Meta to cease promoting Quest headsets to companies, discontinue a number of VR options

Meta Platforms Inc. will cease promoting its Quest digital actuality headsets to enterprise clients and discontinue numerous software program companies that run on the gadgets.

The corporate introduced the transfer on Thursday. The choice will not be sudden: Earlier this week, Meta laid off greater than 1,000 staffers from the Actuality Labs enterprise unit that develops its VR gadgets. Lots of the affected workers have been reportedly a part of {hardware} engineering groups.

The primary VR service that Meta will shut down known as Horizon Workrooms. Launched in 2021, it offers a digital convention room that may be accessed utilizing the Fb mum or dad’s VR headsets. Digital avatars of as much as 16 workers can collaborate on content material similar to shows.

Horizon Workrooms will go offline on Feb. 16. 4 days later, Meta will cease delivery its Quest household of VR headsets to companies.

The corporate’s flagship Quest 3 headset made its debut in 2023. It’s powered by a VR-optimized chip from Qualcomm Applied sciences Inc. that features a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit and a synthetic intelligence accelerator. The processor helps embedded shows with a decision of two,064 pixels by 2,208 pixels per eye.

Meta affords the Quest 3 alongside a more recent, much less superior VR headset known as the Quest 3S that launched in 2024. The latter system contains the identical Qualcomm chip as its predecessor however offers a decrease show decision. It prices $200 lower than the Quest 3.

Along with the discontinuation of Quest shipments to companies, Meta will cease promoting a software program subscription known as Horizon managed companies, or HMS. The providing offers instruments that directors can use to handle their firms’ Quest gadgets.

HMS makes it potential to configure which staffer can entry what VR functions. These entry guidelines are hooked up to worker profiles. When an worker logs right into a Quest that can also be utilized by different crew members, the headset prompts the related profile’s entry guidelines.

HMS additionally offers varied different administration options. Directors can reset worker passwords, remotely delete the info on a Quest headset and add integrations with third-party system administration instruments. Though Meta will cease promoting HMS subsequent month, it’s going to proceed supporting the service by means of Jan. 4, 2030.

“We’re making this transformation as Meta will increase our concentrate on constructing the world-class first-party client {hardware} and software program wanted to advance the digital actuality market,” Meta staffers wrote within the weblog put up that introduced the transfer. “We stay dedicated to VR for the long run, and can proceed to put money into rising and evolving the class.”

The Actuality Labs unit that develops the Quest collection now focuses primarily on Meta’s rising lineup of good glasses. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the corporate is contemplating doubling its eyewear manufacturing capability to twenty million models per 12 months. Meta’s latest pair of good glasses, the Meta Ray-Ban Show, features a built-in AI assistant and a wristband that allow customers to manage the system with hand gestures.

Picture: Meta