Meta Quest 3 Might Have Sold at Least 1 Million Units as Evident With 'First Encounters' Participants

The Quest 3 mixed reality headset from Meta has been a hot pick for over one million users completing its introductory experience, First Encounters.

This immersive feature, exclusive to Quest 3, showcases the device's advanced 3D scene mesh capabilities, setting it apart from previous Meta headsets.

With this number of participants in First Encounters, it's safe to say that Meta has sold one million units of Quest 3.

What is First Encounters?

First Encounters is an interactive tutorial that activates shortly after setting up a Quest 3. The experience begins with a craft crashing through your ceiling and landing on a table or the floor, leveraging the Quest 3's ability to generate a 3D mesh of your environment.

Players then engage in a thrilling game, shooting waves of invading creatures until a timer runs out. Scores are determined by the number of creatures shot and are logged in Quest's leaderboard system.

Tracking Participation in First Encounters

As spotted by UploadVR, VR enthusiast Daven Bigelow has been closely monitoring the leaderboard for First Encounters.

Based on his discovery, the Meta Quest smartphone app reveals the number of "participants," indicating how many users have completed the introduction. The headline figure of 1 million completions is considered conservative, as it excludes those who may have skipped the experience or set their profiles to private.

Quest 3 vs. Quest 2 Sales Performance

Despite the impressive engagement with First Encounters, Quest 3's sales have not yet matched the success of its predecessor, Quest 2.

In a March 2023 Meta roadmap meeting, Meta's VP of VR, Mark Rabkin, announced that nearly 20 million Quest headsets had been sold. Three months later, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that "tens of millions of Quests" had been sold, with Quest 2 accounting for the majority of these sales.

The slower sales pace of Quest 3 is not unexpected. Quest 2 launched at $100 cheaper than its predecessor and was immediately taken off the market, leading to rapid adoption.

In contrast, Quest 3 launched at $500, $200 more expensive than Quest 2, which continues to be sold at a lower price. Since March, Quest 2 has been available for $200, while Quest 3 remains at $500. Consequently, Quest 2 has consistently outsold Quest 3 on platforms like Amazon, and VR developers report that most new users are still opting for Quest 2.

Meta's Plan for a More Affordable Mixed Reality Headset

Meta appears to be addressing the affordability issue with plans to release a cheaper alternative to Quest 3. Over the past 16 months, there has been strong evidence supporting the development of a more cost-effective headset.

In March 2023, a leaked Meta roadmap referenced this cheaper device. Additionally, the Quest Store recently listed "Meta Quest 3S," a name associated with an earlier leak that purportedly showed the headset's design. Earlier this month, a headset resembling this design was spotted in a video posted by Meta's CTO.

Quest 3S For Budget Buyers

If the Quest 3S launches at an expected price of around $300, it could significantly boost the market for mixed reality. By maintaining the XR2 Gen 2 chipset and mixed reality capabilities, the Quest 3S would offer a powerful, affordable option that could outsell the Quest 3 and provide developers with more advanced tools than the Quest 2.

In other news, Android Central reports that some Quest 3 owners already accessed the new UI update.

For the next months, we can look forward to Meta Connect 2024 which will kick off from Sept. 25 to 26. Meanwhile, the new 'Just Dance' VR game will be launched in October.