Oculus Quest 2 preorders 'outpaced the original Quest by more than five times'

Oculus Quest 2 VR headset preorders were reportedly five times that of the original Quest, according to Facebook. During the company's Q3 earnings call (via UploadVR), CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the popularity of the company's latest virtual reality standalone device.

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"We launched Quest 2," Zuckerberg says during the call (via Seeking Alpha), "our most advanced virtual reality headset, right in time for the holidays. It delivers a real sense of presence, like you’re right there with another person or in another place, and we’ve worked to make it accessible to more people.

"It’s lighter, faster, has a sharper screen, and a new price point of just $300. Preorders have outpaced the original Quest preorders by more than 5x and have surpassed our expectations."

The Quest 2 headset hasn't been without some controversy, however. Shortly before its release, Facebook announced it would be requiring a Facebook account to login to the Oculus service and access the device. The decision means that, for those who have kept Facebook at arm's length, the Quest 2 is no longer an option.

Researchers are already working on bypassing the login, and some have already managed to do just that.

Despite the impact that may have had on sales of the standalone VR headset, Facebook has said the headset is selling "beyond what we expected." The headset sits at $299 (for the 64GB model) and that puts it far cheaper than competing options, many of which require a fairly powerful gaming PC in order to run.

Still, we love those tethered headsets just as much, and you can find out recommendations for the best VR headsets and why in our guide.

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog, before graduating into breaking things professionally at PCGamesN. Now he's managing editor of the hardware team at PC Gamer, and you'll usually find him testing the latest components or building a gaming PC.