Summary
A few studios continue to try and make VR a more frequently visited corner of the video game space, and while it still isn’t as popular as anyone involved would like it to be, Meta has done a better job than anyone at making VR stick so far. Facebook’s parent company took another big step forward in making VR gaming more affordable and accessible this week by revealing the Meta Quest 3S, a brand new VR headset that’savailable for as little as $299.99.
If you’re thinking about taking the plunge on a VR headset and this is your first point of call, you might think $300 is pretty steep. By comparison, theMeta Quest 3, the 3S’s older sibling, is as much as $200 more expensive, althoughit’s currently on salefollowing the announcement of the 3S. The Meta Quest 3S is largely the same as the more expensive Meta Quest 3, however,it has a lower quality lenswhich is what makes the price difference so vast.
Despite that change, the Quest 3S is more or less the same as the Quest 3. You will be able to use all of the same apps and play the same games, and it even comes bundled with something to get you started.Batman: Arkham Shadow, the upcoming game set before the events ofRocksteady’s iconic Arkham trilogy,comes free with the Meta Quest 3S. I’m unsure when exactly you will get your copy of Arkham Shadow though since the game releases a week after the new headset which isslated to arrive on June 29, 2025.
Introducing The Meta Quest 3S, An Up-To-Date Way To Get Acquainted With VR
Bundled With The Brand New Batman: Arkham Shadow
Even though the Quest 3S won’t be released until October 15,pre-orders are available now, and there are two models to choose from. If you go for the cheapest, $299.99 option, you’ll get 128GB of storage. However, if you want twice as much virtual space for your games and apps,there’s a 256GB Quest 3S headset for $399.99. It still comes bundled with Arkham: Shadow andboth models also include a three month subscription to Quest Plus.
Meta Quest 3S
Meta Quest 3S is the budget alternative to the Meta Quest 3, one that still offers high-end performance. Supporting virtual and mixed reality, the headset comes with a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, 8GB RAM, HD resolution (1832x1920 pixels per eye), and roughly 2.5 hours of battery life.
The Meta Quest 3S is another step in the right direction for Meta’s VR plans, but another blow toPlayStationand the PS VR2. PlayStation launched its second-generation headset last year and hasn’t had much luck with it. Not only is it more expensive than a Meta Quest 3 - and a lot more expensive than a Quest 3S - but until recently, you also needed an equally expensivePS5to use it.PlayStation released a PC adapterin August so that the PS VR2 can be used with Steam VR games, however, the adapter is sold separately, and some of the PS VR2’s features aren’t compatible withPC.
