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Prime Day is right around the corner, and although I'm not hopeful we'll be seeing big discounts on the Meta Quest 3 and 3S in this June's sale, it might be one of Meta's last great opportunities to convince gamers to adopt its hardware. The Quest VR headsets have been the approachable VR device in the gaming market for years now, but that's arguably been due to a lack of competition.
The Steam Frame is now set for launch this summer, which will no doubt change things. It's unlikely that the Steam Frame is going to be targeting the same budget as the Quest 3S headsets; in fact, if there's a worry, it's that Valve's device will cost closer to $1,000. We still don't know the price of Valve's headset, but I'd put it somewhere in the ballpark of $500-$800 as a relatively safe bet (that gives me a generous amount of wiggle room to say I told you so).
By any account, a price tag like this will cause outrage among gamers, including the mainstream crowd who use and any all VR news story to post "VR gaming ded" all over the internet.
But I have to say, against the Meta Quest 3, which recently saw a price increase of $100, whatever cost the Steam Frame has probably won't look so bad.
With a more refined gaming appeal, Meta might have some stiff competition on its heels in a month or two, and we could arguably see a shift in the market in Valve's favour if the Frame doesn't cost too much more than $600.
Of course, Meta has always targeted a more mainstream crowd due to its attempts to get Quests on the faces of as many people as possible for its Metaverse strategy, but that's now dead and gone. With that being the case, gamers are one of the last hopes of a Meta Reality Labs division that needs some wins.
This year alone, we've seen layoffs at Reality Labs, game dev studio closures, and then even more layoffs and rumors that the focus on wearables will shift to smart glasses, not VR headsets.
All of this said, Prime Day is arriving in less than two weeks, and with it, no doubt a slew of Prime Day Meta Quest deals. I struggle to see big discounts and new bundles coming to the Quest 3 hardware, but accessories are a cornerstone of any of these Prime-exclusive sales.
While that Quest 3 price hike is still pretty recent and makes me hesitant to expect any discounts on the headsets, there's a small part of my brain arguing the opposite.
Yes, Reality Labs needs to pull in money, so discounts likely wouldn't help profit lines, but as a last throw of the dice before the Steam Frame arrives, Prime Day could be a great opportunity to punt as many headsets as possible with approachable offers. Even a $50 discount to the Quest 3 would look great against a Steam Frame that's likely going to cost $700 or more. Not to mention, if the Quest 3S headsets see a discount, it creates a resurgent look against PSVR 2, which is currently lapping up the good faith with gamers who don't want a standalone device.
But if the Steam Frame arrives and, by some miracle, it's closer to $600, suddenly, the Meta Quest 3 512GB model is a lot harder to justify for gamers.
I'm not optimistic for big savings, but Prime Day could be a very interesting time for the VR market, and could tell us a lot about Meta's attitude toward the future of duking it out for more consumer territory. Will it stand and fight, or will it continue a year where it's looked ready to duck and run in the face of new gaming competition?
For more Prime Day coverage, check out the best Prime Day Kindle deals, Prime day PC deals, and Prime Day gaming deals.
