FILE PHOTO: Morning commute traffic streams past the Meta sign outside the headquarters of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc in Mountain View, California, U.S. November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Peter DaSilva/File Photo
(Reuters) - Meta Platforms on Monday launched Meta Quest+, a subscription-based service for its virtual reality (VR) headsets to shape a nascent but high-investment market.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, in a broadcast channel on social media app Instagram, said the Meta Quest+ subscription will be available from Monday at $7.99 per month, or $59.99 annually, for its Quest 2, Pro and soon for Quest 3.
Apple has entered the market dominated by Meta, showcasing its $3,499 augmented reality headset called the Vision Pro. Still, Apple's headset is three times the cost of the priciest headset from Meta.
Meta in March had cut the prices of its headsets as its bold bets on the metaverse failed to make a big splash.
The social media company's flagship VR headset Meta Quest Pro is currently priced at $999.99, down from its launch price of $1,499.99, and Quest 2 is being sold for $299.99, according to Meta's website.
Termed as the next big thing, the adoption of virtual reality headsets has been limited to the gaming community despite the devices now having more advanced features.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
