Meta pushes Google to bring the Play Store to Quest’s ‘Horizon OS’ ahead of expansion

Ben Schoon | Apr 22 2024 - 9:40 am PT

In the world of virtual and mixed reality, Meta’s Quest series has been among the most popular, and a big part of that comes down to the well-built and well-supported software. Today, Meta has announced that it will let other headset makers use the same software found on Quest, “Horizon OS,” on their own hardware.

Meta’s Horizon OS is built on top of Android, but optimized for the world of VR and mixed reality. As Meta says, it’s turned into “a full mixed reality operating system.” That relies pretty heavily on Meta’s store, which houses many apps and games for Quest headsets.

In the not-too-distant future, the experience of using a Quest will be expanding to more headsets.

Meta has confirmed partnerships with two big brands. Asus ROG will use Horizon OS to build a new “performance gaming” VR headset, while Lenovo will be using the platform for “mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment.”

Meta itself is also working on a new gaming-focused Quest headset which will be “inspired by Xbox” following the Quest’s support for Xbox Cloud Gaming which debuted last year.

On the software side, Meta has also announced that its store will soon feature content from “App Lab,” which is currently difficult to access. “App Lab” allows developers to more quickly get their apps up and running on Quest before they make a formal debut in the store. Meta adds that developers will also be getting access to a “new spatial app framework” for improving mixed reality apps.

Meta has also directly called on Google to bring the Play Store to Quest, saying:

Because we don’t restrict users to titles from our own app store, there are multiple ways to access great content on Meta Horizon OS, including popular gaming services like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or through Steam Link or our Air Link system for wirelessly streaming PC software to headsets. And we encourage the Google Play 2D app store to come to Meta Horizon OS, where it can operate with the same economic model it does on other platforms.

It’s been discussed before that Meta asked for Google to bring the Play Store to Quest, and it was further reported earlier this year that Google offered to partner with Meta on Android XR. Meta turned down the offer, though, but Google was said to still be open to it.

Should Google bring the Play Store to Horizon OS, Meta says Google would be able to operate it on the “same economic model” as it does on Android. In theory, that could actually represent a better payout for developers compared to what’s been reported for Meta’s store, but Meta does specifically say “2D app store,” implying VR/XR apps wouldn’t be in the Play Store on Horizon OS.