According to information from Meta’s quarterly earnings report, a new Meta Quest virtual reality headset appears to be on its way in 2023. This announcement comes merely a day after Meta released the Quest Pro on October 26th. However, while the Quest Pro is a mixed-reality system targeted toward businesses and enthusiasts, the new device is a consumer-grade VR headset like the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2.
Facebook parent company Meta acquired VR headset company Oculus in 2014. The company broke open the commercial VR market with the Oculus Rift in 2016 before releasing the standalone Oculus Quest in 2018 and Oculus Quest 2 in 2020. Meta reorganized Oculus into its virtual reality branch Reality Labs the same year.
Meta released its quarterly earnings report on October 26th. It revealed that the company expected increased costs from its Reality Labs subsidiary due to the upcoming launch of its newest consumer Quest headset next year. However, the report did not explicitly refer to the new device as the Meta Quest 3. Neither did it explicitly say whether it would be a full VR headset or a consumer version of the Quest Pro, as a previous Oculus Quest 3 leak seemed to indicate. However, its description as a “next generation” Quest could point to the new device being full VR rather than a mixed reality system like the Meta Quest Pro.
Still, fans don’t know much about the upcoming headset, and Meta has yet to announce the Meta Quest 3 officially. However, Meta Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to the device by name during an interview with Stratechery published on October 12th. This news is also consistent with Meta’s plans to release four new headsets by 2024.
This plan includes two Oculus gaming headsets. The first will reportedly be a high-end gaming headset released in 2023, with a budget alternative launching in 2024. It’s unclear how different the two devices will be upon release or how much they will cost. However, Zuckerberg indicated that the Meta Quest 3 would run in the $300, $400, or $500 range but couldn’t give a specific price. Still, this may provide VR users a rough idea of how much they can expect to spend when the headsets release over the next two years.
Either way, it seems that Meta is taking a similar approach that Microsoft took with the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. If so, apps for the two will hopefully be cross-compatible. However, users can likely expect reduced performance in the lower-cost version of the Oculus Quest 3. Still, that’s good news for anyone who wants to get into VR gaming but isn’t sure they want to spend money on the highest-end hardware.
The next Oculus Quest headset is reportedly in development.
Source: IGN