Meta May Launch a Quest 2 “Game Pass” for VR Apps
On Quest VR headsets, Meta could offer a sort of Game Pass for VR games in the future.
Xbox and PC gamers know this model for years: For a monthly fee, they get access to an ever-growing library of video games. With Microsoft Game Pass, they can download games to their console or PC and use them as if they were their own for the duration of the subscription.
Meta may soon offer a similar model for VR games.
Twitter user finds description of subscription model
Twitter user Shiny Quagsire recently posted a screenshot he claims to have taken of the Meta Quest Android app. He says he came across the description of “Quest Pass” via a deep link.
The description reads like a sort of Game Pass for Meta’s VR headset, with “easy access to the best of VR” as long as you subscribe. Another user confirms in the comments that he also found the link in the Quest app for iOS.
Apparently Meta is adding a game pass thing soon for Quest, "Project Apollo". Accessible via this deep link URI (on Android at least)
oculus://view/platform_subscription pic.twitter.com/Bz5321zRpv
— Shiny Quagsire (@ShinyQuagsire) March 4, 2023
In fact, the Quest Pass as described here is more similar to Xbox Games with Gold or Sony Playstation Plus subscriptions. According to the description, subscribers to “Project Apollo” will receive up to two new apps or VR games per month.
The apps can be transferred to your own app library if you sign up to redeem them. Subscribers must actively claim the game to use it beyond its release month, just like the basic Playstation Plus model. Canceling also means losing access to the corresponding Apps.
Project Apollo: No official plans known
Since the name “Project Apollo” is in square brackets in the description, it is probably a working title. It is not known how far Meta’s plans for a subscription model have progressed. There is no official confirmation that Meta is working on a Quest Pass.
However, a Game Pass collaboration between Meta and Microsoft is concrete. Since Meta Connect 2022, we know that Xbox Cloud Gaming will be coming to Quest 2, and Game Pass subscribers will be able to play selected games on a virtual screen in Meta Quest 2 and probably Quest Pro as well.
An affordable VR gaming service would certainly be a good selling point for Meta Quest 3, which will be released in 2023. Recently, new rumors have surfaced that the new VR headset will be thinner, faster, and more expensive than its predecessor.