Oculus Quest is no more. The company announced on Wednesday that it is discontinuing the standalone VR headset, instead focusing its efforts on the Oculus Rift and the upcoming Oculus Quest Plus. The decision to end production of Quest comes as a surprise to many, as the headset had been seen as a potential challenger to the dominant player in the VR market, Sony’s PlayStation VR. But while Quest may have failed to topple Sony’s lead, it did manage to carve out its own niche in the market. Quest was designed as a more affordable alternative to high-end headsets like Rift and Vive, and it was praised for its comfortable design and easy setup process. It also boasted some impressive features, such as support for hand tracking and 360-degree head tracking. But despite these strengths, Quest never managed to achieve widespread popularity. In fact, sales of the device were relatively low compared to other VR headsets on the market. This may be due in part to its higher price tag (which ranged from $399-$599), as well as competition from other cheaper options like Google’s Daydream View and Samsung’s GearVR. Despite its short lifespan, Quest will still be remembered for its innovative design and unique features. It will be interesting to see what Oculus plans to do with all of its remaining resources now that it has abandoned Quest in favor of more mainstream products like Rift and Quest Plus. ..
The company posted on Twitter about the change, saying, “New Name. Same Mission.” It also changed the name of the Twitter account to @MetaQuestVR, fully letting everyone know that the Oculus brand is gone and Meta is here to stay.
— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) January 26, 2022
This comes shortly after Meta became the name of the company that owns Facebook and the former Oculus. It’s a significant shift in terms of the company name, and it seems that it’s trying to remind everyone about the brand change by shifting the name of its VR headset.
If you already own one of these Quest headsets, nothing will change for you. You’ll still have access to the same games and apps, but you’ll be the proud owner of Meta Quest or Meta Quest 2.
This seems like a dangerous move for Meta, as people know Oculus as the leading name in the virtual reality space. Throwing away that brand recognition seems like a bad idea, but we’ll have to see how it plays out and whether this change hurts the headset’s sales.
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