Facebook’s owner, Meta, introduces a VR subscription service.

Meta, the owner of Facebook, has introduced a virtual reality (VR) subscription service in an attempt to generate profitability in that sector of its business. The company has announced that subscribers will gain access to two new games each month. During the first quarter of this year, Meta incurred a loss of $4 billion (£3.1 billion) in its VR unit.

Meta now faces competition from various firms, including tech giant Apple, which recently unveiled its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset. Meta’s new offering, called Meta Quest+, is compatible with the Quest 2, Quest Pro, and upcoming Quest 3 headsets and is available for a monthly fee of $7.99 or an annual subscription of $59.99.

In 2021, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, revealed plans to construct a “metaverse,” an online realm where individuals can engage in games, work, and communicate within a virtual environment, often employing VR headsets. Zuckerberg expressed his desire for Meta to be recognised as a metaverse company, with its work and identity centred around this vision. Last February, Meta unveiled several ambitious artificial intelligence projects, with Zuckerberg highlighting AI as the key to unlocking the metaverse.

During the first three months of this year, Meta achieved a profit of $5.7 billion, surpassing market expectations. However, its Reality Labs division, responsible for manufacturing VR headsets and other products, suffered a net loss of $4 billion during the same period. Apple, on the other hand, recently launched its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, marking its first major hardware release in nearly a decade.

Priced at $3,499, Apple’s headset will be available in the US early next year, significantly more expensive than other headsets currently on the market. In contrast, Meta’s VR headsets range in price from $299.99 to $999.99.