose Quest 1 Support Next Month

As a part of its big send off, Meta has already deprecated first-party social features on the original 2019 Quest, which includes access to Parties and Meta Horizon Home. If you thought you could keep using Quest 1 with other social VR platforms though, your choices are about to get even more limited, as VRChat is soon dropping support too.

The studio announced it was dropping support in a recent developer update, stating that VRChat will no longer provide support for the Meta Quest 1 headset after June 30th, 2023.

“This is primarily due to Meta’s deprecation of the Quest 1 SDK, which will prevent us from keeping VRChat updated properly on the device,” the studio says. “You can continue to use Quest 1 with Quest Link, Virtual Desktop, ALVR, or other tethering methods to connect your Quest 1 to a Windows PC. Please note that those other applications may also be deprecating the Quest 1, so keep an eye on their announcements and news posts.”

VRChat isn’t the only app losing Quest support. One of the first to go, Meta’s BigBox VR already dropped Quest 1 support for its battle royale shooter Population: One late last year. Then followed Rec Room in early January 2023.

Meta’s Downpour Interactive announced in February its mil-sim shooter Onward will be dropping Quest 1 support on July 31st. Other games seeing upcoming support freezes include Myst, Zenith: The Lost City, and Synth Riders. We expect to see many more in the coming months, as the back catalogue of games is slowly phased or completely dropped.

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‘rec-room’-is-putting-on-its-first-ever-‘rec-rocks’-music-festival-this-weekend

‘Rec Room’ is Putting on Its First-ever ‘Rec Rocks’ Music Festival This Weekend

Tokyo Machine & Ethan Bortnick to headline

Rec Room, the popular social VR platform, is putting on its first in-game music festival this weekend, suitably dubbed ‘Rec Rocks’.

The immersive concert experience is set to take place this weekend, March 11th & 12th, and feature headliners Tokyo Machine (EDM) and pianist/singer/songwriter Ethan Bortnick.

Check out the full list of artists below:

  • Tokyo Machine – EDM
  • Ethan Bortnick – Alt-Pop
  • Haven – Pop
  • Charlie Curtis Beard -Rap
  • Suzy Shinn – Rock
  • The Royal Foundry – Alt
  • Akintoye – Rap
  • Clinton Kane – Pop

Rec Room says its free two-day music festival will let you explore virtual stages set in the environment of an open canyon, with Tokyo Machine kicking things off on the mainstage on March 11th with his electrifying beat, which will also include some new tracks too.

Image courtesy Rec Room

“The first time I played Rec Room 6 years ago I was blown away by how immersive the games like laser tag and ping-pong could be”, said Tokyo Machine. “I’m super pumped to be a part of Rec Rocks and will be premiering a whole set of unreleased songs with a performance that will be unlike what my fans have seen before!”

Ethan Bortnick will take the main stage on March 12th where he will perform fan-favorite tracks. Bortnick previously hosted an in-game prom for the Rec Room community last spring after he missed out on his in-real-life prom due to COVID-19.

Rec Room will be the first stop on my 2023 tour,” said Bortnick. “As the technology in Rec Room continues to advance, that allows for even more elaborate lighting, staging and the entire set is crazier and showcases everything I can’t do in a real live setting”, Bortnick said.

The Royal Foundry | Image courtesy Rec Room

The free music festival is set to include exclusive artist merch, and Community Creator Booths where festival-goers can buy in-game inventions and merch from the creator community.

Check out the full schedule of the music festival here to see when performances are set to kick off. To attend Rec Rocks, make sure to download and setup your Rec Room account across your chosen device, which includes iOS, Android, Steam (flstacreen), SteamVR headsets, Meta Quest, Meta PC VR, PlayStation 4/5, PSVR, and Xbox.

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