The Meta Horizon Store, known from 2013 to 2015 as Oculus Share, 2015 to 2022 as Oculus Store and from 2022 to 2024 as the Meta Quest Store, is the main video game and app store

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and othe ...

service and storefront developed by

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebook, Instag ...

for the

Meta Quest The Oculus Quest is a virtual reality (VR) headset developed by Oculus, a division of Meta, Inc., released on May 21, 2019. Similar to its predecessor, Oculus Go, it is a standalone device that can run games and software wirelessly under an ...

and its successors, as well as for

Meta Horizon OS Meta Horizon OS, previously known informally as Meta Quest Platform or Meta Quest OS, is an extended reality operating system for the Meta Quest line of devices released by Meta Platforms. Initially developed for the embedded operating system on ...

-based devices.

History

The beta version of the Oculus Share website was first announced on August 19, 2013, to allow users to self-publish, discover, download, and play games and experiences. In 2015, following Oculus VR's acquisition by Facebook, Oculus Share was shut down and revamped as the Oculus Store for the consumer-facing

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016. In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, a ...

, including pre-approvals, sales taxes and comfort ratings. In addition, the company announced an investment of $10 million into indie game developers to distribute their games in the store. In 2021, Facebook introduced "App Lab", a new section within the storefront allowing developers to upload and distribute apps without going through the formal review process. App Lab is designed primarily to support

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

models, and can support public and invite-based distribution. As a result of Facebook's corporate rebranding as Meta Platforms, CTO

Andrew Bosworth Andrew "Boz" Bosworth is an American business executive who has been Chief Technology Officer of Meta since 2022. After graduating from Harvard University in 2004, he worked as a developer on Microsoft Visio for almost two years, then joined Mark ...

announced that the Oculus brand would be phased out in 2022; all Facebook hardware products will be marketed under the Meta name, and Oculus Store would be renamed Quest Store. Likewise, immersive social platforms associated with Oculus will be brought under the Horizon brand (such as

Horizon Worlds ''Horizon Worlds'' (formerly ''Facebook Horizon'') is a free virtual reality, online video game with an integrated game creation system developed and published by Meta Platforms. On this multi-player virtual platform, players move and interact ...

). On April 22, 2024, the company announced that the Meta Quest Store was renamed as the Meta Horizon Store. In the same announcement, software platform would be rebranded as

and opened to third-party headset manufacturers (starting with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

, Asus and

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, business solutions, and related se ...

), the Meta Quest mobile companion app renamed as the Horizon mobile app, and a new spatial app framework was announced to assist mobile developers in porting their software to, or programming original apps for, Horizon OS. In addition, the company announced that App Lab would be phased out in two phases, first placing App Lab access inside of a tab in the Horizon Store instead of a separate URL, and later phasing out all references to App Lab and merging App Lab content into the Horizon Store while no longer rejecting submissions to the Store on the basis of taste or quality.

Controversies

In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of New York, Tennessee, and North Carolina began investigations into Meta's VR-related business practices, including third-party app distribution on the Oculus Store, over allegations of anti-competitive behaviors.

References

External links

* {{Package management systems Meta Quest-only software made by Meta Platforms Android (operating system) software Multiplayer video game services Software distribution platforms