Meta Considers Free-to-Play Strategy Amid Shift in Quest Userbase with Influx of New Owners

Meta’s ambitions for its metaverse are evolving at a rapid pace. It seems that younger users and more mainstream consumers are significantly reshaping the Quest platform throughout 2024, as noted by Samantha Ryan, the Vice President of Metaverse Content. This shift might pave the way for a boom in free-to-play content.

In a recent developer blog post, Ryan shed light on some crucial trends in user behavior over the past year, with a distinct focus on new users diving into the Quest experience.

“Compared to last year, 2024 has seen a rise in device sales, and folks are spending more time on Quest 3S compared to any other headset at launch,” Ryan points out. “Not only that, we’re seeing an increase in spending across Quest devices with a 12% growth in total payment volume, largely thanks to a surge in-app purchases.”

Free-to-play games heavily lean on those in-app transactions, which is evident from the success of Another Axiom’s sensation, Gorilla Tag. This VR game raked in over $100 million last summer, mostly through in-game cosmetics.

“We’re committed to creating a platform centered around social interaction, and it’s the younger audience who’s eager to connect with friends through multiplayer and social hangout apps,” Ryan continues. “They’re driving the popularity of free-to-play titles—a trend that’s been a hallmark on other platforms. We’re also witnessing more younger users exploring Horizon Worlds.”

Highlighting the company’s plans, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth emphasized the emphasis on a cross-compatible social platform. A recently leaked memo shared his thoughts that the mobile version of Horizon Worlds must gain traction for long-term plans to succeed.

“We foresee that free-to-play (F2P) will become a viable approach for developers, who have mostly relied on premium apps up until now. Yet, we believe F2P won’t replace premium apps entirely; both models are likely to thrive together,” Ryan explains.

Nevertheless, Quest’s community of VR enthusiasts, who crave high-quality premium content, remains a crucial pillar of this burgeoning ecosystem. Existing Quest owners were pivotal in device sales growth as they upgraded from older models, making up 27% of Quest 3 and 20% of Quest 3S users over the year.

Still, according to Ryan, newcomers dominated the scene in 2024, rather than veteran upgraders. She states, “The typical traits of VR enthusiasts aren’t fully representative of the Quest user base anymore.”

When it comes to the consumption of traditional media and entertainment, Ryan points out that 2D apps and browsers haven’t historically seen much engagement on Quest devices, although they have been on the rise in recent times.

“Since the launch of Quest 3, the use of 2D apps has climbed. Our continuous OS enhancements, like multitasking, theater mode, and immersive audio, are geared towards accommodating this expanding group of users,” explains Ryan. In 2024, there was a 10% boost in the average time users spent per month on media apps, alongside a 21% increase in people using the default Internet browser on the headsets.

The latest trends hint at a critical point for Quest as Meta navigates the task of meeting early adopters’ appetite for premium content while the influence of free-to-play, socially driven experiences grows. What remains unclear is the extent to which Meta will depend on in-app purchasing to uphold its developer ecosystem, which could potentially promote a design strategy focused on engagement above all else. One thing’s for sure: Meta’s challenge is to manage this growth carefully, without alienating the diverse range of users across this spectrum.