XR Gamer Digest
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Meta's Thin VR Headset Leaks

Meta's Thin VR Headset Leaks

Cybercore Protocol in Early Access, AltspaceVR revived,

July 31, 2026

XR = eXtended Reality (everything VR, AR, MR)

📣 If you only read one thing today 📣

📈 Qualcomm is reportedly raising its chip prices by double digits from September 1, unable to absorb rising supplier costs any longer, in a move set to squeeze standalone headsets like Valve's still-unpriced Steam Frame.

📢 Because the Snapdragon line powers nearly every standalone device in XR, a hike at the chip level flows straight down the chain, raising the floor price on headsets and smart glasses across the board right as the market hoped hardware would get cheaper.

📈 This means the next headset or pair of glasses on your wishlist could cost more before it even ships - with Steam Frame the first likely casualty as Valve costs it against a pricier chip ahead of launch.

🥳 But there’s more:

🪐 Discovery: Rogue Planet was dated for August 6 on Quest 3, with a PC VR version also planned.

🎶 Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman has launched ARR Immersive on Apple Vision Pro.

🎮 A starter edition of Xbox Game Pass is now rolling into Meta Horizon+.

eXtend your gaming:

Welcome to XR Gamer Digest #111

XR Games

🛠️ Incuvo Games has confirmed a Quest 3 port of Creepy Jar's StarRupture, an open-world base-builder with combat and four-player co-op, though no release window was given.

🤖 Now live on Quest 3 and 3S, Roboquest arrives via Flat2VR alongside a long-awaited two-player co-op mode with full cross-play across SteamVR and PSVR2, priced at $30.

🔫 Rough around the edges yet built on genuinely satisfying breach-and-clear gunplay, Dark Matter Studios' squad tactical shooter Geronimo has entered Early Access on Steam with solo and up-to-six-player co-op.

⚔️ After a short Early Access run, physics-based co-op dungeon crawler One More Delve reached its 1.0 release on SteamVR and Quest, adding a fifth dungeon and flintlock pistols.

🪐 A story-driven sci-fi FPS set on the hostile frontier planet Rogax, Discovery: Rogue Planet was dated for August 6 on Quest 3, with a PC VR version also planned by developer Immersmind.

🏰 Scanning your room into a network of tactical corridors, mixed reality tower defense game Cybercore Protocol landed in Early Access on Quest, spanning 45 levels.

XR Entertainment

🎶 Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman has launched ARR Immersive on Apple Vision Pro, an app blending music, dance, and performance across 180- and 360-degree formats, including a first-ever 3D teaser for the film Ramayana.

👥 Shuttered by Microsoft back in 2023, the pioneering social VR platform AltspaceVR is being revived this fall by SideQuest, which has acquired the name and rehired original staffers to build a modern successor.

XR News

🤝 Eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica has acquired French XR startup Lynx in a full buyout of its IP and team, casting doubt over the fate of its still-unreleased R2 mixed reality headset.

📊 Driven by an expected smart glasses surge, global XR revenue is projected to climb from $28.8 billion in 2025 to $60.4 billion by 2030, with consumer spending set to overtake enterprise.

🏃 Grenoble-based ENGO Eyewear has raised €5.1 million from Ventech, ODYSSEE Venture, and Bpifrance to grow internationally and refine its lightweight AR sports glasses that beam live metrics into an athlete's view.

🎮 A starter edition of Xbox Game Pass is now rolling into Meta Horizon+, handing subscribers 10 monthly hours of cloud gaming across 50+ titles, with Touch-controller gamepad emulation arriving soon.

🕶️ At Samsung Unpacked in London, two fresh Gentle Monster and Warby Parker frame designs were teased, all four Android XR glasses now slated for a fall launch though prices and exact dates remain unknown.

💼 After years of delays, Immersed says its work-focused Visor headset is finally nearing production, even as component shortages push the standalone's floor price up from $500 to $700.

🍎 Apple's first smart glasses, codenamed N50, will reportedly debut at WWDC 2027 rather than late 2026, with a consumer release now expected only by the end of 2027 amid engineering and privacy hurdles.

📈 Because it can no longer absorb rising supplier costs, Qualcomm is reportedly hiking chip prices by double digits from September 1, a move likely to squeeze standalone headsets like Valve's still-unpriced Steam Frame.

👓 Meta's long-rumored thin-and-light, puck-tethered VR headset — codenamed Phoenix — has surfaced in a leaked setup video pulled from Quest firmware, hinting at an unveiling at Connect this September.

AI Games

🤖 Taiwan's Jorjin Technologies and enterprise mapping firm MultiSet AI have teamed up to fuse ultra-lightweight AR glasses with visual positioning and spatial maps, targeting hands-free indoor navigation, work guidance, and Physical AI workflows in GPS-denied facilities.

🕶️ With its version 127 update, Meta has swapped in the sharper Muse Spark AI model on the Ray-Ban Display glasses while adding voice-controlled Threads browsing, Instagram Instants sharing, and in-lens weather, stock, and calendar data.

Until next time, enjoy your other reality gaming!

Bobby Voicu