For yet one more yr, the Meta Quest 2 topped the charts as one of many top-selling online game gadgets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It is a success story we have seen repeated time and time once more, and it makes me marvel why we do not see extra competitors for Meta’s VR consoles.
AC thVRsday
In his weekly column, Android Central Senior Content material Producer Nick Sutrich delves into all issues VR, from new {hardware} to new video games, upcoming applied sciences, and a lot extra.
There’s the PlayStation VR2, however it’s not likely direct competitors for many of Meta’s headsets due to the worth, regardless of sharing fairly just a few of the greatest VR video games. Positive, the headset prices as a lot as a Meta Quest 3, however it requires a $400+ PS5 to run the present, a cable, and it does not help mixed-reality experiences.
The obvious direct competitors is the Pico 4, which simply noticed a killer Black Friday sale that dropped 30% off the common value and included three new video games. That deal is definitely nonetheless obtainable in Europe, and it makes selecting a Pico over a Quest really look like a viable possibility.
In truth, the Pico 4 is a really nice headset, notably when used for PCVR streaming. It is cheaper than the Quest 3 but gives the identical lens readability and high-resolution show. So why aren’t we seeing extra success tales from the Chinese language firm? Let’s have a look.
Writing on the wall
Earlier in November, mum or dad firm ByteDance laid off a whole bunch of Pico staff and introduced the software program workforce below the ByteDance umbrella. The {hardware} workforce stays at Pico studios, together with the R&D division that is engaged on the subsequent era of Pico VR headsets.
However the dependable leaker, Alex from CHN (VR Panda), posted on X (Twitter) earlier in November that two Pico initiatives have been delayed because of the layoffs, then adopted that up earlier this week, saying the Pico 5 was canceled.
Alex works for VR Panda, an organization that makes equipment for VR headsets just like the Quest 3. Alex posted many pictures early on as he and his firm labored on Quest 3 equipment utilizing an precise unit nicely earlier than it was introduced. He additionally leaked new Pico 4 controllers early and appeared to have nice connections inside the trade.
However, whereas a lot of the Pico information appears detrimental, there’s really a slight silver lining to be discovered. On October 21, Alex posted that ByteDance was phasing out its Pico enterprise totally. But, what we noticed was simply a deep lower to Pico as an alternative of an all-out erasure of the enterprise.
We reached out to the corporate and a Pico spokesperson informed us that Pico was not “in a position to touch upon any rumors, and that PICO will announce new merchandise when they’re prepared.”
A whole bunch of Pico staff received laid off earlier in November, but, the corporate remains to be pushing ahead with its efforts in Europe and China.
To additional complicate issues, Android Central has lately been in a position to get hold of a Pico 4 assessment unit from the corporate even after the layoffs occurred. Corporations that lay off a lot of staff with the objective of ultimately phasing out the enterprise do not ship out assessment models to publications. They finish help and name it a loss.
Pico’s actions inform me that they are engaged on restructuring after excessive hopes that did not pan out. The corporate simply launched a brand new vacation bundle that features Arizona Sunshine II, Inexperienced Hell VR, and Warplanes Battles over Pacific without spending a dime.
Arizona Sunshine II, specifically, proves the corporate remains to be working with companions to launch new flagship video games to assist persuade individuals its platform is price shopping for into.
(There isn’t any) Getting over it
Pico’s woes started at GDC this previous March, the place the corporate was anticipated to announce the complete U.S. launch of the Pico 4. It is clear the corporate was pinning quite a bit on this launch, and the seemingly sudden choice to drag again started a series response that put Pico within the place it is in in the present day.
All of this occurred as a result of Pico is owned by ByteDance, the identical firm that owns and runs TikTok. As you are most likely conscious, TikTok has been by means of the wringer of U.S. authorities scrutiny, primarily for political causes greater than something.
We noticed the precise identical state of affairs unfold 5 years earlier when the U.S. authorities went after Huawei, ultimately inflicting the corporate to shrink from its place as a transparent chief within the smartphone market to 1 that may barely create 5G telephones on the market in the present day.
If any fingers could be pointed and blame assigned, it is to governments who’re too busy taking part in politics as an alternative of worrying concerning the precise security and privateness of their very own individuals.
The U.S. authorities hardly batted an eye fixed when U.S.-run Fb and Google have been accused of spying on customers and accumulating an excessive amount of knowledge however went for the throat in an try and bury TikTok the second they discovered about similar consumer knowledge assortment strategies.
The Pico/ByteDance challenge reeks of the identical political nonsense that despatched Huawei to the grave.
However the largest drawback right here is that ByteDance absorbed Pico’s software program division, which ensures the corporate will not be launching any headsets within the U.S. for the foreseeable future.
If the U.S. authorities already does not belief a telephone app from ByteDance, there’s little to no likelihood it’s going to settle for a VR headset run by software program constructed by the corporate. Particularly given the variety of cameras on a VR headset.
That tells me that ByteDance has absolutely accepted its destiny as the subsequent Huawei of the tech world and is consolidating as a lot as potential because it not wants to cover behind Pico as a separate firm. Pico is now ByteDance by means of and thru.
ByteDance and Pico might have pulled an Honor and utterly shed the ByteDance title and monetary associations with the intention to pull off a correct international launch, and, fairly actually, I don’t know why they did not go this route. Now that we’re listening to a Meta Quest 3 Lite could launch in China, issues are getting in the exact opposite route I anticipated only a yr in the past.
And that brings me full circle. With Pico firmly out of the image within the U.S., will we ever see any main competitors for the Meta Quest 3 within the headset’s lifetime? Sadly, I do not suppose so. And that’s, finally, unhealthy for everybody.
