Meta's new streaming hub makes your Quest headset a home cinema

Meta has announced a new home entertainment hub for its Meta Quest headsets, offering a range of streaming apps from household names, including Disney+, Prime Video, DAZN and Twitch. That means you'll be able to enjoy Alien: Earth and Gen V on your headset.

Meta has also teamed up with Universal Pictures and Blumhouse to give you access to movies "with immersive special effects you won't find anywhere else". This sounds very much like Apple's Vision Pro Disney movies.

The presence of streamers such as Peacock isn't new – they've been on Meta Quest in the US since 2023. But the Meta Horizon TV hub is a new home for them, and it's part of a home entertainment headset push.

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg says that he thinks video will be a big deal on VR headsets and smart glasses going forward.

What Horizon TV brings to your headset

The Horizon TV hub looks very much like the home screen of the Apple TV 4K or a smart TV – you've got the bulk of the window dedicated to promotions, such as The Boys on Prime Video, and then the icons for your various streaming apps down at the bottom.

There's a search button at the top right of the screen and then links to categories, such as Movies, TV Shows, Immersive, Sports, Music and Watchlist.

At the moment, the Horizon TV Hub has Dolby Atmos audio but not Dolby Vision, but that's coming too later this year.

We haven't seen the interface in action yet so we don't know whether what you see on screen will be picked solely from the streamers you subscribe to, or if it'll be used to promote services you don't currently pay for. Hopefully it's the former.

It's also unclear as yet whether the existing streaming services will remain as stand-alone apps or if they'll be moved into the hub, or if the service is coming to regions outside the US. We'll keep you informed.