Around the aforesaid clip Meta hiked up the terms connected its Quest 2 headsets, it besides announced that it’s ending Quest 1 enactment for Population One, a fashionable battle-royale shooter acceptable successful virtual reality. BigBox VR, the Meta-owned developer down the game, shared the update successful a station connected its blog, noting that Quest 1 owners volition nary longer beryllium capable to motorboat oregon play the crippled starting October 31st, 2022.

BigBox VR says the shutdown is indispensable truthful it tin absorption connected processing caller experiences “that volition propulsion the boundaries of multiplayer VR.” Quest 1 players tin inactive technically play the crippled if they person a VR-ready PC, however. The crippled supports cross-buy, which makes the PC mentation disposable via Air Link and Oculus Link. This should fto users play Population: One by connecting their Quest 1 headset to their machine (whether wirelessly oregon with a wired connection). Players utilizing the Quest 2, Oculus Rift, and Oculus Rift S volition inactive person entree to the game.

While Meta’s offering Quest 1 owners a refund for Population: One, there’s a catch: you had to person purchased the crippled from the Quest Store wrong the past six months. The argumentation seems benignant of unfair for a crippled that launched connected the Quest astir 2 years agone and volition apt permission a fig of players with a crippled that they can’t adjacent play (unless, of course, they upgrade to the now-$399 Quest 2 oregon usage Air / Oculus Link, which requires a pricey VR-ready PC).

Population: One’s shutdown besides raises the question of whether different developers volition soon ax enactment for the three-year-old Quest 1. Meta spokesperson Caiti Sullivan said successful a connection to The Verge that the company’s presently “working retired the details of an ecosystem-wide end-of-support process,” and that “other developers who take to extremity enactment for apps connected Quest 1 volition beryllium capable to bash so.” Meta declined to remark further erstwhile asked whether immoderate different games volition extremity Quest 1 enactment successful the adjacent future.

I cognize that games can’t enactment each older strategy forever, but doling retired a terms increase, on with an announcement that volition soon permission Quest 1 owners with 1 little crippled to play, is similar a treble punch to the gut. As my workfellow Jay Peters points out, Meta could beryllium raising the terms of the Quest 2, and possibly adjacent pushing users towards it, to stem the the losses its virtual world limb reported successful some the first and second quarter of 2022.

Update August 7th, 2:27PM ET: Updated to adhd that Population: One supports cross-buy.