Meta Quest’s Horizon OS is open to third parties – and Xbox is one of the first to jump on board
Meta has announced a partnership with several manufacturers to bring a variety of new, limited-edition mixed-reality headsets to market.
As reported by VGCOne of these partners is Microsoft, which will be working with Meta to develop a limited edition Meta Quest device that could potentially be similar to Meta Quest 3, one of our picks for the best VR headsets.
An official one Meta blog post confirmed: “Xbox and Meta worked together last year to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) to Meta Quest, allowing people to play Xbox games on a large 2D virtual screen in mixed reality. Now we’re teaming up again to bring a limited edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox.”
While Meta is still keeping a tight lid on the nature of this limited-edition Xbox-inspired Meta Quest device, it does elaborate on the decision to expand its Horizon OS, so to speak. It explains that: “Meta Horizon OS will continue to give people more choice in the way they access apps.
“Because we don’t limit users to titles from our own app store, there are multiple ways to access great content on Meta Horizon OS, including popular gaming services like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or via Steam Link or our Air Link system for wirelessly stream PC software to headsets.” In the post, Meta also encourages Google to bring its Play Store to Quest devices.
Meta also has contact with other manufacturers with whom it collaborates. It confirms that Asus ROG will develop “an all-new gaming headset.” Meanwhile, Lenovo plans to “develop mixed reality devices for productivity, learning and entertainment.” Both will use Meta Horizon OS in creating these devices.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expanded these partnerships in an Instagram postperhaps teasing that the limited-edition Xbox-branded Quest headset could actually be quite basic, stating that it “could just be a version that comes out of the box with Xbox controllers and Game Pass so you can get straight to Start playing on a big screen, wherever you are.”