Around the same time Meta hiked up the worth on its Quest 2 headsets, it additionally offered that it’s ending Quest 1 lend a hand for Inhabitants One, a preferred battle-royale shooter set in virtual reality. BigBox VR, the Meta-owned developer on the support of the recreation, shared the update in a post on its weblog, noting that Quest 1 owners will now no longer be ready to launch or play the recreation starting up October 31st, 2022.
BigBox VR says the shutdown is mandatory so it must focal point on establishing contemporary experiences “that can push the boundaries of multiplayer VR.” Quest 1 players can mute technically play the recreation within the event that they’ve a VR-ready PC, on the opposite hand. The sport supports contaminated-rob, which makes the PC model available by the exercise of Air Hyperlink and Oculus Hyperlink. This might maybe also mute let users play Inhabitants: One by connecting their Quest 1 headset to their computer (whether or no longer wirelessly or with a wired connection). Players the usage of the Quest 2, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Rift S will mute occupy access to the recreation.
While Meta’s offering Quest 1 owners a refund for Inhabitants: One, there’s a resolve: you had to occupy bought the recreation from the Quest Store within the direction of the past six months. The coverage looks sort of unfair for a recreation that launched on the Quest nearly two years within the past and might maybe also mute seemingly leave a number of players with a recreation that they’ll’t even play (unless, of direction, they upgrade to the now-$399 Quest 2 or exercise Air / Oculus Hyperlink, which requires a costly VR-ready PC).
Inhabitants: One’s shutdown additionally raises the seek information from of whether or no longer varied developers will shortly ax lend a hand for the three-yr-damaged-down Quest 1. Meta spokesperson Caiti Sullivan said in an announcement to The Verge that the company’s currently “working out the significant capabilities of an ecosystem-wide finish-of-lend a hand direction of,” and that “varied developers who resolve to finish lend a hand for apps on Quest 1 will seemingly be ready to produce so.” Meta declined to comment additional when requested whether or no longer any varied games will finish Quest 1 lend a hand within the finish to future.
I know that games can’t lend a hand every older system forever, but dishing out a heed amplify, on the side of an announcement that can shortly leave Quest 1 owners with one less recreation to play, is love a double punch to the gut. As my colleague Jay Peters capabilities out, Meta will seemingly be raising the worth of the Quest 2, and perchance even pushing users against it, to stem the the losses its virtual reality arm reported in each the foremost and 2d quarter of 2022.
Change August 7th, 2: 27PM ET: Updated to add that Inhabitants: One supports contaminated-rob.
