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Microsoft Is Bringing Xbox Cloud Gaming to Meta's Quest Headset

The tech giants say they're working together to make Meta's Quest headsets run popular apps and games from the PC world.

Ian Sherr Contributor and Former Editor at Large / News
Ian Sherr (he/him/his) grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, so he's always had a connection to the tech world. As an editor at large at CNET, he wrote about Apple, Microsoft, VR, video games and internet troubles. Aside from writing, he tinkers with tech at home, is a longtime fencer -- the kind with swords -- and began woodworking during the pandemic.
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Microsoft's Xbox and games

Microsoft is bringing its popular Xbox Cloud Gaming service to VR.

 Microsoft

Meta and Microsoft are bringing the Xbox Cloud Gaming service to virtual reality, the companies said Tuesday, letting players stream hit games into Quest headsets.

Meta and Microsoft didn't say when the $15 per month streaming service and its more than 200 games will be made available for the Quest, other than to say "it's early days."

"You'll be able to play 2D games with your Xbox controller projected on a massive screen on Quest," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a livestream of the company's Meta Connect presentation Tuesday.

Though the two companies didn't offer many details, the move is part of a larger effort to bring Microsoft's most popular apps, including its Office productivity software and Teams meetings service, to virtual reality.

Meta is leaning on business apps as a hopeful next stage for the VR world. During its presentations, the company announced new and expanded partnerships with the makers of key business apps, including meeting service Zoom, creative-software maker Adobe and, of course, Microsoft. 

"You'll have a new way to securely stream the entire Windows experience, including all the personalized apps, content and settings to your VR device with the full power of Windows and Windows applications," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during Meta's presentation. "You can connect, share, collaborate as though you were together in person."