Oculus Quest to support Rift games and hand tracking

Facebook used Wednesday’s Oculus Connect developer conference to announce several major updates for Oculus Quest, the standalone virtual reality system that runs without a gaming PC.

Beginning in November, Quest users will be able to access content and experiences designed for the PC-based Oculus Rift headsets by connecting Quest to a gaming PC via a USB cable and running the new Oculus Link software.

“Your Quest is basically a Rift now too,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the event, according to Variety.

Facebook is also introducing hand tracking for Oculus Quest, “enabling natural interaction in VR using your own hands on an all-in-one standalone device” with no extra hardware required. A beta version of Quest hand tracking will be available in early 2020.

Additionally, Facebook said it’s building a social VR world called Horizon, where users will be able to meet other people and create their own spaces. It will launch with a closed beta in early 2020 too.

Zuckerberg reiterated that Facebook has been selling Quest VR headsets as fast as it can make them and said users have spent over $100 million on content in the Oculus store to date, with app/game sales accounting for over 20% of the total.

“This is going to be the next computing platform, and it’s only going to get more exciting from here,” he said.

It was also announced on Wednesday that Respawn is developing Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond exclusively for Oculus Rift.