We've been waiting an awfully long time for something to finally drag virtual reality into the mainstream, and maybe—just maybe—this is it: Roblox, the massively popular gaming platform that draws in more people every single day than there are Canadians in Canada, is coming very soon to Meta Quest VR headsets.
The VR version of Roblox will be available on the Meta Quest 2 and Quest Pro headsets, and the new Quest 3 when it launches later this year. It will initially be available in open beta, which Meta said will be "a great opportunity for the Roblox developer community to optimize their existing games for Quest and build new ones for VR."
Some existing Roblox "experiences," as they're officially known, will be published for the Roblox VR lineup automatically, because they work as they are. "[Roblox has] found that those experiences typically run well in VR without modifications, so they’re seeding the Roblox VR library with great content from day one," Meta said. Roblox in VR will also be cross-compatible with other platforms, including Xbox, iOS, Android, and desktop, which will "make VR more social than ever before."
Roblox is undeniably a big get for Meta's VR efforts. There was some vague expectation that Half-Life: Alyx might help bring VR gaming into the mainstream, but three years after sparking a bump in VR ownership, it’s fizzled out completely: the Steam Hardware and Software survey indicates that the total number of Steam users equipped with VR headsets remains stuck at well under 2%.
But where Alyx is a one-and-done game, Roblox has millions of different "experiences" on tap, and tens of millions of people who are eager to play them every day. The sheer scale of that pre-existing library and audience—and the fact that, generally speaking, Roblox players tend to be younger than other mainstream gamers, and so are perhaps more open-minded about embracing new tech—makes me think that maybe—just maybe—this might be where the tide turns for VR.
Robox on Meta Quest VR headsets will be restricted to players 13 and up, and access can be controlled through the existing Meta Quest parental supervision tools. A rollout date hasn't been announced but Meta said the open beta will kick off "in the coming weeks." More information will be shared as the open beta gets closer to launch.
