All articles tagged with #vr
Apple is cutting more than 200 jobs across its Vision Pro and Siri teams, including largely shutting down the Vision Pro gaming unit and downsizing the Vision Pro immersive-content group. The company says the restructuring is to evolve the business and deliver better experiences, with new roles to be created as it pursues future hardware like slimmer headsets and Apple glasses after the Vision Pro’s 2024 launch.
Apple reportedly laid off about 60 employees from its Vision Group, effectively disbanding the Vision Pro team and redistributing staff to other projects as the company pivots toward smart glasses, with reports of canceling a second Vision Pro and a cheaper “Vision Air,” and a potential headset launch pushed to late 2028.
Apple reportedly laid off at least 60 employees from its Vision Group, signaling a shift away from VR development toward smart glasses and ongoing work on visionOS, with Vision Pro continuing in a downsized capacity.
Valve's Great on Frame hub has expanded to 50+ optimized titles, including many VR games and flatscreen hits like Hollow Knight: Silksong, Portal 2, and Hades. A launch date and price for Steam Frame hasn't been announced, but FCC certification suggests an imminent release.
Meta’s Reality Labs posted a $4.62 billion loss in the second quarter on $431 million in revenue, a figure narrower than analysts’ $5.07 billion loss on $423.4 million revenue. The unit, which develops Quest VR headsets and Ray‑Ban Meta glasses, has burned over $80 billion in operating losses since 2020 as Meta presses on with its virtual-reality and wearables push.
Google is open-sourcing its 3D emoji (Noto Emoji 3D), releasing raw OBJ files for anyone to use in VR worlds, indie apps, or memes, following a look into how the 3D icons were designed.
Steam's annual Summer Sale runs until July 9 at 1pm ET, offering well over 800 VR titles with deep discounts (up to 90%), including popular picks like Half-Life: Alyx, Skyrim VR, and Phasmophobia; you can filter the store for VR to explore the deals.
Meta is spinning out Supernatural as an independent company called Supernatural Health. The current Supernatural app will wind down on December 3, and a new app is expected later this fall in Quest's Horizon Store, built by a smaller team with some of the original coaches back on board. Pricing is returning to the original $20/month ($200/year) after a Founding Member rate of $180 for the first year. Founders and coaches are departing from Meta, and the updated app will bring fresh workouts and features. The move follows Meta's 2021 $400 million acquisition of Within and a subsequent FTC antitrust case that was dropped in 2023.
Valve has raised Steam Deck prices by about 44–46%: 512 GB OLED from $549 to $789 and 1 TB from $649 to $949, with the 256 GB LCD variant reportedly removed. Valve cites rising RAM/SSD costs and logistics as the reason, signaling that Steam Frame (and Steam Machine) pricing and release timing may be revisited. The price hike adds risk to Steam Frame’s roadmap and fuels uncertainty about when and how it will be priced, potentially extending Valve’s rumored “Valve time.”
Ruff Talk VR Showcase delivered a wave of news: new titles announced — Survive The Night, OogaBonk, Just Hoops Nano, Cozy Worlds Together, and Order 13 VR; new content/DLC drops — Scared By Squares, The Obsessive Shadow, Clonk, Neolithic Dawn, Dark Trip; and a lineup of new gameplay trailers for Knights of Fiona, How To God, Fixer Undercover, Disembodied, Loop One Done, Warchasm, System Critical 3, Pedal Rebel, Hyperlane Highway, Adrian’s Quest, Exoshock, Viper Vice, and Project Nova, with releases planned across Meta Quest, SteamVR, and PS VR2 across various windows.”,
Valve is reportedly reviving its hardware lineup with a Steam Controller 2 featuring a wireless receiver, charging dock, longer battery life and ergonomic design at an affordable $60–$70, a reimagined Steam Machine that uses modular storage to balance price and performance, and a Steam Frame VR headset; the strategy emphasizes usability, affordability, and a phased rollout inspired by lessons from the Steam Deck.
Meta says RAM shortages are driving price hikes for Quest headsets effective April 19: Quest 3 up $100 to $599; Quest 3S up to $350 (128GB) or $450 (256GB); refurbished Quest 3 up $100 to $550; refurbished Quest 3S up to $320 (128GB) or $410 (256GB). Accessories unchanged; no immediate price changes for smart glasses. A correction notes the refurbished Quest 3 increase is $100, not $170.
Meta is hiking Quest headset prices due to a memory-chip shortage: starting April 19, the 128GB Quest 3S is $349.99, the 256GB Quest 3S is $449.99, and the Quest 3 is $599.99—up $50 on the 3S models and $100 on the base Quest 3. Refurbished units rise as well: 128GB refurb 3S $319.99, 256GB refurb 3S $409.99, and refurb Quest 3 $549.99 (+$170); accessories stay the same. Meta says memory costs are driving the change, and smart glasses aren’t seeing a price hike for now.
Valve has released an early beta of Steam Link for Apple Vision Pro, enabling PC gaming streaming directly to the headset via Big Picture with 120Hz refresh, eye-tracking, and pinch gestures; while visuals are crisp, there’s noticeable input latency and UI flicker, and performance depends on a fast home network and a capable PC. This beta signals Vision Pro’s potential as a more open, game-friendly platform, but it’s not yet polished and SteamVR support remains limited.
Rec Room, the Seattle-based social gaming platform once valued at $3.5B, is closing on June 1 after failing to reach profitability despite serving more than 150 million players. The platform will halt new accounts, subscriptions, and monetization, with creator earnings ending in May and a final payout on June 1, as staff reductions from 2025 are part of the wind-down. Snap is reportedly acquiring assets as part of the shutdown.