Meta Connect 2026 will take place in California at the end of September. Although last year’s event clearly focused on smart glasses and AI, the company says it also plans to share virtual reality news this time around.
Meta has confirmed the date for its annual developer conference. Connect 2026 is scheduled for September 23 and 24 at the company’s campus in Menlo Park. The event will include an evening keynote as well as developer sessions, where Meta plans to offer a look at what’s next, including wearables, new AI models and — believe it or not — metaverse applications and virtual reality.
VR is still in the mix, but don’t expect too much
A look back at the last Meta Connect makes it clear how much the focus has shifted. Most recently, smart glasses with displays and artificial intelligence dominated the presentation. VR headsets such as the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S were reduced to a supporting role.
Instead of new headsets or VR games, the company put media offerings front and center. With Horizon TV, Meta expanded its hub for 3D movies and series, supported by partners such as Disney and Lightstorm Vision. Star director James Cameron also made an appearance, saying that in some cases, the visuals on current headsets could even rival the movie theater experience.
Also interesting:
This shift in focus also foreshadowed what would follow a few months later: In January of this year, Meta announced a strategic reset and, just a few months after the release of Marvel’s Deadpool VR, shut down its in-house VR game development entirely. Studios were closed, subsidy budgets were cut and numerous jobs were eliminated in the Reality Labs division.
VR fans can only hope there will at least be news on the hardware front, because Meta has not abandoned that side of the business. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a Meta Quest 4 announcement, although we’ll probably have to wait another year for that.
