Pavlov Shack and Kill It With Fire VR are the Meta Quest+ monthly redeemable titles for May 2025.
What Is Meta Quest+?
The Meta Quest+ subscription lets you redeem two pre-selected games each month as well as access the titles in its Games Catalog.
Redeeming these monthly games lets you play them while your subscription remains active. Should you cancel the subscription, previously redeemed games won’t be playable until you resubscribe.
Quest+ is available on Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3, and Quest 3S.
Last month’s monthly redeemable games were Breachers and Thrasher.
Pavlov Shack
Pavlov Shack is the standalone VR spinoff of the PC VR and PS VR2 shooter Pavlov, and it does not support crossplay with those platforms.
It’s a team-based multiplayer shooter similar to Call of Duty, offering a variety of game modes including Team Deathmatch and Search and Destroy, and usually attracts a younger crowd than Onward.
Kill It With Fire VR
Kill It With Fire VR is the VR port of the singleplayer flatscreen game Kill It With Fire, which sees you hunt and kill spiders… with fire.
Microsoft has announced it will be raising the prices of all Xbox consoles, accessories, and games, and the increases are huge. Console and peripheral prices will go up today, May 1, by an enormous amount, while new first-party game prices will all hit $80 by the holidays.
Meta Reality Labs quarterly revenue was 6% lower in Q1 2025 than it was in Q1 2024.
The quarter saw Meta’s metaverse and wearables division bring in $412 million, compared to $440 million for the same quarter last year.
During Meta’s Q1 2025 earnings call, CFO Susan Li told investors the drop was “due to lower Meta Quest sales, which were partially offset by increased sales of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses”.
While headset sales decreased, Mark Zuckerberg told investors that Quest is seeing “deeper engagement”. At GDC in March Meta’s Director of Games revealed that monthly headset usage increased 30% in 2024, and last year he said that Quest 3 has higher retention than previous headsets.
Zuckerberg also told investors that the Ray-Ban Meta glasses had “tripled in sales in the last year”, and Li said that the glasses have four times as many monthly active users compared to Q1 2024.
The lackluster Q1 revenue comes after Q4 2024 saw Reality Labs bring in its highest ever revenue with the launch of Quest 3S. The headset was also the top selling console on Amazon US in 2024.
This suggests that while Quest 3S had a strong launch, and was a popular gift over the holiday season, its momentum hasn’t carried through into the beginning of this year.
Q1 is always the worst quarter for consoles and similar consumer tech, as consumers pull back on spending after the holidays, but it’s still a bigger drop than last year. It wasn’t the worst ever Q1 for Reality Labs though. Q1 2023 saw just $339 million brought in during Quest 2’s 12-month $100 price hike.
As always, the Meta Reality Labs revenue came at an enormous cost, and the division remains deeply unprofitable. Meta spent $4.6 billion on it in Q1 alone, resulting in a “loss” of $4.2 billion.
Though while describing this as a loss is technically correct in a financial sense, much of it could also be described as long-term investment. XR headsets like Quest are still a relatively early technology, far from maturity, and as of 2022 more than 50% of Reality Labs spending was on the research and development of AR glasses, a future product line that hasn’t even launched yet.
Asked about Reality Labs spending by an analyst from an investment research firm during the followup call, Zuckerberg responded that the division is now “focused on doing the work more efficiently”, but that he wants to invest heavily in scaling the smart glasses product line given its strong growth over the past year. Because of this, last quarter Susan Li told investors to expect Reality Labs losses to increase in 2025.
“There are big product bets we’re making and there’s sort of a deep technological set of challenges that we know that we need to unlock in order to be able to bring scalable consumer products to market”, she said at the time.
Later this year, Meta and EssilorLuxottica reportedly plan to launch Oakley Meta glasses, and Meta reportedly plans to introduce higher-end smart glasses with a HUD too, controlled by its long-in-development sEMG neural wristband.
VR civilization builder Surviving Mars: Pioneer is making its Quest and Steam Early Access debut next week.
Surviving Mars: Pioneer is a VR reimagining of the flatscreen game Surviving Mars, which asks players to create a viable civilization on the titular planet. While the original game was played from a top-down perspective, in Surviving Mars: Pioneer, you control your burgeoning society from a first-person perspective, mining and managing up close. Alongside sorting outer-space essentials like oxygen and nutrition, there are also bases to build and Martian rovers to ride.
Surviving Mars: Pioneer is being developed by Bolverk Games and published by Impact Inked in conjunction with Paradox Interactive. Impact Inked is a new publishing label from Impact Reality. Unlike their other group Flat2VR Studios, which focuses on flatscreen ports and adaptations, Impact Inked is set to focus specifically on new VR IPs.
The games under this label are built for VR from the start. Some introduce entirely new IPs. Others expand on existing universes in unexpected and immersive ways. All of them share one thing in common: they embrace the full potential of VR, offering players new ways to explore, interact, and experience.
Surviving Mars: Pioneer will be available on May 8th for Quest and Steam headsets. Bolverk Games has also announced that the PlayStation VR2 edition will arrive once the game leaves Early Access in the future.
The impending release of Grand Theft Auto VI, which could potentially make or break the gaming industry, is causing many publishers to shuffle upcoming games out of the way of Rockstar’s upcoming magnum opus. 2K Games seemed to be attempting just that as it moved up the release date for Borderlands 4—notably, both 2K and Gearbox are owned
Google has announced that it’s now making its native image editing tool available on the Gemini app. This tool, which rivals Adobe Photoshop, will enable users to edit AI-generated photos and pictures uploaded via phone or PC.
