How many Quest 3S games will have graphical enhancements over the Quest 2?
As of fall 2024, there are nearly 100 Meta Quest 2 games we know of with specific Quest 3 and 3S patches for improved performance and graphics, and the total number could be higher. Plus, there are dozens of Quest 3S games with mixed-reality modes that look much worse with Quest 2 passthrough.
With the Meta Quest 3S, your games library will have faster loading times by default. However, some developers patch their games to fully exploit the extra power for higher refresh rates, new textures, better lighting and shadows, and other visual upgrades that the Quest 2 couldn't handle.
Meta confirmed in its Connect 2024 blog post that any "games ... that received Quest 3-specific performance updates will also work day one on Quest 3S, which means you’ll benefit from the same upgraded visuals and faster load times."
We also spoke with Meta VP Mark Rabkin at Meta Connect 2024 about this, and he confirmed that there is "100% compatibility between the 3S and the 3" in terms of game performance.
What Meta Quest 3S game enhancements can you expect?
By default, the Meta Quest 3S has better GPU performance than the Quest 2 thanks to its Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip. But otherwise, Quest 3S games will still look and run like Quest 2 games unless developers patch them to take greater advantage of the new hardware.
In the Quest 3 graphical showcases above and below, you can see how Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 and Red Matter 2 look dramatically better on the Quest 3 because of Quest 3-specific patches.
In Walking Dead, Skydance could only add a few zombies on screen at a time with the Quest 2, but can fit entire hordes onto the Quest 3 version, making it more challenging. Walls and buildings have much more detail, outdoor environments lose the obscuring fog and look more vibrant, and NPCs appear more real. This will also apply to the Quest 3S.
With Red Matter 2, developer Vertical Robot specifically pointed out how the Quest 3 patch added increased rendering resolution and 4K textures with 16X the pixel count in the environment, as well as dynamic shadows and high-quality shadow filtering.
There's no universal list of Quest 3S enhancements because developers use the extra power however they choose. But the most common enhancements are higher refresh rates, more detail at further distances, and better textures, shading, and reflections.
These updates originally targeted the Quest 3 and offered resolution boosts. The Meta Quest 3S can't take advantage of this because it loses to the Quest 3 for display resolution, FoV, and clarity. However, all of the other Quest 3 graphical and performance enhancements apply to the Quest 3S by default.
How many games with Meta Quest 3S enhancements will there be?
Unfortunately, Meta doesn't have a specific Quest Store category for every Quest 3 game with enhancements that we could find. But it does have a mixed-reality games section that includes over 60 titles as of September 2024; some of these may technically work on Quest 2 with its black-and-white, 4 pixels-per-degree passthrough, but they look significantly better with full-color, 18 PPD passthrough.
Mixed reality aside, this unofficial spreadsheet from Redditor FrancoisFromFrance has a list of about 90 Quest 2 games that received Meta Quest 3 patches, and the total number may be higher. It should give you a general idea of which of the best Meta Quest games will immediately look next-gen on Meta Quest 3S.
As for upcoming Quest games, most developers launch with a universal Quest version and then add a Quest 3 patch as a post-launch add-on. That's why we expect the total number of Quest 3S enhancements to balloon even higher now that Meta has two headsets with next-gen CPUs and no longer sells the Quest 2.
What about Meta Quest 3S exclusives?
As we mentioned above, some mixed-reality Quest 3 games technically work on Quest 2, but not especially well. Others are VR games with mixed-reality modes that only work on the Quest 3. And a few MR games like Laser Dance, Hello Dot, Living Room, and Starship Home will be Meta Quest 3S and 3 exclusives because full-color passthrough is essential to gameplay.
We expect most mixed-reality games in 2025 and beyond will be Quest 3S exclusives, while VR games with MR modes will still work on both headsets.
A second, much smaller category is AAA games that only work on the Quest 3 and 3S because the Quest 2 can't handle the graphics. So far, that only applies to Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded, which has received middling reviews and still seems to struggle on newer hardware.
Two future games — Alien: Rogue Incursion and Batman: Arkham Shadow — are the only other Quest 3S exclusives we know of, though that list will likely grow over time. Of these, we tried out Batman: Arkham Shadow for ourselves and were blown away by its polish and scope.
If you want more information on the Meta Quest 3S hardware and whether you want to upgrade from the Quest 2, check out our Meta Quest 3S hands-on from the Connect event!
Next-generation VR & MR gaming
The Meta Quest 3S has the same CPU, 8GB of RAM, full-color passthrough, weight, and accessories as the Quest 3 while costing $200 less. It gives you access to the same Quest game enhancements and exclusives, though not the same resolution.
