Monday, 27 July 2026

Immersed Says It’s Finally Getting Ready to Ship ‘Visor’ VR Headset

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XR startup Immersed announced it’s nearing launch of its long-promised work-focused standalone VR headset, Visor.

The News

Immersed sent out an email (courtesy Reddit user ‘aline-works’) to pre-order customers over the weekend announcing that the company is locking in shipping timelines.

Next month, the company says we can expect an update that will “cover where we are on the production ramp and what to expect next for your pre-order.”

The company says that due to the global component crisis, which has seen RAM and storage skyrocket in price, Visor is raising its floor price of $500 (Standard 4K Edition) to $700 for pre-order customers and purchasers after July 31st.

As a work-focused standalone VR headset based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset, Visor boasts dual 4K microOLED displays, hand & eye tracking, color passthrough, 6 DoF tracking, and an included three-hour extended battery.

Pre-production unit (circa 2024) | Courtesy Eric Liga

Notably, the $800 Founder’s Edition, which will see the same $200 bump later this month, is said to ship “6 months before Standard Visor 4K,” the company maintains on the headset’s pre-order page, which could point to at least those customers receiving headsets in the near future.

That price however doesn’t include the required ‘Visor Plus’ subscription, which is an additional $40 per month for a 24 month period, or $60 per month for 12 months. This also includes access to the company’s own ‘Curator Professional AI Assistant’.

The shipping update has been a long time coming. Immersed began taking pre-orders in September 2023. In October 2024, Immersed said the hardware was largely complete, but it wanted more time to improve quality control and polish the overall experience rather than rush Visor.

Then, in March 2025, In the company issued its second shipping update wherein Immersed said the shipment of the more expensive Founder’s Edition Visors would be “another month or two,” as the fulfillment schedule was then on “the order of weeks, not quarters.”

That post was subsequently edited, walking back the shipping quote, instead noting that “[p]rogress continues on Founder’s Edition deliveries as we work through fulfillment.”

My Take

Immersed has attracted a bulk of its $38 million runway from pre-IPO crowd investment, with only $4.5 million coming from traditional VCs. That’s a substantial amount of good will in Immersed’s ability to deliver, or at least enough people who believe they’re getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing.

But now approaching late 2026, the landscape is changing. Sometime this year we’ll be getting Valve’s Steam Machine, admittedly not a work-focused thin and light headset like Visor. And at some point, Pico will also release its Project Swan puck-tethered thin and light headset; rumors also allege Meta is cooking up its own puck-tethered competitor for release in 2027, codenamed ‘Phoenix’.

Besides Steam Frame, Pico and Meta’s headsets are likely gunning for the productivity segment too. And even if either company markets more toward gaming, the overlap in function between them is bound to draw direct comparisons, which simply wouldn’t have been the case in 2024.

Still, and it’s unfortunate to say, in the current VR funding hellscape, now more than ever, we really need to see it to believe it.

The post Immersed Says It’s Finally Getting Ready to Ship ‘Visor’ VR Headset appeared first on Road to VR.



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Apple’s First Smart Glasses Reportedly Set to Unveil at WWDC 2027, Release in Late 2027

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According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is set to unveil its first pair of smart glasses at next year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

The News

Codenamed ‘N50’, Apple’s smart glasses were reportedly meant for a late 2026 reveal, with launch targeting early 2027. Now Gurman maintains that WWDC, which is set to take place in June 2027, won’t be the device’s actual launch day; consumer release is expected sometime by the end of 2027.

The delay is said to essentially be a two-fold issue, centered on both refining the product from an engineering standpoint, but also a marketing challenge of defining the device’s messaging around privacy.

Ray-Ban Meta glasses | Courtesy EssilorLuxottica, Meta

Like Ray-Ban Meta and the company’s cheaper Meta Glasses, which notably don’t feature any EssilorLuxottica branding, Apple’s smart glasses are said to include two camera sensors; one for photo and video capture and the other for computer vision tasks.

