Highlights:

  • According to BigBox VR, the shutdown is essential so that the company may concentrate on developing new experiences that will push the boundaries of multiplayer VR.
  • Although Meta is giving owners of Quest 1 a refund for Population: One, there is a catch: to qualify for the refund, you need to have bought the game through the Quest Store within the last half year.

Around the same time that Meta increased the price of its Quest 2 headsets, the company also announced that it was discontinuing support for its Quest 1 hardware in Population One, which is a popular battle-royale shooter game that takes place in a virtual reality setting. The Meta-owned developer behind the game, BigBox VR, revealed the updates in a blog. According to the post, owners of Quest 1 will no longer be allowed to launch or play the game after October 31, 2022.

According to BigBox VR, the shutdown is essential so that the company may concentrate on developing new experiences “that will push the boundaries of multiplayer VR.” However, if Quest 1 players still have a PC that is equipped with virtual reality, they can technically play the game. Also, since the game allows cross-buy, the PC version is available via Air Link and Oculus Link. Users should now be able to play Population: One on their computers by connecting their Quest 1 headsets (whether wirelessly or with a wired connection). Players utilizing the Quest 2, the Oculus Rift, or the Oculus Rift S will still be able to play the game.

Although Meta is giving owners of Quest 1 a refund for Population: One, there is a catch: To qualify for the refund, you need to have bought the game through the Quest Store in the last six months. The policy appears somewhat unfair for a game released on the Quest nearly two years ago. It will likely leave several players with a game they cannot even play (unless, of course, they upgrade to the now-USD 399 Quest 2 or use Air / Oculus Link, which requires an expensive VR-ready PC).

Population: One shutdown also raises the question of whether other developers will soon stop providing maintenance for Quest 1, which is now three years old. Caiti Sullivan, a spokesperson for Meta, stated that the company is “working out the details of an ecosystem-wide end-of-support process” at present. Sullivan also said that “other developers who choose to end support for apps on Quest 1 will be able to do so.” When asked whether any other games will stop supporting Quest 1 soon, Meta declined to comment further.