Meta recently scrapped a rumored Cardiff VR headset

Recently, tech giants have been practicing open-source streamlining, and business reduction has been one of the measures besides layoffs. According to Alex Health from MIXED and The Verge, Meta, a major VR company, recently canceled a VR device under development with the code name “Cardiff,” which was scheduled for release next year. At the same time, tech journalist Alex Heath also stated that at least two early-stage prototypes were canceled, one being Cardiff, and the other was Hermosa.

Cardiff was first exposed in May 2022, when The Information reported that they had seen Meta’s development roadmap: Meta will release four VR devices between 2022 and 2024, code-named Cambria (2022), Stinson (2023), Cardiff (2024), and Funston (2024). Cambria is already familiar to everyone, as it is the Quest Pro that has already been released, and Stinson, as expected, is Quest 3.

In 2024, there are two devices, which is rather strange. The Information reported that Funston is an iteration of Quest Pro, while Cardiff is the cheaper of the two devices. This is rather strange because Quest 3, which is also aimed at mainstream players, will not be released until the second half of 2023 and is expected to have a similar lifespan to Quest 2, so what will Cardiff’s position be? A headset that is cheaper or more expensive than Quest 3?

As mentioned earlier, Cardiff was still in the early stages when it was canceled, so apart from Meta’s developers, no one knows its specific details. As for Hermosa, this code name appeared for the first time in Alex Heath’s report, and there is even less information available. It is speculated that Meta may not want too many similar devices to appear, and having one Quest positioned for mainstream players and one Quest Pro positioned for high-end users may be more conducive to the development of software and systems.