What you need to know
- Some stores have listed the Oculus Quest as 'end of life' and won't be getting new shipments.
- Facebook hasn't made any official announcements on the original Quest's availability yet.
- The Oculus Quest 2 is rumored to be announced at Facebook Connect on September 16.
Over the weekend, several reports came out that Facebook had begun to discontinue the original Oculus Quest. That would mean that retailers who have the Oculus Quest listed as end of life or discontinued would not be receiving any future shipments of the Oculus Quest at all. Specifically Overclockers UK and B&H Photo had their Oculus Quest listing marked discontinued, but B&H Photo has since updated their status as backordered, instead.
We've asked Facebook for an official comment on the matter and whether or not the Oculus Quest is, in fact, being discontinued and will update the article when we receive that information. Until then, however, we can speculate on what a discontinued Oculus Quest might mean for the industry and the Oculus Quest as a product line. For the last several months, the Oculus Quest 2 has been leaked quite a few times, including within Facebook's own Oculus app.
Many of the leaks and rumors have been pointing toward a September 16 release date, which is the exact same day as the upcoming Facebook Connect conference, which was previously known as Oculus Connect. If Facebook is announcing the Oculus Quest 2 at Facebook Connect, it would make sense for them to start phasing out Oculus Quest stock at retailers in order to make room for the Quest 2.
While the name Oculus Quest 2 hasn't been confirmed or revealed just yet, leaks tell us that it's going to feature a new design with several comfort enhancements over the original Oculus Quest. Most leaks point toward a headset with a codename of Del Mar, but one recent potential leak from Walmart also talks about another headset that goes by the codename of Point Reyes. Either way, these two codenames fit in with the naming scheme Oculus has historically used for its headsets and could point to an Oculus Quest 2 and an Oculus Quest S being revealed at the same time.
A joy to use
The Oculus Quest has always been hard to get, and for good reason. It's a joy to use and play, with a natural interface and nothing to configure.
