Meta Considers Free-to-Play Model Amidst Surge of New Quest Users

Meta’s journey into the metaverse is moving at a swift pace, particularly as younger audiences and mainstream users are reshaping the Quest platform throughout 2024. Samantha Ryan, the Vice President of Metaverse Content, suggests that this shift might lead to an upswing in free-to-play offerings.

Ryan’s latest insights, shared in a developer blog post, reveal some interesting changes in user behavior over the past year, largely due to an influx of new users to the Quest ecosystem. “In 2024, we saw a rise in device sales compared to the previous year. People not only spent more time using the Quest 3S devices than any other headset at launch, but they also increased their spending on the platform,” Ryan explains. Payment volume on the Quest platform increased by 12% last year, primarily fueled by a surge in in-app purchases.

Free-to-play games thrive on these in-app purchases. A prime example is Another Axiom’s hit VR game Gorilla Tag, which raked in over $100 million in gross revenue last summer, mainly from in-game cosmetic sales.

Ryan notes, “We’re crafting a social-first platform, and these younger users are more inclined to connect with friends in multiplayer games and social apps. They’re driving the popularity of free-to-play titles, a trend already seen on other platforms. There’s also a noticeable increase in younger users engaging with Horizon Worlds.”

Adding to this, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth emphasized the importance of their cross-platform strategy, pointing out in a leaked memo that their mobile version of Horizon Worlds is crucial for the company’s future ambitions.

Ryan foresees free-to-play (F2P) becoming a feasible strategy for developers, who have so far depended chiefly on premium apps. “We believe F2P and premium apps will coexist rather than one replacing the other,” she says. Yet, the core group of VR enthusiasts, who demand high-quality content, remains a cornerstone of the growing ecosystem. Many existing Quest owners are propelling device sales by upgrading, with 27% of Quest 3 and 20% of Quest 3S users attributed to these upgrades this year.

However, Ryan observes that most new device users in 2024 are entirely new to Quest, signaling a shift from the traditional VR enthusiast profile. “The familiar traits of VR enthusiasts no longer define the entire Quest user base,” she notes.

Turning to the realm of conventional media and entertainment, Ryan mentions that 2D apps and browsers have not historically engaged Quest users at high rates, although usage has been on the rise with improvements in OS features such as multitasking and immersive audio. In 2024, the average user spent 10% more time per month in media apps, and there was a 21% boost in people using the headset’s default browser.

Meta is approaching a critical juncture with Quest, as it seeks to cater to both the high expectations of early adopters of premium content and the burgeoning influence of social-driven free-to-play experiences on revenue. It remains to be seen how much Meta will lean on in-app purchases to sustain its developer community, which might promote designs focused on high engagement. The real challenge for Meta is to harness this growth effectively without sidelining any user group.