“That’s meant developing features and policies that can address the concerns swirling around competing products from Meta Platforms Inc,” Gurman says, noting the teams developing glasses within Apple’s Vision hardware group and elsewhere in the company see privacy as “priority No. 1.”

And similar to Meta’s audio-only smart glasses, Apple’s N50 hardware isn’t expected to include a display of any kind, instead relying on cameras, speakers and microphones for things such as phone calls, AI queries, listening to music, and capturing images.

My Take

Has the well already been poisoned by creeps? Will fashionable smart glasses with more stringent privacy laws be enough to rehabilitate the segment as a whole? Honestly, I think it’s way too early to frame it that way. Despite some impressive sales figures from Meta and EssilorLuxottica, smart glasses are still very much a niche item; most people own several pairs of sunglasses and likely zero smart glasses at this point.

Some of that might come down to its currently being led by Meta, which has a poor track record on privacy and user surveillance. Some of it may be price sensitivity, although Meta’s $300 no-brand glasses should put a dent in that. In the end, I think most people don’t know why they’d even want a pair in the first place, which Apple will probably vaunt since the company’s top-tier phones and accessories typically start out as status symbols anyway.

Gentle Monster Smart Glasses | Courtesy Google & Samsung

Personally, I don’t own a part of audio-only smart glasses because I’m a text-based person living in a very not-text-based world. I don’t talk to AI because I can’t stand the long-winded answers. I can easily skip over the tropey, Silicon Valley-flavored social lubrication and get to the meat of the answer by reading and typing for clarification than I can by having a stilted conversation out loud. The cameras are also basically at the level of mid-range smartphone from a couple of years go, although the speed to snap a life moment is decidedly quicker despite being objectively worse quality than basically any new smartphone today.

Despite this, there’s clearly money in it now, and it’s also a relatively easy way for Apple/Google/Samsung/Meta to gain a foothold in the soon-to-come AR glasses segment of the future.

Apple is however hoping to avoid Meta’s missteps, it seems. Notably, Meta landed in hot water following the revelation that in March the company was accused of sending private smart glasses camera footage to a Kenya-based subcontractor for manual review to train its AI models. The company has also been accused of baking in facial recognition into its smart glasses, although that feature hasn’t been activated.

That said, it’s clear even Meta is looking to tighten up their act as bigger competition comes online, as the company has finally closed the hardware loophole that allowed motivated users to physically drill out the capture LED, which notifies others when a user is actively taking photos or video. Now, Meta Glasses users who have in some way deactivated the capture LED (already in addition to simply covering it) are no longer able to record video or take photos.

Samsung and Google are also set to release a fleet of smart glasses this year from Warby Parker and South Korea’s Gentle Monster, the latter of which is making a large concerted push into the North American and European market with its smart glasses at the forefront. And that cadre, along with Apple and Meta (which admittedly released its prosumer Meta Display Glasses) also ostensibly has multiple consumer display models in the works too, although I’d expect the bulk of those to be at the very least a device generation away, maybe even further.

The post Apple’s First Smart Glasses Reportedly Set to Unveil at WWDC 2027, Release in Late 2027 appeared first on Road to VR.



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Friday, 24 July 2026

Roguelite Shooter ‘Roboquest’ Comes to Quest Alongside Co-op Update

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Flat2VR Studios has finally brought its VR adapatation of Roboquest (2023) to Quest 3 and 3S, which also brings to the fast-paced roguelite shooter its long-awaited co-op mode.

The new two-player co-op mode is now live, featuring full cross-play between all supported VR platforms, including both SteamVR and PSVR 2 versions.

This includes Quickplay matches as well as private matches, which require a room code—a practical necessity since friends lists aren’t shared across ecosystems.

Initially launched as a flatscreen-only game in 2023, RyseUp Studios worked with Flat2VR to completely overhaul the game for VR headsets, changing much of the game’s player-facing interactions in what Flat2VR has described as a complete VR adaptation, not just a simple port as such.

