The limited edition Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition (yes, that’s what it’s called) looks neat. I’ll give it that. The all-black model with the green inlays cuts a nice contrast with the normally white-only VR headsets. Everything else about it confuses me, including why it exists.
I guess the simple answer is that Microsoft’s “everything is an Xbox” marketing slogan that arrived last fall wasn’t just a threat, it was a promise. A promise that the company will begin slapping the Xbox logo on anything that is capable of streaming Game Pass. Smart TVs are now Xboxes. PC gaming handhelds are, too. Why not bundle a limited-edition Xbox controller with a Meta Quest 3S and call it an Xbox too?
The entry-level Meta Quest 3S 128GB is currently $300. The Xbox version will be $400 but comes with a limited-edition Xbox controller in addition to the standard Touch Plus controllers and three months of Game Pass Ultimate. This is, in Microsoft’s words, “everything you need to start gaming on a massive virtual display the moment you open the box.”
That’s primarily because the Meta Quest 3S can stream a selection of Game Pass games that support cloud gaming like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. The pitch from Microsoft is: “start a game on your Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, pick up where you left off on your console, and continue the adventure with Xbox on PC without ever losing your achievements or saved data.” That’s a cool idea in theory, but the caveat is that it’s limited to streaming and games that already support Play Anywhere.
This is the same Achilles’ heel that impacts the upcoming Xbox Ally ROG PC gaming handheld. It’s a custom Windows experience designed to feel like playing on an Xbox, but it can’t play existing Xbox-only releases. Lots of big games like Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows don’t support Play Anywhere, meaning you still need to purchase the game twice. I’d love it if that weren’t the case, but for now it is. Until those gaps are filled in, it’s hard to see more Xbox-branded devices as anything other than niche collectors’ items for enthusiasts.
Meta has never released sales numbers for the Quest 3, but estimates a year ago were that it had sold at least 1 million units. Microsoft probably isn’t lying when it stresses how “limited” the Xbox Edition Quest 3S is, but it raises the question of why the partnership exists if it’s going to stop short of making the headset double as an official accessory for existing Xbox consoles that can stream native games remotely as a second display.
Maybe because VR is an even tougher sell than PC gaming handhelds. PlayStation VR 2 is rumored to have sold only about half as many units as Steam Deck. That might be why Meta is ending Beat Saber support for the Sony peripheral. Coincidentally, the reduced price of Sony’s headset makes it cost the same as the Xbox Quest 3S.
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