Facebook Discontinuing the Oculus Rift S, Refocusing on All-In-One
The Oculus Quest 2 is on its way. But the announcement came with a casualty; the Rift S.
At Facebook Connect this week, Oculus dropped a bombshell that was of no surprise to anyone. The Oculus Quest 2 is on its way.
But Oculus did more than just announce an updated version of the Quest. The announcement came with a commitment to “focus on standalone VR headsets moving forward. We’ll no longer pursue PC-only hardware, with sales of Rift S ending in 2021.” It goes without saying that this was big news which shows us the direction Oculus plans to take its business model.
Prabhu Parthasarathy, Quest 2 product manager, explained that the launch signified "the right moment for us to move to a single headset." So instead of the PC-only Rift, the Quest 2 will be "convertible", supporting PC VR games by way of a USB-C cable.
This is good news for consumers. The Quest 2 may begin the discontinuation of the Rift, but it certainly doesn't mean that Oculus is done with PC VR. Instead, the Quest 2 will be a $299 dual-purpose headset. Support for the Rift will continue past its discontinuation, but Oculus did not reveal for how long.
We've suspected for some time that Facebook planned to go all-in on the all-in-one model offered by the Quest. Last year, the Rift S famously missed out on key performance upgrades like controller-free hand tracking. It was clear something was up.
The Oculus Quest 2 will be the platform by which Facebook will make its play into the mainstream. It's a bold move, even if it was expected. Only time will tell if it plays off.