Oculus is backing away from its standalone Oculus Go headset, saying in a blog post that it’ll instead focus its future efforts on headsets that support six degrees of freedom (6DOF) like its Oculus Quest or Oculus Rift.
The decision means Oculus won’t officially sell Go headsets anymore, and that it won’t allow developers to bring new Oculus Go apps, games, or updates to the Oculus Store after December 4, 2020. Things like bug fixes and security updates will continue for the platform until 2022, but Oculus says it won’t be shipping any additional feature updates for the Go in the future.
“As we look to the future, we’re grateful to the Oculus Go community for pushing the VR revolution forward,” writes the Oculus team. “Unique amongst a landscape of tethered and drop-in systems, Oculus Go pioneered the all-in-one category—a new kind of VR with more freedom and flexibility. And that was a game-changer. Oculus Go opened up VR to many more people, and it helped redefine immersive entertainment.”
“From live concerts and sporting events to couch co-op gameplay, corporate training, and beyond, Oculus Go made new experiences possible for people around the world, and it laid the groundwork for Oculus Quest.”
The Oculus Go, launched in 2018 for between $200 and $250, aimed to occupy a sort of middle ground between mobile-powered VR headsets and full PC-tethered VR experiences, though that space has since welcomed the slightly costlier but more feature-rich Oculus Quest.