In case you’ve never heard of Roboquest or the VR version, which released late last year as a separate game, here’s the skinny:

Description: The world is in ruins, scorched and overrun by ruthless machines. But you? You’re a Guardian—humanity’s last hope, rebooted and ready for war. Armed with cutting-edge firepower, razor-sharp reflexes, and a thirst for chaos, you’ll blast through the wastelands, shredding waves of robotic adversaries in high-speed, adrenaline-fueled combat.

Roboquest VR brings the pulse-pounding, roguelite FPS action of the hit game to virtual reality, fully reimagined for an immersive experience that will push your skills to the limit. With fast-paced movement, fluid shooting, and dynamic traversal mechanics, every battle is an electrifying dance of destruction. Sprint, jump, and slide through the ever-shifting environments as you weave between enemy fire and unleash an arsenal of devastating weaponry.

You can find Roboquest VR on Quest 3 & 3S, SteamVR headsets and PSVR 2, priced at $30.

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Thursday, 23 July 2026

How to Tell if Your PC is VR Ready

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With affordable PC-compatible headsets like Quest 3S and PSVR 2, it’s easy to jump into PC VR. For the gamers considering purchasing a PC VR headset, one major question marks the starting point on your journey to a decision: does my PC meet the minimum specs? Here’s how to find out.

Updated – July 23rd, 2026

VR gaming is much more resource intensive than monitor gaming. In short, that’s because the render resolution is much higher than the 1080p or 4K displays used by most PC users today. Not to mention, VR games must also be rendered in 3D and anywhere from 72 to 144 FPS depending on the headset. Here we’ve got the recommended VR system requirements for the most popular headsets.

Before we dive in, you’ll want to know a few things about your computer. First and foremost, PC VR headsets are not supported by MacOS. Next up, you’ll need to know your PC’s specs. Expand the section below if you don’t already know where to find that info.

  • Video card
  • CPU
  • RAM
  • Video Output

GPU

  1. Press the Start button and type ‘device manager’, select it from the list
  2. In Device Manager, expand Display Adapters, your video card is listed beneath
CPU & RAM
  1. Press the Start button and type ‘about your PC’, select it from the list
  2. In the About window, scroll down to find ‘Processor’ (also known as CPU) and ‘Installed RAM’
Video Output

For this you’ll need to look at the back of your computer and see which ports are available on the back, specifically on your GPU (which is usually lower):

Image courtesy Alienware

The ports can look very similar, so look closely at the shapes of each. Remember that you will need a free port to plug your headset into.

Image courtesy Alienware

Most headset makers provide what they call a ‘recommended’ hardware configuration for virtual reality gaming. This gives VR developers a baseline hardware target so that they can ensure the consistent FPS requirement is met. If your hardware does not meet the recommended specification, you risk dropping under framerate which can result in a choppy and uncomfortable VR experience.

The recommended specs provided by each company are relatively similar but there are some key differences worth looking at in detail:

Meta VR System Requirements

Courtesy Meta

Meta Quest headsets can also play PC VR games via Quest Link. See this article for the most up to date info on Meta Quest recommended specs and supported graphics cards.

  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0+ port
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
  • USB Ports: 3x USB 3.0+ ports, 1x USB 2.0+ port
  • OS: Windows 10+ (Windows 7/8.1 no longer recommended)

Bigscreen VR System Requirements

Courtesy Bigscreen

Bigscreen Beyond VR 1 & 2 Specifications (only Min Spec available)

  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 2070 / AMD RX 5700 or greater
  • CPU: “quad-core CPU”
  • Memory: 16GB+ RAM (inferred)
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4+
  • USB Ports: 2x USB 3.0+ port
  • OS: Windows 10+

Valve VR System Requirements

Courtesy Valve
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1070 / AMD RX 580 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-7500 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or greater
  • Memory: 12GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 2.0+ port (USB 3.0 required for camera passthrough)
  • OS: Windows 10+, SteamOS, Linux

Check your PC: You can automatically check that you meet these specifications with the ‘Are you ready for Valve Index’ app on Steam.

