Meta gives away free Quest Pro headsets to devs as VR Roblox approaches public release

It's quite clear by now that Meta's success with VR and AR is directly related to the fact that its Quest headsets are the most affordable mainstream options out there. About a year ago the company behind Facebook made an attempt to release a premium VR headset, named the Quest Pro, but by all accounts, it didn't sell as well as expected, and unfortunately will not be getting a successor.

As reported by Mixed News, the latest sign that the Quest Pro isn't enjoying the kind of success it may have deserved, and Meta may actually be trying to get rid of its leftover stock, comes from the recent Roblox developer conference.

According to various posts online, possibly tens of attendees (developers) at the conference received free Meta Quest Pro headsets by the Facebook giant, to "help" them "create the best Roblox experiences for VR."

While the Quest Pro was a very promising headset, positioned as the premium alternative to the Quest 2 with a stronger focus on business applications and AR, its high $1,500 price, paired with Meta's arguably poor-to-nonexistent marketing for the product have led to the quiet cancellation of the Pro line-up after just a single attempt.

However, the future is likely still bright for Meta's AR/VR endeavors, as its upcoming Meta Quest 3 is surely going to enjoy the same kind of success the beloved Quest 2 received during its lifetime on the market, which is likely coming to its end later this year.

Expected to release early next month, the Quest 3 will be the newest, and most importantly – newest affordable AR/VR headset from Meta, priced at a more reasonable $499, compared to the Quest Pro. We should note, however, that the Quest 3's price is still up $100 from its predecessor – the $399 Quest 2 (now even $299).

Roblox coming to Quest headsets is great news for Meta, makes sense devs are being encouraged to develop for it

But back to the Roblox event – there's good reason for Meta to be handing out Quest Pros to developers, as the wildly popular video game will be coming to Meta's VR headsets via the Meta Quest Store in the coming days. A beta release of Roblox for Meta headsets has been out for a few months, but unlike the upcoming public release, it was meant for developers and eager testers.

With Roblox fully available for the Quest 2 (and soon Quest 3), Meta's headsets are only going to enjoy even wider adoption.

Fun facts about Roblox – it's actually a gaming platform, not a mere game, and it's been reported that some of the more popular Roblox games enjoy up to 10 million monthly players each. So it's easy to see why Meta would want to give out free Quest Pro headsets to developers, so they can start making some fun Roblox VR games, in order to attract new players to the platform.

The Quest Pro is still discounted with $500 if you wish to pick one up for yourself

In related news, if you wish to get yourself a premium Meta headset – nearly 6 months ago the Quest Pro received a massive $500 price slash, and that offer is still available today! As a reminder – the Quest Pro was $1,500 at launch, so that's definitely a good deal.