The Oculus Quest 2 is a hugely popular VR device with it currently holding a circa 47% market share according to the latest Steam Hardware Survey. On the other hand, however, the original first-generation model didn’t prove to be that popular with consumers. – Although predominantly due to its cost, and specifically so against the notably more affordable Oculus Rift which was also available around the same time, the original Oculus Quest was never really popular with consumers. In fact, today it only has a circa 2.5% market share (again, according to Steam).
It seems though that its popularity is, in fact, so low that following a report via TechSpot, Meta (aka Facebook) has confirmed that support for the original Oculus Quest VR headset is set to come to an end this March.
Meta to End Support for the Original Oculus Quest VR
According to the report, Meta has started sending emails to known Oculus Quest VR owners advising them that as of March 5th 2023, official support for their headsets will start to come to an end. – What does this actually mean though? Well, before you panic, it seems that this will initially only start with some of the more social media-focused aspects. Specifically, or at first, at least, the somewhat boring Meta Horizon Home functionality (Did anyone ever use that anyway?).
So, in a nutshell, the good news is that the Oculus Quest will continue to be a supported VR headset for upcoming gaming title releases. The only immediate issue may be seen in the somewhat crappy social media/friend features. – The bad news, however, is that Meta has said that the Oculus Quest 1 will see its total all-encompassing support expire at some point in 2024 (sorry, nothing more specific just yet). So, this means that updates, security, etc. will no longer be provided which, by proxy, likely also includes the diminishing probability/likelihood of gaming support.
So, yeah, Oculus Quest 1 owners, I’m sorry, but basically consider your VR headset on end-of-life alert!
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
