Meta 'Pauses' Third-Party Headset Program

Meta has paused its third-party Horizon OS headset program, effectively canceling planned VR headsets from Asus and Lenovo as it refocuses on 'building the world-class first-party hardware and software needed to advance the VR market.' Road to VR reports: A little over a year and a half ago, Meta made an 'industry-altering announcement,' as I called the move in my reporting: the company was rebranding the Quest operating system to 'Horizon OS' and announced it was working with select partners to launch third-party VR headsets powered by the operating system. Meta specifically named Asus and Lenovo as the first partners it was working with to build new Horizon OS headsets. Asus was said to be building an 'all-new performance gaming headset,' while Lenovo was purportedly working on 'mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment.'

But as we've now learned, neither headset is likely to see the light of day. Meta say it has frozen the third-party Horizon OS headset program. 'We have paused the program to focus on building the world-class first-party hardware and software needed to advance the VR market,' a Meta spokesperson told Road to VR. 'We're committed to this for the long term and will revisit opportunities for 3rd-party device partnerships as the category evolves.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.