Meta Quest 1 is pretty much dead, and this is good for Meta
The first Meta Quest has reached the end of its life cycle, as shown by the user statistics of a well-known VR studio.
The VR MMO Zenith: The Last City will no longer support Meta Quest 1.
The next major update, which will include the new Ninja class, will not be rolled out to the device, and the VR game will no longer launch on the VR headset as of September 15, 2023.
"Currently, maintaining support for Quest 1 is impacting the quality and stability for Quest 2 [...], and we feel that this is the best course of action to be able to best serve the vast majority of our users," the studio writes.
The developers provide a number to back up their argument: According to them, only about 2 percent of all Quest players still use a Meta Quest 1 to play the game.
The device is also hardly used as a PC VR headset anymore: According to the latest SteamVR statistics, it has a market share of 2.2 percent. Meta Quest 2 comes in at just under 45 percent.
Meta Quest 1 is nearing the end of its life cycle
It's no surprise that Meta has announced that Meta Quest 1 is being phased out. There will be no new features for the VR headset, and the rollout of critical bug fixes will stop next year. Social features such as Horizon Home and the ability to create parties have already been disabled by Meta. As of February 1, 2024, no new Quest 1 apps will be accepted in the Meta Quest Store.
Popular VR games such as Population: One and Onward have already or will stop supporting Meta Quest 1 this year.
The studios responsible are owned by Meta, but the company hinted that third-party studios will soon be given the option to drop Quest 1 support as well. The studio behind Zenith: The Last City is one of them. More moves like this are likely to follow from other VR studios. However, you will still be able to play most VR games on the device even after 2024.
Meta Quest 3 is coming this year
The first Meta Quest was launched in May 2019 under the name Oculus Quest. The device was replaced by the much more powerful Oculus Quest 2 in October 2020, which was later officially rebranded as Meta Quest 2.
It's good for Meta that Quest 1 is not being used as much because it makes the transition to Meta Quest 2 easier. VR studios can focus on getting the most out of current hardware, which ultimately benefits consumers.
In the case of the next generation, the transition will be more difficult. This year, Meta Quest 3 will be released at a higher price point than Meta Quest 2, so the device could remain on sale until 2024. Meta will not easily repeat the immense success of the VR headset and will therefore need to support Meta Quest 2 for longer.
By the way, those who want to stick with Meta Quest 1 can still play Zenith: The Last City on their PC via Air Link or Virtual Desktop. Support for the Playstation VR 1 will also be discontinued, as it too has gone through a generational change.
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