NVIDIA announced at CES 2025 that its extending support for its cloud gaming platform GeForce NOW to Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest 3 and 3S, and Pico headsets.
The announcement doesn’t appear to include support for VR cloud gaming—i.e. the ability to play play VR-native titles—but rather access to standard games playable across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and handheld gaming devices.
Users on Vision Pro, Quest 3/S and Pico headsets will be able to stream games via GeForce NOW via browsers when the version 2.0.70 update starts rolling out later this month, Nvidia says.
When it does arrive, Nvidia says we can expect “all the bells and whistles of NVIDIA technologies, including ray tracing and NVIDIA DLSS.” GeForce NOW for VR headsets is said to include support for gamepad-compatible titles on a “massive virtual screen.”
Notably, Nvidia’s cloud gaming service offers users limited access for free, and greater, higher-quality access across various daily passes and monthly subscription options. It also boasts over 2,000 titles in its library.
Nvidia isn’t the first to offer cloud gaming to standalone VR devices. In 2022, Pluto VR brought its short-lived cloud gaming service to Quest. Called PlutoSphere, the companion app was pulled from the store in early 2024 amid a wider crackdown by Meta to remove unapproved cloud streaming services.
Sony announced its previously revealed XR standalone for enterprise is now called ‘XYN’, which the company is targeting at spatial content creators.
Initially unveiled at CES last year, XYN (pronounced ‘zin’) packs in some impressive displays, offering 13.6MP (3,552 × 3840) per-eye using Sony’s own ECX344A OLED microdisplay.
The display is capable of 90 FPS and 1,000 nits (at 20% duty cycle), with 96% DCI-P3 color coverage, putting it above Apple Vision Pro in terms of resolution and color accuracy.
Here’s the short of it: on one hand, the headset’s ergonomics, flip-up design, and display clarity were all great. On the other, the system’s stylus-ring controller combo was very poorly tracked during our demo, and the content shown wasn’t well optimized for its internal Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset.
Beyond that, information is still thin on the ground. XYN’s price and release date are still uncertain, which is a baffling move as far as product announcements go.
What is known however is that its XYN Motion Studio PC companion software is coming out in March 2025, which supports connection with 12 ‘mocopi’ sensors for more seamless motion capture workflow.
mocopi senesors | Image courtesy Sony
Additionally, Sony is also launching what it calls its XYN Spatial capture solution, which converts images captured with a mirrorless camera and proprietary algorithms into high-quality, photorealistic 3D CG assets.
Notably, the headset itself is said to support “a wide range of third-party tools,” according to XYN’s press release.
That said, you probably shouldn’t expect XYN to compete with Quest on the lower end in terms of price-performance, as Sony’s standalone is targeting businesses and professional users. Notably, two color ways have been seen on the showroom floor at CES 2025 this week, with a black colorway for prosumers and a grey scheme for enterprise.
Somnium Space, the Prague, Czechia-based social platform creator, has officially begun launching its PC VR headset, Somnium VR1, in the US. Additionally, the company announced its streamlining the number of available variants, bringing it to just three consumer-focused versions, and also increasing prices soon on its higher-end units.
The company says it’s now discontinuing a number of previously offered configurations of Somnium VR1, including Striker Edition, Classic Edition, Specter Edition, and Translucent Edition.
The Classic Edition was previously its entry level, priced at €1,900 (~$1,980 USD), which didn’t include eye-tracking. Now the company’s cheapest VR1 is the Visionary Edition, which does include eye-tracking, and is priced at €2,499 (~$2,600 USD). Notably, these prices don’t include local tax.
Image courtesy Somnium Space
“For those who have already purchased these discontinued editions — don’t worry, your orders are safe, and you will receive them as planned,” the company says in a new announcement. “In fact, owning one of these variants will make your headset even more exclusive and unique.”
