With Apple’s Vision Pro threatening to eat into the virtual reality market, Meta is doing everything it can to keep users within its own VR ecosystem.
On Monday, the company announced the Meta Quest+, a $7.99 per month VR subscription service. You can also get it for $59.99 per year if you sign up before July 31, and the first month is only $1.
The way Meta Quest+ works is as follows: At the beginning of each month, users receive access to two “hand-picked” VR titles. These titles will remain in their collection as long as they are Quest+ subscribers, so the collection will grow month after month.
Meta, for example, is beginning with the FPS game Pistol Whip and the retro adventure game Pixel Ripped 1995. Walkabout Mini Golf, along with the Mothergunship:Forge shooter, will be available in August.
The subscription, according to Meta, provides users with a monthly value of “up to $60,” as well as the convenience of a curated experience.
Recently, subscription-based models have grown in popularity among IT behemoths, with examples including Apple’s gaming subscription service Apple Arcade, Twitter’s aggressively marketed Twitter Blue, and Meta’s own Meta Verified, a subscription service for Facebook and Instagram. Apple’s Vision Pro is significantly more expensive than Meta’s Quest headsets, and it won’t be available until early next year, but Meta likely wants to lock in as many customers as possible before Apple’s VR efforts become competitive with its own.
Meta Quest+ is compatible with the Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets, as well as the upcoming Quest 3 headset, a $499 VR headset that will be available later this year.
Meta Quest+ can be purchased from the Meta Quest Store.