Sony PlayStation VR System Requirements

Courtesy Sony

Important Note: PC VR support for PSVR 2 requires an official adapter. PSVR 2 on SteamVR is officially supported by Sony, but there are some caveats when used on PC compared to PS5; read more here.

  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1050 / AMD Radeon RX 5500XR or later
  • CPU: Intel i5-7600 / AMD Ryzen 3 3100 or later
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4 ((must have a standard DisplayPort or Mini DisplayPort output port, adapters from other ports will not work)
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Additional Requirements: Bluetooth 4.0 or later

PSVR 1

  • PSVR 1 does not support PC VR

HTC VR System Requirements

HTC Vive Pro 2 | Courtesy HTC
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 1500 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4+
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0+ port
  • OS: Windows 10+

Vive XR Elite

  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD RX 580 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5‑4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0+ port
  • USB Cable: Long USB 3.0+ cable for tethering to PC (our recommendation)
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Router (for wireless streaming): Wi-Fi 5 / Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 6E

VIVE Focus

  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD RX 580 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5‑4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0+ port
  • USB Cable: Long USB 3.0+ cable for tethering to PC (our recommendation)
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Router (for wireless streaming): Wi-Fi 5 / Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 6E

HTC Vive Legacy Headsets

  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB), AMD RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or greater
  • Memory: 4GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2+
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 2.0+ port
  • OS: Windows 7 SP1+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon Vega 56 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or greater
  • Memory: 4GB+ RAM
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2+
  • USB Ports: 1x USB 3.0+ port
  • OS: Windows 10+

WMR & HP System Requirements (Oasis Required)

Courtesy HP
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD RX 470/570 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: HDMI 2.0+ or DisplayPort 1.2+ (may vary based on specific headset)
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+ (Note: Not supported on N versions or Windows 10 Pro in S Mode)
  • Bluetooth Some headsets require Bluetooth 4.0 for controller connectivity
  • NOTE: Due to Microsoft no longer supporting WMR, users require the free Oasis Driver via Steam
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1080 / AMD RX 5700 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5, i7 / AMD Ryzen 5 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.3+
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10 (may require latest updates)

Pimax VR System Requirements

Courtesy Pimax

Pimax Crystal Light Recommended VR Specifications

  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 3070 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-12400/ AMD Ryzen 7 7700X or greater
  • Memory: 16GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4a+
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+

Pimax Crystal Super Recommended VR Specifications

  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 3070 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-12500/ AMD R7-3700X or greater
  • Memory: 32GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4+
  • USB Port: 1x USB 2.0+, 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 3080 / AMD RX 6800 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i7-13×00 / AMD R9-7900 or greater
  • Memory: 16GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4a+
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+

Pimax Dream Air SE Recommended VR Specifications

  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 3070 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-12400/ AMD Ryzen 7 7700X or greater
  • Memory: 16GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4a+
  • USB Port: 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+

Pimax Legacy Headsets

  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 2080 or greater
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or greater
  • Memory: 16GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4+
  • USB Port: 1x USB 2.0+, 1x USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+

Pimax 8K X Recommended VR Specifications

  • Video Card
    • Upscale Mode: NVIDIA RTX 2060 or greater
    • Native Mode: NVIDIA RTX 2080 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-9400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2+
  • USB Port: USB 2.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA RTX 2060 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-9400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2+
  • USB Port: USB 2.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-9400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.2+
  • USB Port: USB 2.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1070 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-9400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4+
  • USB Port: USB 2.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-9400 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • Video Output: DisplayPort 1.4+
  • USB Port: USB 2.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+

Pico VR System Requirements

Courtesy Pico
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 480 or greater
  • CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+
  • USB Port: USB 3.0+
  • OS: Windows 10+

Note: Headsets currently not on this list, including Steam Frame and Pico ‘Project Swan’ will be added upon their respective releases.

