The Oculus Rift S is dead, long live the Oculus Quest 2
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| (Image credit: Oculus) |
The time has come to bid farewell to the Oculus Rift S, which was formally discontinued earlier this year.
“Oculus Rift is no longer available,” according to a post on the Oculus website, marking the end of the VR headset's two-year existence, which began in May 2019 as the replacement to the original Oculus Rift model.
The Oculus Quest 2 has replaced the Rift S as the company's premier entry-level VR headset and, in our opinion, the best VR headset for most players.
Of course, this isn't startling news. Following the launch of the Quest 2 in October 2019, Facebook, the parent company of Oculus, said earlier this year that it would no longer be supplying Rift S units to retailers once they had sold out. Facebook will now concentrate on independent VR headsets in the future, abandoning PC-only devices such as the Rift S.
Furthermore, the company is discontinuing support for Oculus accounts in 2023, which means that customers will be forced to connect their Oculus device to a Facebook account in order to access the system.
That announcement won't sit well with players who don't want to be subjected to Facebook's data collection policies, or with those who are concerned about the company's recent ad testing on its Quest platforms.
Although the decision to impose ads in the virtual world of a video game is sure to irritate VR enthusiasts – and gamers in general – Facebook claims that ads will provide "new ways for developers to generate revenue" with the goal of "creating a self-sustaining platform," the decision to impose ads in the virtual world of a video game is sure to irritate VR enthusiasts – and gamers in general.
What comes next?
It's unusual for a major tech company to discontinue a product without announcing a direct replacement, but that's exactly what happened with the Oculus Rift S. However, it's apparent that Facebook plans to push the Quest 2 to its maximum potential, so VR enthusiasts won't be left wanting for a decent mixed reality headset.
But what about the Oculus Quest 3? In a recent Twitter Q&A, Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook Reality Labs, stated that a Quest 3 headset is still "a little distance off."
However, a new Oculus-related project is presently under development, as stated by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the company's January earnings call. The gadget's specifications haven't been verified as a third-generation Quest device, but Zuckerberg told investors that "we're continuing to work on new hardware [that] will fit the same platform, so the content that works on Quest 2 should be forward-compatible."
This may be an Oculus Quest Pro, which is also expected in the near future, but keep tuned to our hub for all the latest news and speculations about the company's next VR project.
Today's best Oculus Quest 2 deal
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