At Meta’s annual developer conference today, the company announced its next VR Start Developer Competition, this time slated to award a prize pool of $1 million to spark the community to get cracking on Meta VR Glasses-compatible content.
Meta is hoping to appeal to developers of both new and existing projects across entertainment, gaming, and productivity.
Notably, if developers are submitting games, they’ll be considering submissions in genres that work well for seated play, without controllers, such as puzzle, strategy, casual, social, and narrative experiences.
Courtesy Meta
Games must be “fully usable with hands, end-to-end,” Meta says, noting that Touch controller support is welcome, but not required.
“For a small team without a marketing budget, that visibility drives traffic to your Store listing and gives you something concrete to point to when you pitch a new project or recruit collaborators,” Meta says.
This comes ahead of the company’s Meta VR Glasses announced at Connect this week, which does support Quest’s Touch Plus controllers, but doesn’t ship with them, instead putting its onboard hand and eye-tracking as its preferred control scheme.
The competition takes place from today until November 18th, 2026, and is offering up prizes ranging in value from $20,000 to $100,000 for successful submissions. Winners will be announced on or around December 11th, 2026.
Since Meta VR Glasses run the same operating system as Quest, developers can prototype on Quest 3 in addition to using platform simulators like Meta XR Simulator (Unity | Unreal), Meta Spatial Simulator, and Immersive Web Emulator.
Today at Meta’s annual Connect developer conference the company unveiled its next-gen mixed reality headset: Meta VR Glasses. Coming alongside it early next year is an update to everyone’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game that flips the script for hand-tracking-centric input.
Beat Saber (2019) is getting an update in Spring 2027 on Meta VR Glasses and Meta Quest that finally brings hands-tracking to the game, albeit in an slightly unexpected way.
Called ‘Flux’, the update essentially reimagines the block-slashing action in a new single-player experience that uses your hands as weapons.
Instead of slicking with, well sabers, you wield what Meta calls ‘Flux Powers’, electricity-imbued moves like the ‘Flux Tether’, which channels power between your palms to slice through rod-style notes in time with the beat of its regular slate of pulse-pounding tracks.
Courtesy Meta
You also get punch through note, colored blue, red, or a light purple, the latter of which indicates you need to put both hands together. Destroying notes builds Jolt energy, which essentially gives you an extra score boost. As an OG Beat Saber fan, I immediately clicked into the new control scheme, handily scoring an ‘S’ class on what was probably the easiest setting.
Notably, Flux will also support Touch controllers too when it arrives early next year on Meta VR Glasses and Quest, coming along with 35 songs from the Original Soundtracks, Extras, and Anniversary packs, including tracks from Lindsey Sterling, Teminite, DragonForce, Haywyre, Camellia, Boom Kitty, Jaroslav Beck and Zakka G. Meta says more Flux songs are planned post-launch.
When it arrives, ostensibly alongside Meta VR Glasses next year, there’s also set to be what the company is calling an “enhanced Campaign mode,” which is set to include a “light narrative element” into the experience. The update is also coming with new barriers, missions, in-game rewards, and a new menu system that’s said to more quickly get you into game modes and new content.
Disclosure: Meta provided lodging for one Road to VR reporter to attend Meta Connect 2026 where information for this article was gathered.
Meta’s annual XR and AI focused Connect conference kicks off today. The biggest news is expected in the opening keynote, where the company is expected to reveal its ‘Phoenix’ MR headset and latest smartglasses.
Watch the Meta Connect Keynote on September 23rd at 4PM PT
Meta is playing it close to the vest, teasing the keynote by saying only “join Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg as he shares how Meta is building a future for everyone.”
What’s unclear is if Phoenix will be positioned as ‘Quest 4’, or part of another product line (similar to Quest Pro being distinct from Quest 1, 2, and 3). And if it isn’t the next-gen consumer Quest, will Meta also reveal a new consumer Quest headset? We’ve got boots on the ground at Connect to bring you all the latest news as it happens.
Watch the Meta Connect Developer State of the Union Keynote on September 24th at 10AM PT
On day 2 of Connect, Meta will host its Developer State of the Union keynote which is more focused on developers. We expect to hear the latest on developer tools (especially AI-based tooling), programs, and features to make it easier to build content for Meta’s glasses and headsets. We’ll include the livestream above once it’s available.
Beyond the headlining keynotes, the Connect 2026 agenda includes additional sessions along four tracks: VR, AI glasses, AI, and Horizon. Meta has confirmed all of these sessions will be viewable on-demand online once released.
Resolution Games, in collaboration with Hasbros’ Wizards of the Coast, today launched its next adventure campaign for Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked (2025).
