Technology company, Meta has taken a bold step to make part of its business profitable with the launch of a virtual reality (VR) subscription service.
The Facebook owner also said paying users will get access to two new games a month as the parent company of Instagram saw a $4bn (£3.1bn) loss at its VR unit, for the first three months of the year.
Although, it has become so obvious that Meta has faced competition from firms including technology giant Apple, which unveiled its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset this month.
On Monday, the company said the Meta Quest+ service, which costs $7.99 a month or $59.99 for an annual subscription, was compatible with its Quest 2, Quest Pro and upcoming Quest 3 headsets, BBC reports.
Going memory lane, Meta chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg in 2021 unveiled plans to build a “metaverse” – an online world where people can play games, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets.
In reaction to the development, Mr. Zuckerberg said,” Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards.”
In February last year, Meta unveiled several ambitious artificial intelligence projects, and Mr Zuckerberg described AI as “the key to unlocking the metaverse”.
Surpassing market expectations, the company reported a profit of $5.7bn for the first three months of this year.
On the losses recorded, its Reality Labs division which produces VR headsets and other products, reported a net loss of $4bn for the period.
in its first major hardware launch in almost a decade, Apple Earlier this month unveiled its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.
Apple’s headset, which will be released early next year in the US, will be priced at $3,499 as this is more than other headsets currently available in the market while Meta’s VR headsets are priced between $299.99 and $999.99.
