While perhaps lacking some of the huge, jaw-dropping announcements of previous years, 2021 was a surprisingly busy year for VR and AR.
We’re looking back at the year that was with this list of the biggest stories from 2021.
It was an interesting year for VR and AR – there were several new hardware announcements, the Quest 2 continued to dominate and some absolutely killer, innovative games were released. And yet, we’re also left a feeling that 2021 might just be the calm before an incoming VR/AR storm.
Read on for the biggest and best VR/AR stories of 2021, month by month.
Beat Saber 90Hz Support Hits Quest 2 In New Update
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Hitman 3 VR Review – A (Mostly) Clean Kill
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Editorial: Oculus Quest 2 Developer Success Marks New Era For VR
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Oculus ‘App Lab’: Quest Platform Gets Non-Store App Distribution
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Sony Confirms Next-Generation PS5 VR Headset Coming Post-2021
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Sony: PS5 VR Is ‘Completely New Format’, Dev Kits ‘About To Go Out’
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Report: Apple’s Dual 8K VR Headset With Eye Tracking Could Cost $3000
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Kuo: Apple’s VR Headset Around $1000, AR Glasses Pushed To 2025
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Nearly 20% Of Facebook’s Employees Are Working On VR/AR
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Facebook Says Quest 2 Already Outsold Every Previous Oculus Headset Combined
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PS5 VR Controllers Revealed By Sony – Finger Detection, Analog Sticks, Inside-Out Tracking
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HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Launches In May For $1,249
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Facebook Brings Subscription Support To Quest
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Resident Evil 4 VR Is Coming To Oculus Quest 2
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Confirmed: Resident Evil 4 VR Is The First Quest 2 Exclusive
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Facebook Canceled Oculus Rift 2 Just Before Production – Palmer Luckey
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Floor Plan 2 Review: A Henson-Esque Marvel
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Oculus Quest 2 To Get PC VR Air Link, 120 Hz, And Desk Support
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HoloLens 2 Review: Ahead Of Its Time, For Better And Worse
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Oculus Quest 2 Now Has A 60 Hz Hand Tracking Mode
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Oculus Air Link Launches For All With v28 On Quest 2 & PC
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HTC Announces Vive Pro 2 For Consumers & Vive Focus 3 For Businesses
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Vive Focus 3 Specs: 5K LCD, 120° FoV, Swappable Rear Battery, $1300
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Vive Pro 2 Specs: 5K 120Hz LCD, New 120° Lenses, SteamVR Tracking
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Demeo Review – A Social VR Masterclass In An Engaging Tabletop RPG
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Oculus v29 Update Adds 120Hz Air Link Support
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FRL VP ‘Doesn’t Have An Issue’ With Quest Store On Other Headsets
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Exclusive: Next-Gen PlayStation VR Is 4K With Foveated Rendering And Vibration Feature
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Facebook: ‘Long Term’ Oculus Studios Titles Targeting Quest 2
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Facebook Starts Advertising In Virtual Reality
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Larcenauts Review: A Slick, Rich Shooter For Competitive Play
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Oculus Quest v30 Rolling Out With Microphone Swapping And Multitasking
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Sniper Elite VR Review: Old Dog, New Tricks
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Quest 2 Experimental Mixed Reality & Passthrough API Details
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Oculus Quest v31 Adds Experimental Passthrough API For Mixed Reality
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Quest 2 Sales Paused As 4 Million Facial Interfaces Recalled
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Oculus Quest 2 128GB Model On Sale August 24 For $299
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Steam Deck Could Be Used With Oculus Quest, Gabe Newell Says
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PS5 VR Headset Will Have HDR OLED Display, Hybrid AAA Games – Report
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Confirmed: TikTok Owner ByteDance Buying Pico VR
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I Expect You To Die 2 Review: A Worthy Sequel Rich With Detail
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Valve Suggests Steam Deck Processor Could Be Used In Standalone VR Headset
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A Township Tale Review: A Fascinating Glimpse Of A Future VR Great (Quest)
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Facebook Launches Horizon Workrooms To Power Remote Work