Called ‘Campaign III: Twilight’s End’, the newest adventure for Battlemarked’s comes alongside the game’s debut on Xbox, which is notably allows for cross-platform multiplayer across PC VR, Quest, console, and PC.
‘Twilight’s End’, which is priced at $10, brings the story that began in ‘Embers of Chaos’ and continued through ‘Crown of Frost’ to its dramatic conclusion.
“For the first time, players can experience the complete journey from the dangers of Neverwinter Wood and Icewind Dale through the final battle for the fate of Faerûn,” Resolution Games says.
Check out the trailer below:
Here’s how Resolution Games describes Twilight’s End:’
‘Twilight’s End’ picks up the threads woven throughout Embers of Chaos and Crown of Frost, returning heroes to familiar lands now transformed by the consequences of the conflicts that came before.
The adventure takes parties across the Silver Marches, Neverwinter Wood and Icewind Dale as hidden plots come to light and the heroes face an enemy whose ambitions threaten not only kingdoms, but reality itself.
Supporting parties of one to four heroes, “Twilight’s End” delivers approximately six hours of story-driven gameplay for experienced players, with optional side quests offering additional challenges for adventurers willing to venture off the beaten path.
The studio sys Nintendo Switch 2 and Pico versions of ‘Twilight’s End’ will also arrive shortly after today’s launch.
In Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked, you team up with up to four online players in turn-based combat across monster-filled dungeons. As the name would imply, you get to explore dungeons, play familiar classes, and take on classic D&D and Forgotten Realms-inspired monsters alongside creatures adapted from the core Demeo universe.
Unlike the classic table game, Battlemaked uses Demeo’s Action Roleplaying System, which streamlines the dungeoning experience via class-specific action cards and a simplified D20 featuring icons for hits, critical hits, and misses.
The cost of PC components has shifted rapidly in recent years thanks to the RAMpocalypse, inflation, and more. So how much does a VR Ready gaming PC actually cost in 2026?
Table of Contents:
While the definition of a ‘VR Ready’ PC was once pretty straightforward, in recent years it has become more fragmented depending upon which headset you’re using and which games you expect to play (similar to PC gaming in general).
Below are our recommendations for the most affordable futureproof VR Ready PC configurations for three different headset categories:
Pre-built VR Ready PCs
Entry Level – Best for Last-gen Headsets, Tethered
Who it’s for: If you’ve got a last-gen tethered VR headset like Valve Index, Rift S, HTC Vive (or Vive Pro), or Windows Mixed Reality, this is going to be a great starting point for your VR journey. This setup will easily handle these tethered headsets under 5MP (2,250 × 2,250) per-eye resolution, with room to grow if you decide to upgrade to a newer headset.
Enthusiast – Best for Current-gen Headsets, Wireless & USB Tethered
Who it’s for: If you’re using a current-gen headset like Quest 3, Quest 3S, PSVR 2, Pico 4, or Steam Frame, this setup gives you the power you need for smooth PC VR gameplay. Headsets like these send compressed video streams over a wireless or USB link, which requires some extra work on behalf of the CPU and GPU (compared to a native tethered headset). The beefed-up CPU and GPU in this configuration (compared to our Entry Level configuration) means your PC will be able to handle smooth, high-resolution VR rendering while doing the extra work required for PC VR streaming.
High-end – Best for High-end Headsets, Wireless & Tethered
Who it’s for: If you’re a hardcore VR user with a headset that pushes the envelope on resolution, refresh rate, and field-of-view, you’re going to need a next-level CPU and GPU to get the most out of your headset. This configuration is best for headsets like Bigscreen Beyond (1 and 2), Pimax Crystal Super, Pimax Dream Air, Shiftall MeganeX 8K, Apple Vision Pro, and Samsung Galaxy XR. The extra power and VRAM on the GPU (compared to our Enthusiast configuration) is especially useful if you’re planning to play simulation-style games like flight sims or racing sims.
Build Your Own VR Ready PC
Building your own PC is a fun DIY project that has traditionally also been a cost-saving exercise. At the time of writing, the market is in a weird place where building your own PC is generally less affordable than a pre-built PC with equivalent specs. Nonetheless, below you’ll find DIY parts lists that match the same tiers we shared above in the pre-built section:
Entry Level – Best for Last-gen Headsets, Tethered
Unseen Reality took to Kickstarter last month to fund its monitor-replacing mixed reality glasses, URXR One. Now concluded, the campaign has officially garnered over $1.2 million.
