Meta is bringing Xbox game streaming to its Quest VR headset

Microsoft has opened up another platform with Xbox Game Pass. Many games from the Redmond company’s subscription offering can now also be used on Meta Quest series VR headsets via game streaming.

Xbox cloud gaming on a virtual 2D screen

As Microsoft and Meta have now announced, Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available as an app for Meta Quest VR headsets. Specifically, Meta Quest 2 and 3 are supported as well as Meta Quest Pro. In order to bring games from Microsoft’s portfolio to the VR headset, an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is required, i.e. the more expensive subscription variant.

Games are displayed on virtual reality headsets from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, in what looks like a large two-dimensional screen in virtual space. The position now available was officially announced for the first time a few months ago.

Support for cloud gaming is growing

Not all games available on Xbox Series The list of titles has grown significantly recently, so that titles like Halo Infinite, Starfield, Doom Eternal, and others can now be used in this way.

The prerequisite for using Xbox Game Streaming on one of the Meta Quest headsets is that you have a supported Bluetooth controller to control games. This could be an Xbox, PS4, or even a Nintendo Switch Pro console. Meta said that support for PS5 controllers will be introduced later.

The Xbox Game Streaming app can be downloaded for free from the Meta Quest Store. You should have access to several hundred games this way. Naturally, you also need a high-bandwidth internet connection to stream game content to your headset.

Of course, this is still a niche offering, as the number of Quest headset users who want to play games via streaming to a virtual 2D screen on their VR headset is likely to be very limited. If at some point it becomes possible to bring your own games from Xbox to the headset, that will likely change.

Until then, Quest headset users will at least have the chance to play games in a sort of Xbox-themed virtual gaming room if they wish. Alternatively, it can also be used in scrolling mode at different sizes of the virtual Xbox screen while simultaneously viewing the surroundings via the built-in cameras.

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