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Facebook Reveals $299 Ray-Ban Stories Smartglasses With Camera And Assistant
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Report Claims Apple AR-VR Headset Uses iPhone/iPad/Mac For Advanced Features
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Andrew Bosworth To Take Over As Facebook CTO In 2022
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Report: Apple’s AR-VR Headset To Launch Second Half Of 2022
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Reports: Valve Working On ‘Deckard’ Standalone Headset With ‘VRLink’ Wireless
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Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond Is Coming to Oculus Quest 2 This Year
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Eyes-On: Facebook’s First Glasses Pave The Way For Public AR
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Quest Pro Potential Specs & Apparent Controller Images Leak
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Oculus Quest Pro Leak? Promo Videos Show Possible Headset Design
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Lynx Standalone AR-VR Headset Kickstarter Launches With $500 Price
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Facebook Rebrands Social VR Platform ‘Horizon Worlds’, Offers $10M To Makers
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Varjo Aero Review: A Powerhouse Headset With Some Big Question Marks
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Unplugged Review: Thrilling Air Guitar With Unmatched Hand Tracking Capabilities
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Microsoft Shows Off Adaptive Shape VR Controller Prototype
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Song in the Smoke Review: A Primal VR Survival Game With Real Majesty
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HTC Vive Flow Announced: Compact $499 6DOF VR Headset
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HP Releasing Upgraded Reverb G2 With Better Tracking
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Resident Evil 4 VR Review: An Incredible Way To Revisit A Classic
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Facebook Responds To Changes To Sexist Sequences In Resident Evil 4 VR
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Zuckerberg Announces Facebook Company Rebrand To Meta
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Oculus Quest Devs Will Get Speech Recognition, Tracked Keyboard, Hand Interaction Library
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Meta Announces AR Glasses Prototype Project Nazare
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Meta: Quest VR Headsets ‘Won’t Need A Facebook Account’ From 2022
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Quest Users Unlinking Facebook Account Keep Their Purchases, Meta Confirms
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Oculus Brand Dead, Oculus Quest To Become Meta Quest
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Is Coming To Oculus Quest 2
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New ‘High End’ Headset Codenamed ‘Cambria’ Launching Next Year
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Quest 2 Now Shows Pets, People, & Android Phone Notifications
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PlayStation Patent Filing Shows Work On Eye-Tracking With Foveated Rendering
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Meta Shows Research Towards Consumer Force Feedback Haptic Gloves
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HaptX: Meta’s Glove Tech ‘Substantively Identical’ To Our Patents
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Quest’s App Lab Now Supports DLC And In-App Payments
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HTC Vive Flow Review: A Niche Within A Niche
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Hitman 3 PC VR Support Confirmed, Coming Next Year
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Meta Quest 2 Is Already Replacing Oculus Quest 2 Branding
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Application SpaceWarp Can Give Quest Apps 70% More Performance
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Kuo: Apple Headset To Launch Late 2022 With 4K Displays & M1 Level Performance
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Upload VR Showcase Winter 2021: Everything Announced
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Apple Hiring AR/VR Frameworks Engineer For ‘Entirely New Application Paradigm’
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Horizon Worlds Beta Goes Public In US & Canada With 18+ Age Requirement
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Among Us VR Announced For Quest, PSVR And PC VR
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New Meta Avatars Now Available To All Unity Developers
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Kuo: Apple Headset Is 300-400 Grams, Second Gen Will Be “Significantly Lighter”
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Meta Supernatural Acquisition: FTC Opens Antitrust Probe For $400 Million Deal – Report
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After The Fall Review: Frantically Fun Co-Op That Needs More Content
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Watch: Blaston Passthrough On Quest Turns Your Living Room Into An Arena
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What were your favourite VR/AR stories of 2021? Let us know in the comments below.
