Mark Zuckerberg claims Quests will still be the most popular headsets after Horizon OS is available on third-party headsets. If you somehow missed the big Meta news this week: Horizon OS is the new name for the Quest system software, which Meta will also make available to third-party headset makers, starting with ASUS, Lenovo, and potentially LG too. When announcing the news Meta confirmed it will continue to make Quest headsets. And Mark Zuckerberg told investors these headsets will be targeted around specific use cases, and that he thinks Meta's first-party Quests will remain the m ..read more

Walkabout Mini Golf is now taking players to Venice. The new Passport Venice course from development studio Mighty Coconut is available for $3.99 inside Walkabout Mini Golf across all major headsets. Carefully constructed by the studio’s team of artists to capture the feeling of visiting the famed city, Venice includes the canals, the cannoli and the clocktower ringing nearby too. Featuring new lighting and shadow techniques, Venice shows yet another step forward in the carefully architected technical artistry of the team behind one of VR’s best games. “This is our first attempt at creating a ..read more

Astra promises a "deeply personal" mixed reality adventure across the cosmos on Quest. Developed between Atlas V and Albyon with Eliza McNitt (Spheres) directing, Astra seeks to transform your room into a spaceship in a "deeply personal" adventure that touches upon loss, grief and family heritage. Your mission involves travelling across the universe to uncover the mysteries of life. Following the research left behind by your astrobiologist mother, Astra's journey takes you to different planets and moons like Jupiter and Titan. Taking roughly 45 minutes to complete in our hands-on, Astra's pre ..read more

Headlines are circulating claiming Apple cut Vision Pro production by almost 50% due to weak demand. Here's why they're almost certainly false. The source of these articles is a new note from supply-chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has been reporting on Apple's supply chain for more than 10 years. Kuo's claims sometimes turn out to be true, but not always, and his latest contradicts not only what we know about Vision Pro production, but what Kuo himself said just a few months ago. Specifically, Kuo is claiming that Apple reduced its sales forecast for Vision Pro from a "market consensus" of 700 ..read more

Meta's Reality Labs division's quarterly revenue grew 30% year-over-year in Q1 2024. Reality Labs is the division of Meta behind Quest headsets, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and research & development toward AR glasses and their neural wristband input device. In its Q1 2024 earnings call today Meta reported $440 million Reality Labs quarterly revenue, 30% higher than Q1 2023. Meta CFO Susan Li told investors this record revenue was "driven by Quest headset sales". However, it's also 36% lower than Q1 2022 and 18% lower than Q1 2021. This suggests Quest 3 i ..read more

Some of my favorite games over the years have been the ones that allow for the manipulation of time. In 2001, the release of Max Payne from Remedy Entertainment changed everything. Suddenly we were given the ability to run into rooms filled with enemies while using our newfound ability to seamlessly slow down time at the touch of a button, giving players the ability to take out enemies in a slow motion ballet of pure carnage. This was a game changer for the action genre, and "Bullet Time" was born. In the lead up to the launch of VR as a consumer platform we saw several other gaming franchises ..read more

MudRunner VR adapts the off-roading vehicle sim for virtual reality, and it's "coming soon" to Quest. Initially released in 2017 for flatscreen platforms, Saber Interactive's MudRunner is an all-terrain sim in which you can choose between eight heavy-duty vehicles with attachable equipment and individual characteristics. Saber calls this a "new adventure designed specifically for Meta Quest" with an interactable cockpit, new 3D models for trucks and environments and more. Featuring a Story Mode and Free Play Mode, MudRunner VR challenges you to complete various objectives and deliveries witho ..read more

DIG VR feels like PowerWash Simulator for digging, and it's coming to Quest soon. Developed by Just Add Water (Sniper Elite VR), DIG VR joins an increasing range of sims on Quest like PowerWash Simulator VR and Lawn Mowing Simulator VR. Revealed during Wired Direct ‘24 by publisher Wired Productions (Arcade Paradise VR), you're tasked with excavating different locations across Diglington, starting with a mini-digger and various attachments before unlocking more. Calling DIG VR a "deeply personal" game, Leo Zullo, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Publisher Wired Productions, says the idea w ..read more

Brazen Blaze, a melee-focused 3v3 VR multiplayer game, starts a new open beta later this week on Quest & Steam. Following February's previous open beta tests, MyDearest announced that the second open beta for Brazen Blaze with cross-platform multiplayer support begins on April 25 at 6pm PDT. Community rewards are promised for participants, which are detailed alongside sign-up information on the official Discord server. Certain features, like 'communication goods' and a character skin, will transfer to the full release for beta testers. A competitive VR action game focused on close-qu ..read more

John Carmack just gave his take on Meta's new strategy of providing its headset OS to third-party hardware companies. If you somehow missed the news yesterday, Horizon OS is the new name for the Quest system software, which Meta will also make available to third-party headset makers, starting with ASUS, Lenovo, and potentially LG too. But former Oculus CTO John Carmack, who architected much of the Oculus Mobile system software that eventually became the Quest system software, and soon Horizon OS, doesn't seem to think this is such a great idea for Meta. Meta Horizon OS Will Run On ..read more