Bottom line: Good news for owners of the Meta Quest 2, 3, or Pro headsets. Meta is adding support for Xbox Cloud Gaming for those who are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The app is currently in beta, but is downloadable from the Meta Quest Store. Xbox Cloud Gaming is a huge value-add to existing Quest owners, further legitimizing the Quest 3 as a formidable player in the mixed reality market.
One of the most popular features in recent Quest headsets is the “Passthrough” ability to display a browser or application as a floating window while looking at the real world. This allows you to have your own personal monitor virtually anywhere you want.
This is especially good for gaming as it frees up any computer monitors or TVs for use by other people. With the Xbox Cloud Gaming app, it will allow you to choose between four different display sizes or even experience an “Xbox-themed virtual space”.
Xbox Cloud Gaming supports Bluetooth Xbox controllers (of course), PS4 controllers, and the Nintendo Switch Pro controller. Meta says PS5 controller support is coming sometime in the future, which is an odd omission considering the PS5 has been out for three years at this point.
Microsoft CFO Tim Stuart had recently hinted that Microsoft wanted to bring its subscriptions and first-party content to basically any screen, including PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. However, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer shot down that idea, at least on Sony and Nintendo hardware. That doesn’t stop Microsoft from putting Game Pass on other platforms such as Meta’s Quest headsets.
Meta launched the Quest 3 in September to mostly positive reviews. While the battery life leaves a bit to be desired, it improved on the Quest 2 in every way with a fantastic display and great performance. Some reviewers even think the Quest 3 may finally be the headset to help people buy into Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the metaverse.
Interestingly, the Quest 3 starts at $500. That’s technically the same price as an Xbox Series X (though that’s currently on sale for $400 as of writing). If you don’t own either device and care mostly about gaming, it may be worth it to simply get a Series X and not have to worry about streaming games over the internet, though that will hopefully improve in the future.
