(Credit: Microsoft)
UPDATE: Meta has officially teamed up with Xbox on the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, the first limited-edition Quest headset. It's available now for $399.99 as a bundle that includes:
- 128GB Meta Quest 3S in Xbox Carbon Black and Velocity Green
- Matching Touch Plus controllers and a limited-edition Xbox Wireless Controller
- Elite Strap
- 3 months of Meta Horizon+
- 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
(Credit: Microsoft)The main difference here is the design. As Meta explains, it's a "new look, same great experience." If you want one, act fast. "Quantities are extremely limited. Once they’re gone, they’re gone," says Lori Wright, CVP of Gaming Partnerships and Business Development
The Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition is available on Meta.com and via Best Buy in the US, as well as Argos and EE in the UK.
Original Story 6/22:
Xbox may be teaming up with Meta to release an Xbox-branded Meta Quest 3S this week.
Citing anonymous sources, Gaming website GameSandwich reports that the Xbox Quest 3S will drop on June 24 and cost $399, just over $100 more than the existing Meta Quest 3S.
For that, you’ll get a headset in the traditional Xbox color scheme of green and black with matching accessories, an Xbox wireless controller, a complimentary three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and an "Elite strap" (a Quest add-on accessory that usually retails for $69.99). Posts circulating on X also seem to add credence to the rumors.
But don’t get your hopes up about exciting potential gaming tie-ins—most of the differences between the rumored headset and the standard Meta Quest 3S seem to be purely aesthetic. The new piece of kit will reportedly have 128GB of storage, the exact same as the Meta Quest 3S, and will boast the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip.
This isn't to say that gamers won't get any useful integrations out of their new console. Since late 2022, Meta Quest users have been able to use Xbox Cloud Gaming via their devices, enabling them to stream their Xbox game library in a virtual cinema-style environment. So, you'll be able to put the free bundled controller to good use.
Neither Meta nor Xbox has officially commented on the rumors at the time of writing, but we've seen Xbox roll out similar collaborations in recent months. Earlier this month, it announced the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, the first Xbox-branded handhelds. The partnership between Asus and Microsoft, set to debut later this year, integrates Asus's ROG Ally line of handheld consoles with some parts of the Xbox ecosystem.
The news comes after reports emerged earlier this month that Microsoft is putting its plans to develop a rumoured gaming handheld of its own on ice, to focus more on Windows 11 gaming.