Meta Quest 3 Announcement PSVR2 Sony 1
Image: Push Square

Facebook’s parent company Meta has revealed its latest virtual reality headset, the Meta Quest 3, which likes its predecessor is a standalone device that requires no external hardware. With a starting price point of $499.99, the new unit is actually considerably cheaper than PSVR2’s $549.99 – especially when you consider the latter has to be hooked up to an expensive PS5 as well.

However, the company is currently being cagey about the device’s specifications. Officially it’s touting better displays and resolution, greater comfort, and twice the graphics performance using a “next-gen Qualcomm chipset” – but it’s unlikely this will compete with PSVR2 in terms of raw graphics performance. Of course, with Sony seemingly hesitant to greenlight bonafide exclusives for its headset, that may not end up mattering much in the long run.

The big new feature for Meta Quest 3 is it’s “high-res colour mixed reality” which utilises “4MP RGB colour cameras, a depth sensor for a more accurate representation of your play space, and 10x more pixels in Passthrough compared to Quest 2”. It also has updated controllers which do away with those occasionally unwieldy outer-rings.

While more information will be shared later in the year, Meta has also confirmed that it’s seriously cutting the price of the Meta Quest 2 in the meantime. That means the 128GB version will now cost just $299.99, while the 256GB model will retail for $349.99. You may recall the company massively increased the price of these items last year, so this brings the entry fee right back down. Meta Quest 3, for the record, will be backwards compatible with all previous software.

Meta also announced a handful of new games for its headsets, including notably PowerWash Simulator VR. There’s no word on that coming to PSVR2 just yet, but we’d imagine it’ll arrive eventually. And that’s why this announcement isn’t necessarily bad news for Sony’s headset: the more viable platforms for virtual reality content, the better the overall support will be – and that’s a win-win for all manufacturers.

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[source meta.com]