The 7th Guest VR is an ingenious reimagining of a PC gaming classic
We tried out The 7th Guest VR, which ingeniously reimagines a foundational 1993 PC classic as a modern escape room game.
Meta Shows Off Quest Hand-tracking Improvements, Claims “almost as responsive as controllers”
Apple is going all-in with hand-tracking for its upcoming Vision Pro, but can hand-tracking really replace proper VR controllers? Meta, Apple’s main competitor in the space, isn’t going so far as to make that particular claim, however the company says Quest’s recent hand-tracking improvements are now “almost as responsive as controllers” thanks to its recent v56 software update.
First announced in late July, the company’s Hands 2.2 tracking improvements are introducing what Meta says is better hand responsiveness and a few new experimental features that we’ll probably see in Quest 3.
Now rolling out to Quest headsets, Meta says users should notice hand-tracking latency reduced “up to 40%” in regular use, and “up to 75%” during fast movement. Meta says those dramatic gains in fast movement latency are thanks to the introduction of a new Fast Motion Mode (FMM) for more frenetic games, like fitness and rhythm games that require you to punch incoming objects.
Here’s a look at controllers relative to the new Hands 2.2 release:
v56 is also rolling out to Quest Pro, which includes two new experimental features: simultaneous hands and controllers (Multimodal) tracking, and controller-driven hand pose (Capsense Hands).
Multimodal tracking is said to unlock a number of mixed input style, including Hand+controller gameplay, instant transitions between hands and controllers, and improved social presence when using one controller. It’s only available on Quest Pro for experimentation, although Meta plans to add support for additional devices later.
On the other hand, Capsense Hands lets developers show a natural hand model visualization on top of, or instead of, a user’s controller. Check out both in action in the video below:
“Hand Tracking gives your app’s users the ability to engage with their VR or mixed reality environment in a way that is natural and intuitive,” Meta says in a developer blogpost. “These interactions deepen the immersive experience and help people feel more connected to what’s going on around them in-headset. Hands can also provide a faster on ramp for users new to VR. By integrating Hand Tracking in your existing apps, you can give your users more flexibility to tailor their experience and find what works best for them—and thanks to Hands 2.2, you can feel confident knowing your app’s users will enjoy a great experience regardless of whether they play with hands or controllers.”
Meta says we should hear more about its hand-tracking upgrades in the near future, as the company is hosting its annual Meta Connect developer conference on September 27th, which ought to include an info dump (and likely release date) for its upcoming Quest 3 headset, which is bringing much of the functionality of Quest Pro to the consumer price point of $500.
Meta’s XR Revenue Down 39% “due to lower Quest 2 sales,” as Quest 3 & Vision Pro Loom
Meta’s latest quarterly results show its Reality Labs XR division is again reporting an operating loss just south of $4 billion. Now, for its Q2 2023 results, the company says Reality Labs’ revenue was down by 39% due to lower Quest 2 sales, making for the worst quarterly performance in the past two years.
Meta has been clear about its plan to spend aggressively on XR over the next several years, so it’s again no surprise we’re seeing operating budgets in the billions with only a fraction of that coming back in via Quest 2 hardware and software sales.
In fact, Quest 2 sales play such an important role in Reality Labs’ quarterly performance that Meta has reported $276 million in revenue in Q2 2023, or 39% lower than last quarter.
Meta reported that Reality Labs expenses were $4 billion, which was up 23% since the same period last year. The company says this was due to lapping a reduction in Reality Labs loss reserves and growth in employee-related costs, bringing the XR division’s operating loss to $3.7 billion for Q2 2023.
Meta says it expects continued operating losses in the future, saying losses will likely “increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in AR/VR and our investments to further scale our ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, the company is preparing to launch Quest 3 in late 2023, the $500 follow-up headset that integrates many of Quest Pro’s mixed reality capabilities. Meta’s $1,000 Quest Pro has also reportedly been discontinued, however (without substantiating that particular claim) Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth implied earlier this month that a Quest Pro 2 isn’t off the table.
Apple’s Vision Pro is also looming, set to launch sometime next year. As rising tides lift all boats, hype around Vision Pro could actually benefit Meta in the short term. Apple’s $3,500 XR headset has attracted new attention to the space, however Meta’s consumer-friendly pricing and extensive game catalogue for Quest 3 may be well positioned this holiday to capitalize on that Apple-adjacent cachet.
Meta Releases Anti-piracy Tools for Quest Devs, Including Hardware-based App Bans & More
Meta announced it’s introducing new anti-piracy measures for Quest developers that the company says will protect VR apps from “unauthorized modifications and potential security breaches.”
Called the Platform Integrity Attestation API (Attestation API), Meta says its new system is designed to detect whether an app’s server is interacting with an untampered VR device, thereby ensuring whether an app is authentic or not.
The Attestation API includes things like secure device authentication, hardware-based app bans, protection of financial and enterprise app data, prevention of external data misuse, and other anti-piracy measures.
In a developer blogpost, Meta calls it “increasingly important to instill a consistent method for validating the integrity of apps in order to provide a secure and safe user experience for everyone.”
It remains to be seen what effects this will have on modding communities, since modders for Quest games such as Beat Saber may inadvertently run afoul of the new token system at the core of the Attestation API.
“Once integrated, the API will provide you with an ‘attestation token,’ which you can use to determine if an app running on a Meta device has been tampered with,” Meta says. “This token is cryptographically signed by the Attestation Server to reinforce the security and reliability of the attestation process.”
At the time of this writing, we have not yet received a response for comment from Meta on what effects it may have on those communities. We’ll update this piece when/if we do.
Meta is allowing developers to opt-in now for their Quest apps, which spans Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the upcoming Quest 3, whcih is slated to launch in late 2023. Meta has published documentation for both Unity and Native.
