Over the years, consumers have slowly become accustomed to paying a subscription to a service that allows them to enjoy a large number of goods for which they had to pay individually. We’ve seen it everywhere from the music industry to the film industry, and during this period of adaptation we’ve also seen services like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass carry it over to gaming as well.
Meta Quest 2 (Opens in a new tab) It is a console in all respects, but unlike the Xbox or PlayStation, there is no equivalent subscription service to allow players to play games for a bundled cost. That appears to be changing as Meta is said to be testing a Quest Pass subscription service that will allow players to pick up two games “for free” each month and keep them for as long as they’re subscribed.
This business model matches the now lower tiers of PlayStation Plus which provide a pre-determined list of free games each month. No word on pricing yet, but if done right, this could be a great new way for VR gamers to experience full games without paying the full retail price.
Apollo project
If you have the Meta Quest app installed on your phone right now, you can click on this link (Opens in a new tab) to go to the Project Apollo page within the app. For most people this will probably appear as a flat gray page with no information, but for a select few, This page (Opens in a new tab) Provides details of what can be called a Quest Pass.
Details are light at the moment but it looks like the Meta will allow players to choose any two apps or games each month from the huge list of the best Quest games (Opens in a new tab) and keep them in their library permanently for as long as they subscribe to the Quest Pass.
Given that we are expecting no less than 41 new apps and games (Opens in a new tab) When Quest 3 (Opens in a new tab) Launching later this fall, the Meta will almost certainly have to offer some sort of subscription service so players can get in on the action without having to pay the full retail price of each experience.
The Quest Pass is almost identical to the PlayStation Plus model with one big exception: Players must choose games, not Meta.
And while this type of subscription service would be a first for Quest, it’s not a first for VR. HTC has been offering a subscription service for years called Viveport that offers more than just Netflix or Xbox Game Pass.
The difference between them is that Netflix, as you probably know, provides unlimited access to anything in its library. But, like Netflix, the games and apps on Viveport and Xbox Game Pass aren’t always there forever.
When your favorite app, game, show, or movie disappears from these types of subscription services, often the only way to continue using it or watching it is to buy it right away.
With Quest Pass, users will never fall prey to this type of business model because, like PlayStation Plus, games claimed through a Quest Pass subscription will be in their library forever as long as they keep subscribing.
Help enhance retention
Meta recently held a “VR Summit” where various executives met and discussed strategies, and the follow-up was a presentation for all Reality Labs employees that outlined the company’s moves for the next few years.
in this offer (Opens in a new tab)We found out that the company was lowering the price of the 256GB Quest 2, the Quest Pro, and that several prototype models were being scrapped in favor of shrinking the company’s hardware profile. In other words, Meta is maximizing the efficiency of its releases and focusing on currently released products rather than the next big ones.
This may be Meta’s best way to keep users coming back for new content every month.
We also learned that while Quest 2 continues to outpace the Xbox and has surpassed 20 million units sold, new users aren’t playing as often as people who bought the headset early in its life.
One complaint I hear often is that virtual reality games are very expensive. Meta recently started offering demos that allow players to download full versions of games and play them for a short period of time before they decide whether to buy the game.
But I’ve also heard that this period of time is simply not long enough to make a decision. Alternatively, players can also purchase a game outright and play it for up to two hours before they decide to redeem it under the current business model. It’s a much more consumer-friendly game than Sony’s dreaded PlayStation digital games (Opens in a new tab) Model, that’s for sure.
So I think this new model could be a huge boon for developers looking to get their games into more hands and for meta to keep people coming back and playing more every month. While we’re still waiting for the official Xbox Game Pass app to release for Quest — which might help conserve some extra hours per month on your headset — Quest Pass is just the right way to keep gamers more immersed in VR gaming.
The Meta includes two games with Quest 2 and just lowered the price of the 256GB model. what are you waiting for? It is the best way to play virtual reality games.