Skip to main content

Google is launching YouTube on the Oculus Quest

Google is launching YouTube on the Oculus Quest

Share this story

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google will bring YouTube to Facebook’s Oculus Quest virtual reality headset when it ships on May 21st. Like existing versions on the Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, and other headsets, YouTube VR will offer access to both 360-degree and traditional 2D videos. Google has generally rolled out YouTube VR a few months (or years) after a given headset launches, with the exception of Google’s own Daydream devices. But this time, YouTube is part of the Quest’s starting lineup. It’s joining two other apps: the painting tool Tilt Brush and the game Job Simulator. Job Simulator’s sequel, Vacation Simulator, will also launch on the Quest later this year.

Google has stepped back from VR hardware recently. Its new Google Pixel 3A phones don’t work with the Daydream View, and VR / AR head Clay Bavor indicated that we wouldn’t see new headsets for a little while. “On the hardware devices side, we’re much more in a mode of R&D and thoughtfully building the Lego bricks that we’re going to need in order to snap together and make some really compelling experiences,” Bavor told CNET at the Google I/O conference earlier this month. So far, though, it still seems committed to promoting its software.