Meta could be launching its own Quest game subscription service
by Danny Craig
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Meta
Tech giant Meta could be planning to bring its own take on the increasingly popular game subscription service model to its Meta Quest VR platform.
The details:
- Last week, Twitter user @ShinyQuagsire discovered a hidden page inside the Meta Quest mobile app containing references to a "Quest Pass" subscription service. The page appears to have been accessible to both Android and iOS users, and it claims that players can "get up to two new apps or games every month with [Project Apollo]." Subscribers will be able to keep access to any games or apps they redeem after the month they are available, just like other services, as long as they keep their subscription active. It's unclear how much a subscription will cost or whether it will have any additional tiers.
- According to Meta's vice president of Oculus, Mark Rabkin, in a recently leaked product roadmap presentation, Meta has sold nearly 20 million Quest VR headsets since the original launch in 2019. Also revealed in the presentation is that the Quest 3 will be released in 2023, so the service could potentially launch around the same time. The introduction of a subscription service may increase sales as players will gain access to a number of titles for a small fee, which is especially important given that the headset itself will reportedly cost more than the $400 Quest 2.
- Subscription services are becoming increasingly popular in the gaming industry, with Xbox's Game Pass and PlayStation's "Plus" tiers providing monthly access to massive libraries of games for a fraction of the cost of a single new title. It appears that more and more companies are adopting the model and even tying certain features to it, such as Nintendo's library of retro games being available only to Switch Online users with a more expensive additional tier, the expansion pass, granting access to Nintendo 64 games.
Other recent gaming-related VR news:
- The rumored Twisted Metal reboot could include a VR mode alongside on-foot combat. Last month, fans of the series discovered that recent job listings at Sony’s UK-based studio Firesprite, working on a "multiplayer action" title, mentioned that it was looking for someone with "experience developing gameplay for VR." The title was reportedly in development at Lucid Games before being shifted to Firesprite following its acquisition in 2021.
- A free VR mode will be added to Capcom's remake of Resident Evil 4 via an update in the near future. The mode was announced by the developer last month, ahead of its March release date, but it's unlikely to be released alongside the game as it has only recently begun development.