The post How to Tell if Your PC is VR Ready appeared first on Road to VR.



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Wednesday, 22 July 2026

Samsung Unveils More Smart Glasses Designs from Gentle Monster & Warby Parker Ahead of Fall Release

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Samsung today teased a new slate of smart glasses designs, which includes two new frames from eyewear partners Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

The News

When Samsung and Google finally unveiled their jointly-developed smart glasses at Google I/O in May, US-based Warby Parker and South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster showed off their initial designs, seen below.

Gentle Monster (left), Warby Parker (right) | Courtesy Google & Samsung

At the time, Gentle Monster’s initial ‘cat eye’ design seemed to fill a gap in the current smart glasses milieu, which was notably before Meta revealed it had collaborated with Kylie Jenner on a strikingly similar design.

Now, at Samsung Unpacked in London, the brands have shown off two new designs, which funnily enough still don’t have names. Here’s Gentle Monster’s next design:

Courtesy Samsung, Google, Gentle Monster

And here’s Warby Parker’s next design, which is very similar to the first, albeit with a slightly less-pronounced nose bridge:

Courtesy Samsung, Google, Warby Parker

All four are ostensibly set to launch sometime this fall, making them essentially the first smart glasses to run Google’s Android XR operating system.

Much like Meta’s fleet of audio-only smart glasses, the Gentle Monster and Warby Parker frames pack in a single camera sensor for things like photo, video, and to give AI access to what you’re seeing, so it can do things like answer questions, real-time translation, and more.

That said, there’s still a lot to learn about them too, as we still don’t know specific release dates or prices for any of the pairs revealed thus far. For now, Samsung says all of the smart glasses are built on the Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 platform, and are set to offer up to nine hours on a single charge with up to seven additional full charges from the charging case.

My Take

If Samsung, Google and Co. want to beat Meta at smart glasses supremacy, the cheapest of these need to not only match (or beat) Meta at its own game, but also come in somewhere around $300 – $400. That specific range just happens to be the price of Meta’s own in-house styled Meta Glasses last month, which now lack any flashy EssilorLuxottica sub-brands.

As an aside: jettisoning Ray-Ban and Oakley for a cheaper frame feels as much a tactic by Meta to redefine what the price should be in the minds of potential buyers as it does a way of lowering costs and gathering more users before competition sets in, at whatever price.

Aside … aside, an important thing to remember is all of these smart glasses are effectively AI end points. Google/Samsung runs Gemini and Meta runs Meta AI, which leaves the former in a surprisingly advantageous position. Gemini can hook into the entire Google ecosystem, and possibly have a wider set of app integrations as a result, which could give it the edge if Google can communicate it effectively.

Personally, I’m more excited for the display-clad smart glasses models promised by Google and/or Samsung, which sound cool, but may actually be a device generation away. Whatever the case, Meta’s own $800 display glasses, Meta Ray-Ban Display, are only available in the US for the foreseeable future—which isn’t where I live—so I’m looking forward to the mounting competition so I can finally read my emails while staring deeply into a friend’s face while feigning a reassuring nod.

The post Samsung Unveils More Smart Glasses Designs from Gentle Monster & Warby Parker Ahead of Fall Release appeared first on Road to VR.



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Xbox Game Pass Now Included with Quest’s Horizon+, Gamepad Emulation Coming Soon

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Meta announced it’s partnering with Microsoft to bring a “starter edition” of its cloud-based XBOX Game Pass to Horizon+, Meta’s own VR game subscription service. In the coming weeks, Meta also says it’s pushing out Xbox gamepad emulation for Quest’s Touch controllers too.

The News

The new Xbox Game Pass addition brings a library of 50+ non-VR games to Horizon+, allowing users to play titles such as Fallout 4, Fallout 76Overcooked 2, Grounded, DayZ, Deep Rock Galactic and more. That essentially adds 50 percent more games to the service’s current library of 100+ VR titles.

