PCVR Steam Link For Quest

Good morning folks!

Welcome to the last month of the year. Did you know that the Quest 2 became the No.1 best-selling product in the “Gaming Category” on Amazon during Black Friday? Yup, it beat the Play Stations, the Nintendos, the best-selling flat games and more. But which Quest sold most? We will be talking in depth about that. So let's dive straight in!

Headlines for people in a hurry:

• 🖥️ Valve Announces Steam Link PC VR For Quest

• 🍎 Apple Will Begin The First Batch Production Of Vision Pro

• 📊 Quest 2 Outsells Quest 3 On Amazon By A Long Mile

• 🤿 An XR App That Turns Your Room Into A Submarine

Read time: 3 minutes

TOP STORIES

PCVR

Valve Launches Steam Link PCVR App For Quest

Valve has launched a Steam Link app on the Quest Store, allowing wireless streaming of SteamVR games like Half-Life: Alyx from a PC to Quest headsets.

This move positions Valve's solution as a direct competitor to existing services like Meta's Air Link and the third-party app Virtual Desktop. The Steam Link app is free but Virtual Desktop is not, as it relies solely on App Revenue to sustain its business.

UploadVR conducted an interview with Guy Godin, the developer behind Virtual Desktop, regarding Valve’s announcement. Godin has expressed his determination to continue improving his app, highlighting its unique features like Snapdragon Game Super Resolution and Synchronous Spacewarp. While Steam Link offers a streamlined connection to SteamVR, Virtual Desktop remains a versatile solution with broader capabilities, including the ability to play Rift store games and stream 180/360 videos.

However, experts predict that this is going to be a big blow for Virtual Desktop and they have to find alternate ways to monetize and stay competitive.

APPLE

Vision Pro Production To Start This Month

According to reports from Jiemian News, who’ve talked with multiple Chinese suppliers, Apple is gearing up to start mass production of its Vision Pro headset in December, ahead of its planned early 2024 launch.

The initial batch is expected to be around 400,000 units, with a sales target of 1 million units in the first year. Looking further ahead, Apple hopes that sales of its first spatial computer reach 10 million units by 2026, the report adds.

The Vision Pro's hardware components are estimated to cost around $1,700, with a significant portion sourced from Chinese suppliers. Apple is also planning for future generations of the headset, with the second generation rumoured to be more affordable. The Vision Pro, priced at $3,499, is set to be a major player in the spatial computing market.

META

Quest 2 Outsells Quest 3 By A Huge Margin

According to a Twitter user Just Daven, the Quest 2 is vastly outselling the newer Quest 3 on Amazon during this holiday season.

RoadToVR has gone ahead and done a thorough estimation across multiple Amazon territories and concluded that over 240,000 Quest headsets were purchased on Amazon during the Black Friday period. The most interesting thing is that Quest 2 is outselling the 3 by a ratio of 3:1

Despite the Quest 3 being the latest model, the Quest 2's attractive Black Friday pricing, effectively at $200, has made it a more popular choice compared to the Quest 3's $500 starting price.

This trend raises questions about what developers are going to do about Mixed Reality. Quest 2 is still the most popular option and developers have to wonder if pivoting to Mixed Reality is really worth it.

NEWS FLASH

META

Turn Your Living Room Into A Submarine

• 🌊 Prepare to Dive: Mixed Reality Game: "Prepare To Dive" transforms your room into an ancient submarine, offering a unique mixed reality experience on the Meta Quest 3.

• 🎬 Taskmaster VR: Quest & Steam VR Release: The UK comedy show "Taskmaster" is getting its own VR game, set to launch in 2024 on Quest 2/3/Pro and SteamVR headsets.

• 🪖 Military Training Gets XR Upgrade: Varjo and Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) collaborate to enhance military training and mission rehearsal using XR technology.

• 📺 Not For Broadcast VR Announcement: "Not For Broadcast VR," a darkly comedic propaganda sim, is coming to PSVR 2 this December, offering a unique narrative-driven VR experience.

• 🔋 Quest 3 Elite Battery Strap Issue: Meta pauses sales of the Quest 3 Elite Battery Strap due to a firmware issue causing incomplete charging.

• 🏃‍♂️ HTC's New Vive Ultimate Tracker: HTC releases the Vive Ultimate Tracker, offering self-tracking capabilities but lacking PC-VR & OpenXR support at launch.

• 🎮 Resident Evil 4 VR Mode on PSVR 2: Resident Evil 4's VR mode is set to release as free DLC for PSVR 2 next week, with a free demo available for those who don't own the main game.

• 🌐 Unity's Splash Screen Passthrough for Quest: Unity is considering allowing Quest passthrough in the splash screen, replacing the current black void during app launches.

BOOKMARKS

Immersive Articles From The Web

• 6 Spatial Computing Trends To Watch In 2024

• Smart Glasses Can Boost Privacy With This Tech

• European Parliament Calls On Lawmakers to Lead the Metaverse

UNREAL MONEY

FUNDING REPORT

Vrgineers Secures $6M to Accelerate Wide-FOV VR for Enterprise

US-Czech company Vrgineers (a ridiculous name in my opinion, but still effective) known for its wide-FOV PC VR headsets, has raised $6 million in Series A funding led by Taiwania Capital.

The investment will fuel the growth and development of their upcoming XTAL headset, designed for enterprise use, particularly in flight simulation. The XTAL platform, notable for its high price and mixed reality capabilities, is set to see a new version later this year.

This funding signifies a major boost for Vrgineers, enhancing their position in the enterprise VR market.

COOL PROJECTS

HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK

Golf+ Founder Shares Revenue Figures

WRAP UP

MEME OF THE DAY

“An Apple A Day Keeps The Family Counselor Away”

Have a great weekend folks.

I’m just lost in the world of Red Matter 2. I completely lost it when the game took me to Saturn. It felt so real. If all game devs just upgrade their games to Quest 3’s specs, my God, people won’t want to take off their headsets.

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