Meta Explores Free-to-Play Model Amid Surge of New Quest Users

Meta’s foray into the metaverse is rapidly advancing, with younger demographics and average consumers significantly influencing the Quest platform throughout 2024. Samantha Ryan, VP of Metaverse Content, suggests that this transformation could lead to a surge in free-to-play content.

Ryan recently shared insights in a developer blog, underlining key changes in user behavior from the past year. These shifts are largely due to the influx of newcomers embracing Quest for the first time.

“Sales of our devices climbed in 2024 compared to the previous year,” Ryan points out. “People are also spending more time on average with Quest 3S devices than any other headset at launch. Moreover, there’s been an uptick in spending across Quest devices, with total payment volumes rising 12% last year, spurred by a considerable increase in in-app purchases.”

The lifeline of free-to-play games is those in-app purchases. A prime example is Gorilla Tag by Another Axiom, which raked in over $100 million in gross revenue last summer, mainly from in-game cosmetics.

“We aim to create a platform centered around social interactions,” Ryan adds. “These younger users are inclined to spend more time with friends through multiplayer games and social hangout apps, contributing to the growing popularity of free-to-play titles—that’s a trend we’ve seen historically on other platforms. We’re also observing a rise in young users flocking to Horizon Worlds.”

Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, emphasized the emphasis on their cross-compatible social platform in a recently uncovered memo. He noted that the mobile version of Horizon Worlds “absolutely has to break out for our long-term plans to have a chance.”

Ryan believes that free-to-play (F2P) could soon become a widely viable strategy for developers, who have mostly focused on premium apps until now. However, she insists that F2P won’t replace premium apps, and that both models are likely to coexist.

Nevertheless, Quest’s community of VR enthusiasts, who often favor high-quality premium content, “remains a cornerstone of our expanding ecosystem.” Existing Quest owners have spurred “a wave of device sales by upgrading from earlier models, comprising 27% and 20% of Quest 3 and Quest 3S users for the year, respectively.”

Interestingly, most of the new device adopters in 2024 were not previous enthusiasts upgrading, but individuals entirely new to Quest. Ryan explains that “the familiar characteristics associated with VR enthusiasts no longer define the entire Quest user base.”

Regarding the consumption of traditional media and entertainment, Ryan notes that although 2D apps and browsers haven’t typically attracted high engagement on Quest devices, their use has increased in recent years.

“Our ongoing system enhancements, like multitasking, theater mode, and immersive audio, are crafted to support this expanding customer segment,” Ryan shares. She reports that in 2024, there was a 10% increase in the overall time users spent per month in media apps, along with a 21% rise in the use of the headset’s default Internet browser.

Meta is approaching a crucial juncture as it strives to satisfy both premium content expectations from early adopters and the growing financial implications of social-centric, free-to-play content. Still, there’s uncertainty about how heavily Meta will lean on in-app spending to balance its developer ecosystem, possibly driving a focus on shallow, engagement-boosting designs. The real challenge ahead lies in managing that growth without alienating either side of the user spectrum.