This week has been quite cool for me. One of my biggest highlights has been that my article about Social AR has been featured in the famous New World Notes blog that I usually read… I’ve felt very honored about this!
And after a little celebration with you, my amazing readers, it is time for me to start telling you more about the most important XR news of the week!
Top news of the week
Half of Fortune 100 companies are using Apple Vision Pro
Apple CEO Tim Cook has answered the doom posts of the past week that revealed that Vision Pro’s sales plummeted after its launch by stating that more than half of Fortune 100 companies have bought an Apple XR headset and are experimenting with it. This echoes a post published a few weeks ago when Apple showed that important companies like KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, SAP, and Porsche are already using the Vision Pro inside their production processes.
It’s interesting how the Vision Pro, which has been always considered a device for consumers (quite rich consumers, I would say) is actually finding its success in the enterprise. But this should surprise no one: all the previous expensive AR/MR headsets that have been initially targeted at consumers, like Magic Leap or HoloLens, ended up being used mostly in enterprise sectors. So the fact that Apple is targeting the B2B market makes absolutely sense because $3500 is a price that is too high for average people.
It will be interesting to see if Apple will do a full pivot towards the enterprise, like Magic Leap did, or if it will keep the appearance of being focused on consumers. In my opinion, it will be the latter: Apple’s goal is still winning the AR race among the masses.
Other relevant news
A new report talks about a cheaper Vision Pro in 2025
Last week, Mark Gurman stated that Apple is having difficulties in reducing the cost of the Vision Pro, so it’s hard to see a cheaper model being released soon. This week, Chinese news outlet WallStreetCN reported that a cheaper Vision headset is expected in June 2025. It’s good to see that these “analysts” all agree on what is going to happen.
The Chinese source claims that Apple aims to manufacture a lighter headset that should weigh around 400 grams, which is more than 200 grams lighter than the current Vision Pro. The cost should also be heavily reduced, but it is not specified how much. There is a mention of the quantity, though: the report says that the supply chain is preparing for scale “at the level of tens of millions”.
This is literally a joke. Only a very cheap headset like Quest 2 can scale at that level, it’s literally impossible that a Vision headset, which rumors put at a $1500 price, scale next year at tens of millions of sold devices. I mean, I would love for this to happen, but it has the same probability of me getting married to Scarlett Johansson (which is another thing I would want for June 2025, but I guess it won’t happen). As usual, take all these rumors with a grain of salt.
The process of removing the walls around App Lab has started
A few weeks ago, Meta promised that it would start removing the separation between App Lab apps and Meta Quest Store apps. This week, Meta has fulfilled its promises. Now App Lab games appear if you search for a game in the Store: they are still flagged as experimental App Lab games, but they have become visible. I’ve tried looking for “HitMotion” and our game “HitMotion: Reloaded” appeared. It is fantastic because it means that finally, indie VR games have become discoverable.
And even more, when you open the page related to the game, you don’t find anymore that annoying popup that warns the user that it is a potentially dangerous App Lab game, but there is just a little warning printed on it. This will help in making people less scared about downloading an App Lab game.
These are great improvements that will favor all indie VR games on the Quest store. I’m very happy about it.
More info (App Lab popup has disappeared)
More info (App Lab titles are now discoverable)
News worth a mention
Insta360 announces the first affordable 8K 360° camera
Insta360, one of the most relevant brands producing 360 cameras, has just announced a new model, the Insta360 X4. This is a 360 camera with a very affordable price of $500. This is very cool to let indie creators make 360 movies for VR without spending too much money.
Huge discounts on Tilt Five glasses
Tilt Five, the company creating amazing AR glasses for board gaming, is just running a promotion that basically cuts in half the price of the headset. You can buy a single set of glasses for only $249, a bundle with two devices for $389, and with three devices for $539. If you have been in doubt about buying these glasses, now it’s time to purchase them!
Unity 6 introduces new features for XR developers
The new version of Unity, called Unity 6, is currently in preview. It already shows the addition of new features for us VR developers, like direct support in the engine for foveated rendering and composition layers. This will make it easier for us to create next-gen XR applications that are cross-platform.
In the meanwhile, Unity has appointed Matthew Bromberg as its CEO. He has a long past as EA manager, like his predecessor… what could go wrong?
More info (Unity 6 preview)
More info (New Unity CEO)
Batman: Arkham Shadow is an upcoming Quest 3 exclusive game
Meta-owned game studio Camouflaj has announced a new game: “Batman: Arkham Shadow”. Details are scarce, but the teaser trailer is enough to stimulate our fantasy about a new Batman VR game. The game is expected to come at the end of the year, exclusively for Quest 3. This is the second big-budget game expected to come only for Quest 3: this inspired me to write an article with an analysis of the transition that has just started to happen between Quest 2 and Quest 3.
More info (Batman: Arkham Shadow)
More info (The transition between Quest 2 and Quest 3)
Some news on content
- EarthQuest brings an experience very similar to Google Earth VR on Quest, for only $5
- Agent Simulator brings on Quest an action FPS game in which you are a secret agent who has to undergo his training
- Rival Stars Horse Racing: VR Edition, a game about racing with horses, is coming to Quest, Steam, and Apple Vision Pro at the end of the year.
More info (EarthQuest)
More info (Agent Simulator)
More info (Rival Stars Horse Racing: VR Edition)
Some reviews about content
- Skera VR is an upcoming puzzle game for SteamVR. In its preview hands-on, Upload VR found it enjoyable
- MADiSON VR is an incredibly scary horror game. It is also haunted by dull and frustrating puzzles that you have to solve, though
- Arcade Paradise VR offers you a satisfying game about arcades, but the start is too slow and requires you to do too many chores
- Mannequin promises to be a hit multiplayer game thanks to its good gameplay and very polished execution
- JFK Memento offers a unique approach to VR documentaries
More info (Skera VR)
More info (MADiSON VR)
More info (Arcade Paradise VR)
More info (Mannequin)
More info (JFK Memento)
Other news
Alex Coulombe has written a post with interesting pieces of advice about how to ensure your Unreal Engine game passes Quest Store requirements
Razer has launched a very expensive replacement strap for Quest 3
There are now more VR users than Mac users on Steam… but it is mostly because the Mac population on Steam is shrinking
Pencil is a fantastic mixed reality drawing application that won a Meta hackaton
News from partners (and friends)
Enjoy Jesse Damiani’s podcast
Jesse Damiani has always been a pretty recognized journalist in our space. He has just launched a podcast where he speaks about future technologies and in this week’s episode he interviewed Idris Brewster, executive director at Kinfolk Foundation, and spoke with him about “Why AR matters”. If you have time to spend, give this video a look.
Watch the video
Discover The Secret Of Retropolis 2
Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye is now available for preorder on the Horizon/Quest Store for €19.99. I have played the first episode, and I appreciated his enigma, his humor, and his noir atmosphere, so I’m pretty excited about this second episode, too. The team is also thinking about a porting for the Vision Pro, but it’s too early for that. It’s interesting to know that the characters of the game have been all modeled inside Quill, so they have been made in VR for VR.
Store page of the game
The game has been designed using Quill
The Secret Of Retropolis may land on AVP
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Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate to my blog, but to the poor people who are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Apple)