Xbox officially announces all-new hardware, available sooner than you’d think

Xbox has officially announced new hardware, and no, it’s not the ROG Xbox Ally which debuted during Summer Game Fest.

In fact, it’s a bit of a left-field release, which will see the company dipping their toes into virtual reality, which has long been a staple of PlayStation, rather than Xbox.

Much like the ROG Xbox Ally, though, Microsoft has tapped another manufacturer and publisher to work with on the VR headset, which is, essentially, a Meta Quest 3 with Xbox colours and branding on the hardware.

The Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition will arrive in black with green highlights, as you’d expect from Xbox, and it will be bundled with matching touch controllers as well as a limited edition Xbox controller.

Also in the box will be a three-month subscription to Meta Horizon+ and a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

It’s available to buy now for £379.99 either directly from Meta or exclusively through Argos and EE in the UK.

US players can buy the unit from BestBuy for $399.99, also available now.

Uniquely, Xbox is pushing into VR without actually having any VR games under their belts. Instead, they will be urging users to play their games using the cinema mode, projecting games onto a big screen within the headset.

With Xbox’s new ‘Play Anywhere’ motto, players will be able to pick up where they left off in a game across Quest 3S, PC, or Xbox, as well as cloud streaming on mobile.

It’s an odd move considering the company hasn’t ever shown an interest in VR in the past and Phil Spencer said in 2019 “nobody’s asking for VR”.

I can’t see this being something many Xbox fans will leap on, especially as there are no first-party Xbox games or spin-offs that will take advantage of the technology.