The Pico Neo 3 is launching with a software line-up that could have made it a genuine contender for the Oculus Quest. Sadly, the device isn’t coming to the west.
Earlier this week Pico hosted a conference to announce the launch of the Neo 3 along with two enterprise-level devices that will be coming to North America and Europe. The company also revealed an encouraging line-up of games for the consumer iteration.
Images from the event confirm that popular titles like Superhot VR, Apex Construct, Red Matter, Eleven Table Tennis, Synth Riders and Contractors are all coming to the device. Meanwhile, over on Twitter, the company’s banner image also suggests games like Tsuro and Fujii will hit the platform. The line-up builds on the momentum the company started with the Neo 2 Lite, which also featured Superhot.
All of these titles also appear on Facebook’s Oculus Quest and Quest 2. The Neo 3 is actually a very similar device, packing the same Qualcomm XR2 chip and even redesigned controllers that look quite similar to the Oculus Touch controllers.
Unsurprisingly, the headset’s missing Facebook-owned hits like Beat Saber, Echo VR and Onward (which came under the Facebook umbrella just a few weeks ago).
It is encouraging to see others launch standalone VR ecosystems with quality content, even if the Neo 3 won’t be launching in the US and Europe. There’s a lot of talk about which company might be able to offer competition in the standalone space right now – HTC yesterday announced another enterprise-only standalone, the Vive Focus 3, while Sony’s new VR headset will be linked to the PS5 console. Rumors persist about Apple VR, which might challenge Facebook’s position from 2022.
