Meta Connect had one major Quest-related no-show, but there’s a reason for that
Meta Connect 2024 had a fun but predictable route: the budget Quest 3S headset, AI tricks, new VR games and a hip new prototype of AR glasses. But we also predicted (and hoped) that third-party Meta Horizon OS headsets would make an appearance on the stage. They didn’t show up, so we asked Mark Rabkin, Meta VP of MR/VR, why.
Months of leaks made it clear that the Meta Quest 3S would appear at Meta Connect 2024, and Meta itself hinted at its Meta Orion AR glasses in the months before that. Our Meta Connect 2024 preview promised that they would both get long-awaited reveals.
We also suspected we would see more not-Meta headsets. This spring, Meta licensed the Meta Horizon OS interface to other companies so they could make their own wireless VR headsets using Snapdragon XR2 hardware, Meta’s user interface, and the Quest Store library of games and apps.
Specifically, Meta promised that ASUS ROG would create an “all-new gaming headset” running Horizon OS. It also said Lenovo would create “mixed reality devices for productivity, learning and entertainment” using the same operating system. And it promised a “limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox.” We haven’t heard any news about these headsets in the five months since.
Android Central’s VR team, Nick Sutrich and I, were hoping to see Meta x Microsoft Quest 3 at Connect. If Meta wants to make the Horizon OS concept a success and attract more hardware developers, we thought it could highlight its partners’ headsets at its annual showcase alongside the Quest 3S.
Perhaps the ASUS ROG headset would disrupt Quest 3S sales, but we assume it will be more of a high-end gaming device for VR superfans than the budget 3S for people who found the Quest 3 too expensive. And Lenovo’s productivity headset could have outpaced Samsung’s AWOL productivity device.
Since Meta will likely make its next Quest 4 with a Snapdragon That could cause the entire third-party ecosystem to lose steam before it can get off the ground.
So why haven’t we seen anything from ASUS ROG, Lenovo or other partnership announcements? When we asked Meta VP Mark Rabkin, his answer was short and understandably coy, but still very revealing.
“I can’t reveal anything for now, but we have multiple programs for those headsets. We really try to let our partners take the lead and let it be their device, their development and their stuff, so we would never pressure them or give way, or something like that,” Rabkin said.
Here’s what I gleaned from this answer: (A) Meta emphasized that it directly supports these partners on multiple fronts (probably both hardware and software); (B) pushing them to show something (or a Connect) at the end of September would be presumptuous and pushy about whatever they want to do; and (C) Meta probably won’t publish third-party headsets, just as Google won’t run ads for Samsung phones.
Our original comparison of Meta Quest as the new “Pixel of VR” feels particularly apt. Meta emphasizes that it opens up the ecosystem to other developers, but they are only partners in the sense that Meta will help other companies get started and charge licensing fees for the software. It does not own or control these devices, and companies will announce and release them on their own timetable, not Meta’s.
We still hope to see these headsets soon. With Meta’s main competition being the exorbitant Apple Vision Pro, the largely abandoned PSVR 2, the struggling Pico brand and the long-delayed Valve Index successor, it would be great to see new ideas in the VR space while still continuing our Quest libraries and familiar interface.
Next generation VR and MR gaming
The Meta Quest 3S brings mixed reality gaming to the masses with powerful Snapdragon hardware and the same upgraded games as the Quest 3, including full-color passthrough to your living room.
