Meta Abandons Original Quest VR Headset – Gizmodo
The original Oculus Quest was using aging technology even when it debuted in 2019, though now Meta has decided to end support for the device.
Photo: Slaven Vlasic (Getty Images)
With only one iteration ahead, Meta has declared that its first Meta Quest VR headset won’t be receiving any more love or TLC.
In an email sent to Meta Quest 1 users and later posted to Twitter, the company spelled out how it will be dropping support for its original, cheaper virtual reality device. Most importantly, the device will no longer receive future content updates. By 2024, the device will no longer get any bug fixes or security patches.
Notably, users will no longer have significant functionality. Though Meta promised you will still be able to use the headset and its installed games and apps, Quest 1 users will no longer be able to join parties, and they will also lose access to Meta’s feature product Horizon Home on March 5 this year. Users will no longer be able to invite others to their homes or travel over to another user’s home.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced what was originally called the Oculus Quest in 2018 as the premiere wireless VR headset. The company released the headset in 2019 (so Meta is a little off in their letter when they said they launched the device “over four years ago”), and this was all before Meta officially renamed the devices and its various services in 2021. So the Quest 1 is working off four-year-old tech, and it would make some sense why Meta would not want to support aging hardware.
The Meta Quest 2 has been billed as a budget, entry-level VR headset, but that was Meta trying to engender support for their whole concept of the “metaverse” while operating at a loss, a strategy which finally bit them in the backside in Q3 last year. Meta then instituted price increases for the Quest 2, raising …….