• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

Meta has partnered with legacy gaming brand Xbox to design a limited-edition Quest headset bundle in a strategic move to promote the addition of Xbox Cloud Gaming to Meta’s Quest ecosystem. 

The bundle includes a Meta Quest 3S headset -- retailing for $399.99 -- packed in an Xbox-branded box with matching Touch Plus controllers, a limited edition Xbox controller, a head strap, a 3-month game pass to Xbox’s Ultimate membership, which provides players with access to hundreds of games for both console and PC, as well as early-releases and discounts.  

In a blog post, Meta describes the Quest as “an Xbox,” citing the launch of the Xbox app within the headset in 2023. The ability to play Xbox games on a Quest headset introduces a more immersive gaming format rooted in virtual reality. 

By bypassing the need for a full Xbox console, Meta is also selling a more portable travel-ready gaming culture. Through the Quest headset alone, players can experience games on a 26-foot virtual display. 

The Xbox Quest bundle also includes three months of Meta’s Horizon+ games subscription service as a way for the social media company to boost exposure around its homegrown Horizon games, which have had trouble sustaining user engagement.  

While Meta’s XR wearables, like Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, provide consumers with tools to help them navigate their everyday lives in a more immersive way, gaming remains a leading strategy for engagement surrounding Meta’s Quest product line. 

In Microsoft’s first-quarter earnings report for 2025, cloud services were a major revenue booster for the tech giant, with Xbox content and services rising 8% year-over-year. By pushing cloud gaming in the VR sector, Xbox could expand Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem while attracting a wider audience of players.