- TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd is eyeing developers behind virtual-reality software for Meta Platforms Inc META to bring their apps to its fast-growing Pico headsets.
- ByteDance has offered some VR developers $15,000 - $25,000 per title, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- The rivals seek to entice software makers who can build apps and experiences to tap new users.
- Some developers expressed frustration with Meta vetting new software in the app store for its Quest headsets after facing extended delays in gaining approval for widespread distribution.
- Meta's lack of transparent vetting guidelines led some developers to seek newer avenues.
- Some VR developers are frustrated after being allowed to list their apps in Meta's App Lab rather than in the Quest Store, where there is far broader distribution.
- Ben Outram, the founder of Squingle Studios, whose app awaits Meta's acceptance to the Oculus Quest Store, lauded ByteDance's move.
- A Meta spokeswoman said that the Quest Store's application submission system evaluates apps on numerous factors, including performance, input, and safety, to create a quality, high-value experience for VR consumers.
- According to IDC, Quest headset shipments declined by over 90% in the fourth quarter of 2022, year-on-year. ByteDance increased shipments of its Pico headsets by 110%, IDC estimated.
- ByteDance shipped 290,000 headsets in the year's final quarter, just shy of Meta's 310,000. In March, Meta reduced the price of one of the Quest 2 headsets by $70.
- To compete with Meta, ByteDance recognized the need for significant resources and subsidized manufacturing costs, according to Lazius Kaye, a former Pico employee. ByteDance's Pico 4 headset, available in Europe and Asia, retails for about $470. The Quest 2 headset with the same storage costs $400.
- ByteDance also trailed behind Meta with fewer game titles, inferior hand-tracking technology, and a less developed overall ecosystem, as per Kaye.
- Kevin Puryer, director of Sandford Tech, which develops the VR puzzle game "Color Connect," launched "Color Connect" for ByteDance's Pico device in December, and in just over one month, it saw more paid downloads on Pico than the entire time it has been on Meta's App Lab.
- Price Action: META shares traded higher by 2.18% at $218.68 on the last check Thursday.
- Photo via Wikimedia Commons
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