Meta may have spent the last couple of years tumbling down a metaverse rabbit hole, but the company is still responsible for creating the best VR hardware around. The Meta Quest 2 was the ideal gaming VR package: powerful and accessible enough to provide easy, convincing immersion, while also staying highly affordable. Nonetheless, Meta’s sudden fixation on creating a legless version of Second Life did have me worried about the future trajectory of its VR hardware. What daft gimmickry would their next headset come festooned with, and what would it mean for the future of the Quest as a gaming device?
With the Meta Quest 3, we have the answer. And the truth is, Meta’s latest headset does have a whiff of Metaverse about it. Dubbed a "mixed reality" device, its raison d’être is to break down the barrier between reality and the virtual world. While mixed reality is an angle I’m not wholly sold on from a gaming perspective, crucially, the features that make it a mixed reality device are useful even if you don’t want to hold a meeting in your office with a bunch of bisected Sims. Moreover, they’re built into a headset that is more powerful, more comfortable, and generally better than the Meta Quest 2.