Meta recently announced that it would “open” the operating system that powers its Quest line of mixed-reality devices for third-party hardware and software development.
The change comes with a new name, “Meta Horizon OS,” and a rebranding of the Quest Store to the “Meta Horizon Store.” It also brings a trio of high-profile partners in Asus, Lenovo and Microsoft’s Xbox brand.
According to a blog post from Meta, each of the partners will work with Meta to develop their own mixed/virtual reality devices.
Asus’s Republic of Gamers is working on a “performance gaming headset,” though details are currently scarce on exactly what that means. It’s possible that this indicates it’ll be geared toward high-fidelity visuals and audio with a focus on multiplayer connectivity.
Lenovo is also slated to build its own Meta Horizon OS devices. The Chinese tech giant previously worked with Meta to develop the company’s Oculus Rift S headsets before Facebook became Meta and the Oculus vertical was rebranded to Quest.
Microsoft’s Xbox brand is also working with Meta to develop a limited-edition Xbox-themed Meta Quest headset. There’s no indication that Xbox is getting its own VR devices to compete with PlayStation VR. Per the blog post, this will be a continuation of the two companies’ previous Quest headset partnership, which saw users able to play Xbox games on a flat, 2D screen set inside of a virtual reality environment.
Also announced, Meta will be launching an “App Lab” to publish titles from smaller developers. Based on the verbiage in the blog post, this will be somewhat akin to the “arcade” or independent developer offerings in many gaming storefronts featuring lower-priced and lesser-known titles:
“We’re beginning the process of removing the barriers between the Meta Horizon Store and App Lab, which lets any developer who meets basic technical and content requirements release software on the platform. App Lab titles will soon be featured in a dedicated section of the store on all our devices, making them easy for larger audiences to discover.”
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