We ranked all the best (and worst) video game system startup sounds
From the PlayStation to the Steam Deck, plenty of game systems have given us memorable startup sounds. But which one is the best?
Meta Quest+ subscription is the VR version of PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold
The new Meta Quest+ subscription will give players two VR games every month, starting with Pistol Whip and Pixel Ripped 1995.
Meta Launches Monthly VR Game Subscription Service for Quest
Meta today announced a new VR game subscription service that will give you access to two hand-picked Quest games per month, priced at $8 per month, or $60 annually.
Called Meta Quest+, the subscription service will be available to Quest 2, Quest Pro and eventually Quest 3 users.
Similar to PlayStation’s PS Plus service, Meta is offering up two specific redeemable titles on the first of each month which you can download and keep for as long as you’re a paid member.
Meta says members can cancel at any time, which would mean you’d lose access to each game you redeemed, although the company says rejoining allows you to gain access to those previously redeemed titles.
The service is kicking off in July with Cloudhead Games’ physical action-rhythm FPS Pistol Whip and the nostalgia-fueled arcade adventure Pixel Ripped 1995 from ARVORE Immersive Experiences.
August is set to have Mighty Coconut’s highly-rated Walkabout Mini Golf and FPS roguelite MOTHERGUNSHIP: FORGE from Terrible Posture Games.
Meta Quest+ is set to cost $8 per month, or billed for $60 annually, a 37% savings over the monthly charge. You can learn more and also sign up here.
Meta says Quest+ titles are eligible for App Sharing across accounts, although if you happen to already own any of the games on offer monthly, you’ll just have to stick around to see whether something comes up that you don’t already own.
To sweeten the pot, the company is doing a deal for July that reduces the first month’s charge to $1, which is then followed by the regular $8 per month. That specific offer ends July 31st, 2023.
While Quest+ has been the subject of rumors for the past few months, it wasn’t clear which route the company would go—whether it would be a Viveport-style affair that allows you to pick from a pool of eligible games, or what they revealed today, a highly curated system like PS Plus. It’s an interesting route which could signal they’re expecting a substantial raise in new users in the coming months, as the company is set to launch its $500 Quest 3 headset September 27th, 2023, which has come along with a price reduction of Quest 2 to the original $300 price point.
Everything announced at Meta Quest Gaming Showcase 2023
Here's our live recap of every announcement made during the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase 2023.
New Quest 2 & Quest Pro Update Brings Performance Boost and New Home Environments
Meta says it’s has begun pushing out a software update which will bring some pretty profound performance boosts to both Quest 2 & Quest Pro.
Update (June 21st, 2023): Meta says Quest update v55 is now starting to roll out to Quest 2 & Quest Pro users. The company is promising the update will deliver a significant boost to the devices’ performance which should make the VR experience smoother overall while allowing apps to render at somewhat higher resolutions.
Update v55 also includes a standalone Messenger app and a revamped ‘Explore’ tab (which now shows Reels from Instagram and Facebook, if your accounts are connected). The update also adds multi-touch capability to the in-headset browser for hands-on zooming of web pages.
And last but not least, users will find two new home environments for their headset. The first is ‘Futurescape’, which was the backdrop of this year’s Quest Gaming Showcase; the second is ‘The Great Sand Sea’, which is exclusively available to users who have pre-ordered Asgard’s Wrath 2.
As ever, Meta advises that these updates roll out gradually to the population of headset users, so if you don’t see it right away you might need to wait a little longer.
The original article, which covered the update’s performance improvements, continues below.
Original Article (June 1st, 2023): Meta unveiled Quest 3 today, its next consumer-focused headset slated to launch in fall starting at $500. Quest 3 is going to be more powerful than Quest 2 by a good margin; the company says it has “more than twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2.”
Now the company says it’s tossing out a software update to both Quest 2 and Quest Pro chipsets that will provide up to 26% CPU performance increase for both. As for the headsets’ GPUS, we’re told to expect up to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% for Quest Pro.
“As developers take advantage of these changes, you can expect smoother gameplay, a more responsive UI, and richer content on both headsets,” the company says in a blogpost. “And we’re enabling Dynamic Resolution Scaling for both Quest 2 and Quest Pro, so games and apps can take advantage of increased pixel density without dropping frames.”
The company hasn’t said just when to expect the update, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled on Meta blog and social channels in the coming days. In the meantime, check out all of our Quest 3 coverage so far which has come right ahead of the big Quest Gaming Showcase kicking off today:
Meta is Dropping the Price of Quest 2 to Make Way for Quest 3
With the announcement of Quest 3, Meta is dropping the price of Quest 2 starting on June 4th to make way for its new flagship headset.
The story of Quest 2’s price takes yet another turn. Let’s recap.
When the headset launched in 2020, it started with a somewhat unbelievably low price of $300 for the 64GB model, and later the company sweetened that deal even further by offering the headset with 128GB for the same price. That price point was apparently so aggressively low that Meta may even have been losing money on each headset sold, which prompted the company to raise the price of the base model last year to $400. This was purportedly in response to supply chain and inflation struggles.
But now, just about a year later, Meta has announced that it’s (re)reducing the price of Quest 2, apparently to make room for Quest 3 which will launch this Fall starting at $500. It seems likely this move is an effort to start selling off remaining Quest 2 stock, and perhaps to better differentiate Quest 2 from Quest 3.
So, starting June 4th, Quest 2 (128GB) will return to its original $300 price point, with the 256GB model priced at $350.
Even in the face of Quest 3, that remains a killer deal for the most complete standalone VR headset on the market, one that’s been very hard for other players in the space to contend with. Maybe (just maybe) another reason for this price change is to highlight the contrast between Quest 2 and the rumored $1,500–$3,000 price point of Apple’s first headset.