Meta has entered into what it’s calling a new era with its virtual reality ecosystem. The company announced today that it starts with a rebrand of the Quest operating system to Meta Horizon OS, but perhaps bigger news is that Meta is opening its VR OS ecosystem to third-party hardware developers. It has already struck partnerships with Xbox, Lenovo, and Asus to develop new HMDs that will utilize the Meta Horizon OS.

Meta announced its rebrand and third-party opening of its VR operating system in a press release on the Meta website. As of today, the ecosystem OS that powers Quest HMDs is being rebranded to Meta Horizon OS, as outlined in the statement below:

Meta went on to share that it is also beginning to offer the Meta Horizon OS as the basis of new hardware by third-party developers. With this new effort, Meta is getting together with prospective partners to create new hardware that will utilize the Meta Horizon OS in new virtual reality and augmented reality HMDs. It even has a few partnered with a few groups already. Asus is developing a new VR headset with the Meta Horizon OS, Lenovo is working on an AR product, and Xbox has previously partnered with Meta to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to the Quest, but now they are collaborating on designing a new limited edition of the Meta Quest inspired by Xbox.

It’s an interesting move by Meta and looks like it will expand the company’s VR aspirations well beyond its own hardware. As we wait to see the fruits of this “new era,” stay tuned for more updates here at Shacknews.