Last week we reported that Oculus Quest 2’s 120Hz support was aiming for a release later this month. Now we know that won’t happen.
Facebook’s official Quest Platform Roadmap (which is only available to users with a developer account) has been updated, moving 120Hz support from a planned release in March to a point in the Q2 2021 window. The “Trust” list for the feature has also been moved from “Medium” to “Low”, which could well mean that the team is expecting support to continue beyond this time.
No reason was given for the delay. Providing a refresh rate of 120 Hz in mobile VR experiences is undoubtedly a challenge. Quest 2 originally touted the ability of developers to run games at 90 Hz, but not all titles have made this transition. Last week, Facebook’s John Carmack noted that “few” existing games would be able to add the feature that will appear as an experimental element first.
Higher refresh rates make VR experiences appear smoother and more realistic, with 90 Hz generally considered as the basis. But of course, faster rates also place higher demands on the hardware. 120Hz is a tough target even on PCs, and the only way the PSVR headset can achieve it is by re-projecting games that are actually running at 60Hz. So we’d expect to only see services like the Oculus Browser, and maybe a few simple experiences hit that high bar on Quest 2.
What games and experiences will we hopefully see at 120 Hz on Quest 2? Let us know in the comments below!
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