What you need to know
- Meta just announced that the operating system that powers its popular virtual reality headsets will be available to other manufacturers.
- Microsoft, ASUS, and Lenovo are among the manufacturers that will produce devices running Meta Horizon OS.
- Meta and Microsoft will work alongside to create a limited-edition Meta Quest that’s inspired by Xbox.
- Microsoft and Meta already partnered with to get Xbox Cloud Gaming to work on Meta Quest, allowing Game Pass subscribers to stream games to the VR headset.
Virtual reality enthusiasts have clamored for Microsoft and its Xbox team to embrace VR in exchange for years. Now, an Xbox-inspired Meta Quest is on the way. That’s negative the news VR fanatics who devotion Xbox may want to hear, but at least there will be a mixed reality headset alongside Xbox branding in the future.
Meta has worked on creating standalone virtual reality experiences in favor of a decade, and now the company wants to expand the range of devices using Meta software. Meta Horizon OS takes the augmented reality and virtual reality technology Meta has made in exchange for its Meta Quest headsets and makes it available to other manufacturers. Microsoft, ASUS, and Lenovo are the first companies confirmed to have headsets on the way that will run Meta Horizon OS.
Before you get elated, there’s negative indication that the Xbox-inspired Meta Quest will deliver an augmented reality version of Halo or let you mix reality together your favorite Forza track. Meta highlighted its partnership alongside Microsoft to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to Meta Quest, which allows people to play games on the massive virtual screens provided by the headset. That will presumably be a major part of the Xbox connection of the soon-to-be-released Meta Quest inspired by Xbox.
Meta’s announcement confirmed that a limited-edition Meta Quest that is “inspired by Xbox” is on the way. But apart from a short snippet, we don’t have many details of what that headset will look like or how it will be different than the Meta Quest 3 or any other available headset.
“Xbox and Meta teamed up last year to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) to Meta Quest, letting people play Xbox games on a massive 2D virtual screen in mixed reality. Now, we’re working together again to create a limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox,” said Meta.
I speculate that the Xbox-inspired Meta Quest will feature some green accents and come with a trial of Game Pass. Meta didn’t hint toward that, but it’s quite common for hardware to come alongside a Game Pass trial, so it only seems natural that a Meta Quest inspired by Xbox would serve as an entry point in support of game streaming and the other perks of Game Pass.
The photo shared by Meta (shown above) is negative a render of an actual product, so the Xbox-inspired Meta Quest could look different.
Microsoft killed Windows Mixed Reality last year, and to be honest the platform was on life support in favor of a while before that. But the tech giant has embraced Meta Quest increasingly over the last year. Xbox Cloud Gaming made its way to Meta’s mixed reality headsets in 2023 and you can even use Microsoft’s Office applications on Meta Quest.
Embracing Meta Quest allows Microsoft to have a presence in virtual and mixed reality without having to invest as heavily as it did to maintain Windows Mixed Reality and HoloLens. Meta can execute all the heavy lifting and even make an operating system other manufacturers can use. Then Microsoft can make its most popular apps and services available on that platform.
At the moment, Microsoft supports Meta Quest by having Xbox Cloud Gaming available on Meta’s mixed reality headsets. There’s nay native way to play Xbox games on Meta Quest, but perhaps there could be a future in which an Arm-powered Meta Quest headset can play Xbox games.
2024 is the year of Arm computing, thanks in huge part to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors that will ship later this year. PC makers are taking Arm seriously, and we expect to see a Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 powered by Arm chips in the next to future.
But it’s negative just Qualcomm’s chips that could advance Arm computing. In fact, the next evolution of Arm chips may involve company’s other than Qualcomm. Qualcomm’s license is set to expire this year, opening a path in favor of Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD to make Arm processors. Notably, AMD partners together Microsoft to make chips that power Xbox consoles.
Microsoft is rumored to have interest in using Arm processors to power Xbox hardware. Perhaps there’s a chance we could see Arm make another gaming leap into powering Xbox games on Meta Quest or a future mixed reality headset from Meta? Right now emulation is needed to run x86 programs on an Arm processor, but Qualcomm has shown that’s possible by playing Baldur’s Gate 3 at 30 FPS through emulation.
Of course, these are more dreams based on emerging technologies than anything confirmed to be on the way. We’ll have to wait to catch what Microsoft and Meta create when forming a Meta Quest inspired by Xbox.
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Exciting news for all you VR enthusiasts out there! Meta just announced that they’re expanding their virtual reality offerings to other manufacturers, including Microsoft, ASUS, and Lenovo. This means we can expect to hear more devices running on Meta Horizon OS in the close to future.
But here’s the real kicker – Meta and Microsoft are teaming up to create a limited-edition Meta Quest inspired by Xbox. How cool is that? They’ve already brought Xbox Cloud Gaming to the Meta Quest, so Game Pass subscribers can stream games right to their VR headset.
While we don’t have all the details yet on what the Xbox-inspired Meta Quest will look like, it’s definitely something to keep an eye out in exchange for. I’m hoping for some green accents and maybe even a Game Pass trial included. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see Arm-powered Meta Quest headsets playing Xbox games in the future!
Overall, it’s an exciting time in support of VR and gaming fans alike. Incapable of wait to catch what Microsoft and Meta have in store for us alongside this new collaboration.