Meta’s popular Quest 2 VR headset gets a $100 discount
Did you think Mark Zuckerberg’s meta was done with his soon-to-be-dated virtual reality headset? think again The company formerly known as Facebook announced that the popular Oculus Quest 2 will be upgraded and drop its price by $100, bringing it back to where it was a year ago, before Meta made the unprecedented move raise the price to $400.
“Starting June 4, we’re lowering the price of Quest 2 to $299.99 for the 128GB SKU to allow even more people to access the magic of VR,” Meta said unveiled today along with announcing his new $500 Quest 3 headset. The Quest 2 cost $300 in 2022 before the company raised it amid shaky financials and a sell-off in the stock market. Following a a few brutal mass layoffsshareholders seem happier, and it seems VR enthusiasts can once again snag the entry-level headset at a bargain price.
The Quest 2’s 256GB SKU gets an even bigger price drop from $500 to $350, no doubt to avoid the superior Quest 3. Both Quest 2 versions, meanwhile, are getting software upgrades that Meta says will boost your CPU efficiency by 26 percent, while the GPU will get a 19 percent boost. “As developers take advantage of these changes, you can expect smoother gameplay, a more responsive interface, and richer content on both headsets,” the company wrote.
The great appeal of the Quest headsets, which has sold over 20 million units to date, is distinguished by the fact that it does not require external computers to operate. That and the low price, which has at least been subsidized by Meta so far, made it an attractive way for newcomers to explore VR for gaming or fitness. The premium PS VR2, meanwhile, costs $550 and requires players to also own a PlayStation 5, adding at least another $400 to the investment.
Continue reading: Meta unveils Quest 3, a slimmer VR headset with notable upgrades
But VR headsets are only as good as the games and experiences you can use them for, and development still seems precarious, especially as companies cut staff. In addition to a series of layoffs at game studios and publishers, Meta has also fired some of its own in-house developers at recently acquired VR studios like Ready at Dawn who had previously done so Exclusive to PS4 The Order: 1866.
The real test of VR, at least for gaming fans, remains whether the platforms can create a virtuous investment cycle that encourages more major publishers to do exclusive spinoffs or adaptations of their most popular franchises. With PS5’s PS VR2, companies are taking steps in that direction eventually get a VR version of Resident Evil 4 And allegedly a Assassin’s Creed Game codenamed Project Nexus.
