Meta Quest 3 won't launch with exclusive games but it may not be long before they appear.
In the run-up to Connect 2023, UploadVR attended a pre-release event in London for both Quest 3 and the Ray-Bans Meta Smart Glasses Collection. During a group Q&A session with other publications, Meta was asked whether the upcoming headset would launch with any exclusive games unavailable for Quest 2 or Quest Pro.
“We don't have any specific Quest 3 exclusives, so everything that launches this holiday season until the end of the year will also be available on Quest 2,” a Meta representative confirmed. That rules out any immediate exclusives when Quest 3 launches on October 10, but suggests Meta expects they may begin appearing next year.
It's reminiscent of the cross-generation transition between Quest 1 and Quest 2, and the latter's first exclusive came a year later with Resident Evil 4. However, it's worth remembering Quest 1 was discontinued when its successor launched, while Quest 2 will remain on sale alongside Quest 3.
That doesn't include First Encounters, which Meta considers more of an MR tutorial than fully fledged game. First Encounters is a new user experience only available for Quest 3 and you're tasked with breaking down walls in your real-world environment to find space critters, shooting them to fit them into a rescue ship.
For now, Meta is emphasizing the wider release slate across both platforms. The pre-release presentation advised over "100+ new and upgraded titles" are coming to Quest 3 "and the entire Quest platform" - Quest 1 being an obvious exclusion. It confirms "over 50 of these are brand new titles," while the other half will receive upgrades and mixed reality features.
Henry Stockdale
