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Quest 3LaunchScaleVPSMeta

Quest 3 Launch: VPS at Consumer Scale

Quest 3 brings VPS to mainstream consumers - the largest deployment yet and what we learned.

Evyatar Bluzer
2 min read

Quest 3 launched with VPS enabled by default for MR experiences. Our largest deployment by far.

Launch Numbers

First week:

  • 500K+ devices activated
  • 2M+ VPS queries served
  • 50K+ unique locations attempted
  • 87% success rate in covered areas

Scale we've never seen before.

What Worked

Infrastructure scaling: Invested heavily in Q2-Q3. Handled launch load without incident.

On-device caching: Popular locations cached on device. 40% of queries served locally.

Developer readiness: Launch apps worked. First-party MR experiences performed well.

User experience: When VPS works, users don't notice it (which is good).

What Didn't

Coverage gaps: Many users in unmapped areas. "VPS not available" frustrating.

Outdoor sunlight: Still challenging. Accuracy drops in bright conditions.

Onboarding confusion: Users don't understand what VPS does or when it's working.

Power consumption: Higher than target in continuous MR mode.

User Feedback Themes

Positive:

  • "Content stays in place - feels like magic"
  • "Navigation actually works"
  • "Shared MR with friend was amazing"

Negative:

  • "Doesn't work at my house" (not mapped)
  • "Glitchy outside in the afternoon" (sunlight)
  • "Drains battery too fast"

Rapid Response

First month fixes:

  • Expanded coverage to top-requested areas
  • Improved sunlight robustness (server-side model update)
  • Better error messaging
  • Power optimization patch

Advantages of server-side components: can update without device update.

Scale Lessons

  1. Long tail is really long: The locations users want are incredibly diverse. Can't map everything.

  2. Good enough beats perfect: 80% accuracy everywhere beats 95% in limited areas.

  3. Failure UX matters as much as success: How VPS fails determines user perception.

  4. Self-service is essential: Can't manually map everywhere users want.

Looking Forward

Quest 3 establishes VPS as core infrastructure. Now the question is expansion:

  • More coverage (crowdsourced + partnerships)
  • Better indoor (still behind)
  • Glasses integration (next frontier)

Three years from concept to consumer scale. The foundation is set.

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