Meta is axing Quest 1 support for Beat Saber, a popular rhythm game where players use glowing sabers to slice musical blocks.
Announced in an FAQ on the official Beat Saber website, the Beat Saber developers Beat Games revealed that it will axe support for Quest 1 on November 2, 2024. The FAQ page notes that Quest 1 owners can still play Beat Saber, but the Multiplayer and Leaderboard functionality “might be phased out in the future.” It will also stop releasing updates and provide customer support for Quest 1 devices.
“As we continue developing Beat Saber, our goal is to raise the bar of what’s possible,” FAQ reads. “To focus our efforts in the right direction, we will no longer support Meta Quest 1 devices as of November 2, 2024.”
Cross-buy support is available to those who remain in the Meta VR hardware ecosystem. As shown in the screenshot above, Quest 1 owners’ copies of Beat Saber and Music Packs are tied to the account and transferrable to any Quest and Rift platform. Those who do not want to upgrade their VR headset to a new one, such as the Quest 3, can access the PC version of Beat Saber through their Quest 1 via the Meta Quest Link.
Beat Saber was originally released in early access in 2018 with a full-release company roughly a year later for PSVR, PC VR, and Meta Quest. Beat Saber is often regarded as one of the must-have games for VR headset owners, and its popularity prompted Meta to acquire Beat Games in late 2019. Beat Saber has also been known for its DLC, working with artists such as Green Day, The Weeknd, and Daft Punk to release music packs featuring a selection of the artist’s songs.
“Beat Saber should be the go-to for introducing people to the potential of VR gaming. It’s simple to learn, damn near impossible to master rhythm gameplay is outstanding,” my colleague Dan Stapleton wrote in his 9.5/10 review of Beat Saber.
The announcement is no surprise to Quest 1 owners, as over the last several years, Meta has been glacially ending support for its original standalone VR headset. In July 2022, Meta subsidiary BigBox VR announced it ended Quest 1 support for its critically acclaimed battle royale shooter Popular: One. Meta also announced in January 2023 that it was ending support for Quest 1, shutting down functionalities such as the ability to create or join a part on the device.
Although Meta has been slowly ending support for Quest 1, support for the aging Quest 2 is still strong. Meta recently announced that it was permanently dropping the price of the Quest 2 128GB model to $199. The company has repeatedly reiterated that it will continue to support Quest 2 despite Quest 3 already being out. However, the company has been cagey about providing a firm timeline for how long it will continue supporting the almost four-year-old headset.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
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