Continuing, the company outlines the reasoning behind discontinuing those versions:
“This decision allows us to focus our efforts on delivering the Visionary, Ultimate, and Titan Editions faster and more efficiently, while continuing to meet the highest standards of quality you expect from us.”
Somnium Space Founder & CEO Artur Sychov conducting quality assurance
Somnium Space is also increasing prices of its Visionary, Ultimate, and Titan Editions. For now, it’s unclear what those new prices will be. The company says it’s keeping current prices until January 16th, 2025. Thereafter, new pricing will be announced and become effective on January 16th, 2025, the company says.
Here’s a recap of its variants and pricing structure as it stands today (tax not included):
Military Edition (VR, eye-tracking, hand-tracking, MR passthrough): ???
“While we strive to make Somnium VR1 as affordable as possible, we also refuse to compromise on quality. The production process for these headsets has turned out to be far more complex than initially anticipated. As a result, we will be increasing prices for the Visionary, Ultimate, and Titan Editions,” the company says.
Somnium Space maintains orders made today are currently estimated to arrive in February – March 2025, with shipping regions including most of Europe, the UK and US.
Moving forward into 2025, the Somnium Space says it plans to eventually sell spare parts for the Somnium VR1, including items such as optical modules, main boards, electronics, cables, screens, and more.
Somnium VR1 Specs
Display: QLED Mini-Led Fast LCD – 2,880 × 2,880 per-eye
Field of view: 130° horizontal, 105° vertical. The VR1 can render up to 140° horizontally, though the actual FOV may vary slightly depending on face and eye shape.
Refresh rate: 72 Hz, 90 Hz, upgradeable to 120 and 144 Hz (experimental)
Local dimming zones: 576 per eye
Eye tracking: 120 Hz, with an open-sourced algorithm that can be used and modified for any use case
Connectivity: USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4, 3.5mm audio jack
IPD Range: 57 to 76 mm
Looking for a more in-depth look at Somnium VR1? Check out our hands-on from July 2024 to hear our impressions.
Meta has officially discontinued Quest Pro, the company’s first mixed reality headset.
Meta announced back in September that it was winding down Quest 2 and Quest Pro sales. At the time, the company said remaining stock would be sold through the end of the year or until they ran out, whichever came first.
Now, in place of the Quest Pro order page, Meta is suggesting users to buy Quest 3 “for the ultimate mixed reality experience and premium comfort.” You can still buy Quest Pro’s ‘Touch Pro’ controllers however, as they support Quest 2 and above.
Released in 2022 at the eye-water price of $1,500, Meta hoped to use the headset to kickstart its mixed reality ambitions among consumers, as it was the first to offer color-passthrough, pancake lenses, and both face and eye-tracking—coming in strong contrast to the company’s other offering at the time, Quest 2.
Quest 2 (left) & Quest Pro (right) | Photo by Road to VR
Nearly a year after launch, it was apparent the Pro-level headset wasn’t appealing to users nearly to the degree Meta had initially hoped, prompting the company to knock Quest Pro down to $1,000. To complicate matters, high initial pricing of Quest Pro put a strain on developers, which resulted in very few compelling MR experiences out of the gate.
It was clear what was needed was a more accessible headset. In October 2023, Meta released Quest 3, which housed much of the tech seen in Quest Pro—minus face and eye-tracking, and at the starting price of $499.
Clamping down yet further on price-performance, Meta released Quest 3S a year later, which houses the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset as Quest 3, although including the same cost-saving Fresnel lenses and displays as Quest 2—marking the company’s most energetic push to capitalize on its mixed reality ambitions.
While Meta’s strategy to capture the console price-point with Quest has been a winning strategy thus far, what’s uncertain is whether the company will head back into the ‘Pro’ pricing structure anytime soon. The Information reported earlier last year that Meta was cancelling a potential Quest Pro follow-up, however Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth partically refuted those claims, noting that “there might be a Quest Pro 2, there might not be. I’m not really telling you, but I will say don’t believe everything you read about what’s been stopped or started.”
