- Meta has reportedly ended all software updates to the Oculus Quest
- This sets the shelf-life for Quest headsets at just under six years, which suggests the Quest 2 would lose all support in 2026
- The Meta Quest 2 might last until 2028 based on Meta’s CTO’s comments
Meta looks to have put the final nail in the coffin of the original Oculus Quest VR headset – and it gives us some idea of the life expectancy for the company’s other current headsets.
Meta discontinued the original Oculus Quest, which was released in 2019, in 2020, stopped updating it with new features in February 2023, ended security updates in August 2024, and cut support for new apps on the system in April 2024. Now it’s being reported (via UploadVR) that the system can no longer receive updates for older games from developers either, effectively meaning the headset has reached the end of its life.
You can continue to use your Quest if you wish – though given the lack of security updates we’d recommend exercising caution if you do. More significantly, this reported development would put the official lifespan of the original Quest at six years, which in turn gives us an idea of how long Meta might continue to support its other Quest headsets for – and it might be bad news for Meta’s most popular VR hardware, the Quest 2.
That’s because if Meta follows a similar policy with the Meta Quest 2 we can expect that headset to receive software updates until mid/late 2026, then the Meta Quest 3 to be supported until 2029, and the Meta Quest 3S until 2030 – though Meta may choose to end support for the Quest 3 later or 3S earlier given that the headsets share the same chipset so it would be odd to end support for one and not the other.
There’s still hope for the Quest 2 yet
Meta has already taken the first steps towards sunsetting the Quest 2. The headset was officially discontinued in September last year – though it began disappearing from retail in July – and the first Meta Quest 3 exclusives have already arrived (titles such as Batman: Arkham Shadow) as software developers begin to abandon the Quest 2’s aging hardware. So a 2026 end-of-life date would certainly make sense; however, there’s potentially good news if you’re hoping to keep using your Quest 2 for a bit longer.
In a no-longer-available Instagram Story (which was shared to Reddit), Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said the Quest 2 would receive support for “three years from the last date of sale.” That would mean it should last until 2027, with its incredible popularity (it has reliably topped Steam VR headset usage charts for years) likely helping to extend its life a little beyond that off its older sibling.
What’s more, if Bosworth is just talking about Horizon OS security updates, and not app updates from developers, then following the timeline Meta took for the original Quest, your Meta Quest 2 could claw its way to eight years of support before it’s stuck in software stasis, which isn’t too shabby given the lifespan of other tech like your smartphone.
If the Quest 2 does indeed survive until 2028, by then we’ll hopefully have a Meta Quest 4S for Quest 2 holdouts to sink their teeth into as a new affordable VR headset alternative, but for exact details of Meta’s plans for its existing headsets, and future ones, we’ll need to wait for some official announcements.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
