Since it keeps coming up, I should mention the recent single source rumor that Roblox is coming to Meta Quest this year. This one:
Editor Alex Heath launched The Verge’s Command Line paid subscription newsletter last week with a mention of “hearing that Roblox is planning to come to Quest in the back half of this year.” That timing could line up with release of Quest 3 and what’s expected to be a major jump in on-board graphics power, though there’s no indications either way precisely which Quest headsets could see support for Roblox.
That’s certainly possible. And from writing my book, my impression is yes, Roblox is working on some kind of VR support in the future. But that doesn’t necessarily mean this year, and I see more signs that that won’t happen in 2023, at least not in some mass market launch:
For one, checking Roblox’s job board today, I don’t see a single mention of “VR”. But a holiday 2023 launch would require a pretty significant team to handle Quest support, which the company would need to be building out now.
For another, Roblox is focused on mass market, cross-platform experiences. So why would they devote resources to serving a Quest 2 install base of about 20 million? (Versus the billions on smartphones and the hundreds of millions on consoles and PCs.) A costly move like that would benefit Meta and its floundering VR line far more than it would Roblox.
In the likeliest scenario where Roblox comes to the Quest this year, it’ll be an early beta soft launch sort of an affair, a testing of the waters. If there’s surprising uptake, they can expand on that organic growth. If no uptake, they can step back and declare it a failed experiment. (At least that’s what I’d advise.)
Just my take at the moment. I definitely wouldn’t assume it’s a fait accompli like my brother in Christ below.
Video link hat tip: Adeon!
Wagner James Au / New World Notes 
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