URXR One aren’t birdbath-style AR glasses like you might have seen with Viture or Xreal, but rather a lightweight VR headset with passthrough video, similar to Quest, albeit one that isn’t a standalone device because it needs to physically tether to a laptop, mobile device, etc to work.
That said, URXR One essentially wants to be the slim and light display replacement you toss in a bag; the company has mostly positioned it for displaying traditional content, like flatscreen games, film, web browsing and spreadsheets.
Weighing in at 93g, URXR One is slim and light for two basic reasons: it has very thin pancake optics and it relies on external devices, eliminating the compute and battery bulk typical of standalone headsets. As it is, URXR connects to USB-C DisplayPort devices, such as laptops, phones, tablets, and gaming handhelds.
Courtesy Unseen Reality
Besides the onboard spatial processing unit that handles 6DOF tracking, its built around mini pancake optics, which include dual 1.03-inch micro-OLED displays—2,448 x 2,064 resolution, ~36 pixels per degree, 90 Hz refresh rate, and a 90-degree diagonal field-of-view (FoV), measuring ~80 degrees horizontally by 56 degrees vertically.
At least for Kickstarter supporters, which nabbed URXR One at a special early backer price of $800, initially shipping targeted for mid-October 2026. It’s unclear when regular orders will ship, which are said to cost $900 MSRP.
You can learn more over on URXR One website for pricing and future availability beyond the Kickstarter campaign. Check out the full specs below:
Snap today announced new experiences, services and partnerships for SPECS, the company’s upcoming pair of consumer AR glasses.
Snap’s big Specs livestream today wasn’t technically a launch event—they’re still slated to arrive in the US, UK and France later this fall starting at $2,195—although the company did give a little more insight into what sort of software its first pair of consumer AR glasses will have when it does eventually arrive.
Firstly, Snap unveiled Specs Intelligence, or what the company is calling its “anticipatory AI service.”
Specs Intelligence is designed to work across Specs, iPhone and Mac; the company says it draws from connected apps and tools to build context around users’ goals, routines and relationships, then surface relevant info in the user’s field of view without being explicitly prompted.
The company says users will be able to choose what you connect and what information Specs Intelligence can use. In terms of off-device privacy, Snap says Specs Intelligence is “designed so Snap personnel cannot view or access the personal content you use with the service.”
“Personal content from connected accounts will not be used to train or fine-tune Snap’s AI models, or to serve personalized ads,” the company says in a press statement. “SPECS Intelligence uses on-device processing and secure cloud infrastructure, with security protections wherever data is processed.”
A preview is available starting today in the US through the Specs iOS app for users ages 18 and over.
Snap also announced a number new AR experiences across entertainment, education and fitness.
The Specs browser enables streaming from YouTube, HBO Max, and more on a virtual display, something Snap says “feels like a 115-inch cinema screen placed about 10 feet away.” Specs is also coming with Spotify.
Courtesy Snap
In partnership with HBO Max, Snap is also bringing the world of Harry Potter to Specs in time for the new Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which premieres this Christmas.
The company also revealed partnerships with the NBA and WNBA to release an interactive basketball training experience that will provide AR visual guidance, drills, and progress cues.
Courtesy Snap
Other applications include soccer and golf training, an interactive Apollo 11 experience and Starmap, which overlays constellations onto the user’s surroundings, Snap says.
As for multiplayer content, Connected Lenses are said to allow two Specs wearers to share digital experiences in the same physical space, with the first experiences including Dominoes with Jimmy Butler, Chess and Table Tennis.
The company also underlined Specs’ everyday utilities, like real-time translation with support for 60 languages, augmented navigation and TripAdvisor information about nearby restaurants, landmarks and attractions.
A Shopify-powered experience was also announced, letting users view products in 3D at full scale within their surroundings.
While Snap is undoubtedly hoping to appeal to on-the-go users, Specs is also capable of acting as a wireless display for PC or Mac, including support for Bluetooth peripherals such as keyboards.
Courtesy Snap
Notably, Snap says the glasses do not use facial recognition or continuously record audio, video or images. An external LED indicates when the glasses are actively recording.
And if you’re in for a pound, in for a penny: Snap also announced a new Specs Charging Case with Cellular, which not only provides four additional charges but also cellular connectivity.
In the U.S., the connected case bundle costs $2,395, with Verizon offering financing and data plans starting at $10 per month for customers and $20 for non-customers. Snap is also partnering with Orange in France and EE in the UK. You can find all pre-order info over on Specs.com.
If you’re looking to get your hands on Specs before plonking down the full two bands, Snap is also running free demos from October 1st at Snap’s First Look location in Westfield Century City, Los Angeles.
