- Meta, the entity behind Facebook, recently announced the inception of its innovative Virtual Reality (VR) subscription service, marking a significant step towards its aim of securing a profitable position in the VR business landscape.
- As part of its service offerings, Meta has revealed that subscribers will be privileged to access a minimum of two new games each month, providing a continuous stream of novel content for the dedicated gaming community.
- Reflecting on the financial performance during the initial quarter of the year, Meta, also the owner of Instagram, acknowledged a significant $4bn (£3.1bn) deficit incurred by its VR unit, illustrating the challenges faced in the domain.
- The company is navigating through a competitive tech market where rivals like Apple, a globally recognized technology giant, have already unveiled their own versions of mixed-reality headsets, escalating the race towards VR dominance.
- Meta provided additional information this Monday, detailing the compatibility of its subscription service, Meta Quest+, with its Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the yet-to-be-released Quest 3 headsets. The service is priced at $7.99 for a monthly subscription, and offers an annual subscription for $59.99.
- Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made a grand vision known in 2021, outlining his plan to construct a “metaverse” – a comprehensive online world where individuals could play games, work, and communicate in an immersive virtual environment, primarily through VR headsets.
- Expressing his vision, Mr. Zuckerberg stated, “I hope that over time, we are identified as a metaverse company, and I aim to root our work and identity in what we are striving to build.”
- Meta declared several ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives in February of the preceding year, with Zuckerberg emphasizing that AI forms “the key to unlocking the metaverse.”
- Surpassing market predictions, Meta reported an impressive profit of $5.7bn for the first quarter of this year. However, Reality Labs, Meta’s division responsible for the production of VR headsets and other products, recorded a net loss of $4bn for the same period.
- Earlier in June, Apple introduced its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, marking its first major hardware launch in nearly a decade. Slated for release in the U.S. early next year, Apple’s headset is priced at a steep $3,499.
- When compared to the market at large, Apple’s headset is considerably pricier. Meanwhile, Meta’s range of VR headsets are more affordable, with prices ranging from $299.99 to $999.99.
