Alright, brace yourself for a bit of rambling, because here we go. So, Meta and Microsoft decided to throw a party and what did they bring? The Quest 3S Xbox Edition. Yes, you heard that right—just landed today. It’s like an Xbox cloud gaming/VR combo, minus actually being a full-blown Xbox VR rig. Confusing? Maybe. But, stay with me. This thing is decked out in an Xbox-esque Carbon Black with some Velocity Green thrown in for good measure. Looks nice, at least I think so.
Price tag? $399.99. What’s in the box apart from, obviously, the headset? You get these matching Touch Plus controllers to flail around in VR and MR, a limited edition Xbox controller ’cause why not, an Elite Strap (though, not the one with extra battery—oh well), and a three-month pass to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Whew, that’s a mouthful. I guess it’s a deal if separately bought, you’d shell out about $490. Do the math if you want—I’m not great with numbers.
Oh man, I almost forgot—you probably don’t even need this edition if you’re already vibing with an Xbox controller and Game Pass. See, they added Xbox cloud gaming support on Quest last year, and that works with Quest 2 and newer models. Talk about options, right?
And get this: Quest 3S Xbox Edition throws in a 3-month subscription to this thing called Horizon+. Normally $8 a month, it lets you snag over 30 games, like Asgard’s Wrath 2 and Red Matter, and you can keep two games each month while subscribed. Not bad, if I say so myself.
So, Meta announced this first at Connect 2024. Feels like ages ago, but really wasn’t. They’re also cooking up something with ASUS and Lenovo—fresh headsets using Meta’s Horizon OS. ASUS is apparently gunning for top performance, while Lenovo’s looking at productivity and entertainment.
Anyway—oh wait—did I mention? You can grab the Quest 3S Xbox Edition at places like meta.com, or Best Buy if you’re stateside, and Argos or EE in the UK. Supplies are supposedly tighter than my schedule these days, so act fast if you’re keen.
That’s it, I think. Or maybe I missed something. But, who knows!