There is a caveat. The new “starter” version bundled with Horizon+ only brings 10 hours of cloud gaming each month, albeit still priced at the regular $60 annual, or $8 per-month subscription fee.

Notably, like the Xbox Game Pass integration first released on Quest in 2023, these cloud-based Xbox games aren’t in any way ‘VR-fied’, as they play on a flat virtual screen, which can be sized from theater-size up to 26 feet.

What’s more, Meta says it’s also finally bringing Xbox gamepad emulation to Quest Touch controllers, as before users would need to pair a newer Xbox gamepad to Quest via Bluetooth. Meta says it’s rolling out the update “in the coming weeks.”

In the meantime, you can learn more about Xbox Game Pass availability and pricing for your area here, and about Horizon+ availability and pricing here.

My Take

Valve is set to release Steam Frame, which puts a heavy focus on playing both traditional games locally and streamed from a capable PC, so it’s pretty clear what Meta’s game is with the new Xbox cloud streaming add-on to Horizon+.

And even though Meta isn’t funding VR games nearly at the same rate since announcing it was pivoting Reality Labs to focus more on smart glasses and AI, adding in “free” cloud gaming each month is a pretty cheap way for the company to maintain some feature parity with Steam Frame while slowing whatever market share it may lose in the process.

Still, the biggest differentiator is that Meta and Microsoft are only offering a taster of Xbox cloud games on Quest, as it’s limited to 10 hours per month unless you buy the full Xbox Game Pass, which at the $10 tier (separate from Horizon+) allows for standard unlimited cloud streaming.

If you’re looking to casually dip into traditional games, it’s a clear value add any way you slice it, although it’s pretty clear the funnel is to get you outright purchase an additional Xbox Game Pass once those short 10 hours are up. That, to me, is where the value add stops making so much sense.

Unlike Steam Frame, which will admittedly cost way more than a Quest 3 or 3S, you can’t download those flatscreen games on Quest and play them offline. And once you stop paying for either service, provided you want to exclusively cloud game on Quest, you’ll lose access to some portion of your subscription game catalogue in the process. Whatever the case, Horizon+ subscribers should be pretty happy they can play something new, that’s for sure.

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Tuesday, 21 July 2026

Reader Feedback Wanted: Thoughts on Our New Article Format

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We at Road to VR have been asking ourselves: how do we offer the most value to our readers? That question led to an experiment over the last few months that changed the way we structured each article, with the goal of making them more useful to you. Now, we’d like to hear your thoughts.

From the very beginning of Road to VR, our goal has always been to give the audience enough context in any given article that they would walk away understanding both the what and the why it matters of each piece of news we cover. Between my colleague Scott and I—who produce the vast majority of content on Road to VR—there’s nearly 26 years of collective expertise in the XR. That’s why, for most of our publication’s existence, our usual news articles generally wove critical context directly inline with each and every paragraph of the news subject of the article. Usually that resulted in several pretty dense paragraphs.

In recent months we decided to experiment with another idea: to more clearly separate the what (ie: the basic facts of the news that you could find from the official source) from the why (ie: why does this news matter… through the lens of authors that deeply understand the subject matter and historical context of the XR industry).

So you may have noticed recent articles organized with two recurring headers: ‘The News’ and ‘My Take’.

In ‘The News’, we aim to give you the facts quickly and without fluff. In ‘My Take’, we aim to zoom out and help readers understand why this particular news item matters in a broader context. This section also allows Scott and I to speak from a personal “I” perspective—and lean into our individual expertise, opinions, and personality—rather than speak with a collective voice, as we have done historically.

Here are two examples of an examples of articles using this new format:

So, we’d really like to hear your thoughts on this format. A couple of questions to think about: did you notice it? Do you like or dislike it? Is there some way it could be better?

Please feel free to leave a comment below, or if you’d like to offer your feedback privately, please reach us at feedback [at] roadtovr [dot] com.

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