Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth, VP of Facebook Reality Labs, says the company’s recently tested alternative to distributing apps on Oculus Quest is coming “much sooner than expected.”
Speaking to The Verge, Bosworth noted that he was “very excited” about the new direction and that “the status in it is coming much sooner than people think”. However, he did not reveal any new details about this distribution method and what it could mean.
Facebook first tested the distribution of non-store apps for Quest in June last year. At the time, the company said this method would “provide a new way to distribute your work across the Quest ecosystem so that you can share your apps with anyone with a Quest without getting added to the Oculus Store and with no sideloading.”
Currently, the only official way to access apps on Quest is through the Oculus Store, and Facebook operates a tight curation system that sets a high-quality bar for publishing. For example, Quest doesn’t allow Early Access versions (apart from a few exceptions like Onward, although those games aren’t marked as Early Access in the store itself). The guideline has proven controversial as many VR developers have rejected their apps from the store. At the same time, many developers report strong sales with Quest with apps that exceed the bar.
However, developers can still share Quest through the sideload, so users will have to sign in through Quest’s settings. Over the past few years, the SideQuest platform has become the main sideloading destination for Quest content, even selling some full games that were rejected by the official store, such as: B. To the top.
Whatever Facebook’s new approach, it may not be as readily available as the Oculus Store itself. The June message also stated, “Although we expect many developers to want to share their apps as widely as possible, we also see this new channel as an opportunity to test applications at an early stage and distribute them to specific users. “
Are you looking forward to this alternative method of distribution for Quest? What do you hope to see from it? Let us know in the comments below!
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