January 9, 2023 at 10 p.m. Meta sent a mass email to warn the community of users of their VR headsets that the Oculus Quest, the first of the name, will cease to be supported in 2024 and that it will lose its social functions from the beginning of the year. Even though it sold far less than its successor, the fact remains that it still has a community of devotees who prefer it for its deep black OLED screen and the fact that it never has was mandatory to connect it to an account Facebook to use it. But now, time passes and the bottom of the drawer in the attic is not very far away.
Here is the content of the email:
We launched Quest 1 over 4 years ago and thank the Quest 1 community for advancing VR. As we prepare for the future, we continue to support the Quest 1 user community and will continue to support this headset with a few changes:
- You will still be able to use your Quest 1 headset and available apps;
- We will not be offering new features for Quest 1;
- We plan to continue system software maintenance with critical fixes and security patches through 2024;
- Quest 1 users will no longer be able to create or join a party;
- Quest 1 users who currently have access to the social features of the Meta Horizon Home will no longer be able to access it starting March 5, 2023. You will no longer be able to invite other users to your Home or visit the Home of another person.
If you have any questions about these changes or your Quest 1 headset, contact Meta Store Support here: https://store.facebook.com/help/support/
Thank you to the entire Quest 1 community for helping us get to where we are today.
The only good news is that it will always be possible to continue playing with the games already acquired but also those that will be released on condition that they are compatible (which is to say no more apart from the titles from theAppLab). Otherwise, forget the new features to come but the system software (firmware) will still be maintained until 2024. The social part will simply be deleted (goodbye HorizonWorld and friends in his Home) and it will no longer be possible to create groups (Party) to chat during his multiplayer games.
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After almost four years of loyal service, it may only seem logical that Meta decides to let go of the Oculus Quest.. Note, for the little story in the big one, that the press release speaks of Quest 1 while its real name is Oculus Quest. Short, it’s been a while since new games coming to the Quest Store were no longer compatible with the ancestor of the Meta familywith the exception, however, of a few titles already pending on theAppLab for several months before their official release. Thanks to this radical choice authorized and encouraged by Meta, the studios were able to offer games that took full advantage of the additional power offered by the Quest 2.. To offer you a parallel may be more telling, it’s a bit like users of new generation consoles, for example PS5, who dream of seeing dedicated and optimized games instead of versions clearly handicapped by their compatibility with the PS4. Similarly, the fact that the social functionalities are withdrawn from it is not abnormal in itself either. The Quest 2 system will evolve and take advantage of its intrinsic possibilities and maintaining that of the Oculus Quest to follow would be a challenge far too costly for Mark Zuckerberg’s company. And then let’s be clear, the helmet will be four years old when its updates stop and it will still be possible to use it, it’s still a good lifespan for a machine of its kind.
To conclude, from the beginning, Meta plays transparency on the lifespan and evolutions of its VR headsets. By offering this roadmap towards the end of headset maintenance – but not its end – the American company allows Oculus Quest owners not to be taken aback and, perhaps, to motivate themselves to save to take the future Meta Quest 3 which will arrive at the end of the year.