In a blog post yesterday, Google’s Group Product Manager David Sharon revealed that the feature allows you to tinker
In a move announced with all the fanfare of a tax audit, Microsoft has quietly hiked prices on every piece of Xbox hardware it sells—consoles, controllers, and headsets alike. The news was buried in a support article on the official Xbox website, which is kind of like hiding a price hike in the fine print of a dentist bill.
Here’s the hardware
These are some wild times we living in. Nintendo is pushing the price of first-party games to $80 with the release of its Switch 2 console, Microsoft is jacking up prices of all Xbox hardware (up to $100) and also following suit with higher priced games, and the latest-generation GPUs for PCs are seeing big premiums too. What’s a gamer to
Popular e-ink tablet and e-reader maker Boox is releasing its first desktop color e-ink monitor. The company already makes a monochrome model called the Mira Pro, but the new one, gracefully called the Mira Pro (Color Version) brings 4,096 colors and 16 grayscale levels. Like any e-ink screen, the Mira Pro promises to be easy on the eyes during
Do you use AirPlay to send videos from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to a television or play music through a smart speaker? Then friends, you are in for a treat. Thanks to a vulnerability in not just Apple’s operating system, but the ecosystem-wide AirPlay software development kit (SDK), over two billion devices are vulnerable to a zero-click remote
It’s widely anticipated that AMD’s next graphics card launch will be the Radeon RX 9060 XT. If the rumors are accurate, the mainstream SKU will offer a more affordable entry into RDNA 4 territory and flesh out a lineup that currently consists of the Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070. The question is, will there be one or two models? Despite
If the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 is too light for your senses, there’s a new game coming that hearkens back to a time of doom and gloom. This gory gaming title is Doom: The Dark Ages, slated for release on May 15th with early access opening on May 13th. NVIDIA is pushing this game as its main bundled item for new GPUs and gaming PCs, too.
It’s increasingly likely that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge will be released on May 13, based on a leaked promo poster. When launched, the Edge will be one of the slimmest phones ever made coming from (the usually) conservative Samsung no less. Tagging onto this is another leak that reveals the camera specs, i.e. the 200-megapixel main shooter
There aren’t any major triple-A games releasing this week that we are aware of (soon, though), but there is a new ‘Game Ready’ driver release by the folks at NVIDIA all the same. It’s version 576.28, it’s WHQL-certified, and it’s yet another release that is brimming with bug fixes, most of which were made available in a couple of recent hotfix
Hunt has launched a new range of Aerodynamicist wheelsets that combine class-leading aero efficiency (backed up by wind-tunnel testing) with low weight, at a lower price than their industry-leading rivals. Could these be the performance wheels we’ve been waiting for?
The updated Aerodynamicist wheel line is being launched in three sizes: 34mm, and 44/46mm and 54/58mm-depth combinations.
The wheelsets have Enduro bearings as standard, as well as carbon and steel spoke options.
The new hooked rim design, which has been optimised for 28-30mm road tyres, comes with claimed weights from 1,175g and prices starting at £1,149.
All-new Aerodynamicist
Hunt’s new Aerodynamicist rim profile uses a hooked design. Hunt
The new in-house engineered Aerodynamicist range differs from the Sussex wheel specialist’s high-end Limitless wheelsets. The new differential rim design is based around hooked rim profiles rather than hookless, a standard Hunt debuted back in 2016, alongside ENVE.
Going with a hooked design rather than hookless will be music to the ears of fans of clincher tyres. With brands still launching high-performance clincher tyres, the Aerodynamicist range could be the best option around.
Hunt’s aim with the new wheelsets was to match the previous-generation Aerodynamicist wheels across all sizes, but now optimised for larger tyres (from 28 to 30mm).
The Aerodynamicist has been developed over three years, with 47,000 hours of computer processing time alongside lots of wind-tunnel testing.
Different sizes
Hunt’s 44/46 wheelset has differential rim sizes front and rear. Hunt
The new rim profiles come with a 22mm internal width across all heights, although, like the Limitless, the external widths vary across the sizes. The front and rear profiles also differ.
Hunt’s senior design engineer, Patrick Brown, told us this not only improves aerodynamic efficiency, but also helps reduce the mass in the rims, bringing down overall weight across all models.
The Hunt Aerodynamicist’s largest size combines a 54mm-deep front wheel and a 58mm-deep rear wheel. Hunt
The largest of the trio comes with a 54mm-deep, 31.7mm-wide front rim and a 58mm-deep, 30mm-wide rear. The all-rounder option comes with a 44mm-deep front and 30mm width, and a 46mm-deep rear with the same 30mm external width.
Hunt’s new 34mm-deep Aerodynamicist wheels. Hunt
The lightest option comes with 34.5mm-deep rims, both with a 28.4mm external width.
All wheels come with a 22mm internal rim width.
Options and weights
The H Ratchet freehub uses a dual-sided 40-tooth ratchet for a nine-degree engagement. Hunt
The new Aerodynamicist range is available with either UD Carbon spokes or triple-butted aero wing steel spokes.
All wheels come with Hunt’s hubs, constructed from lightweight 6066-T6 aluminium with a 7075-T6 alloy axle. The rear hub comes with the H Ratchet 40T DBL freehub system.
The dual-sided ratchet has a 40-tooth drive interface for a nine-degree engagement. Hunt says the ratchet requires less shell material compared to the standard pawl system, making for a lighter hub.
The 58mm-deep rear wheel weighs 762g in its carbon spoke option. Hunt The 54mm-deep Aerodynamicist front wheel weighs 629g. Hunt
The hubs come equipped with Enduro’s steel ABEC 5 cartridge bearings.
As before, the Aerodynamicist is available in two build options – the premium version with UD Carbon bladed spokes and a standard model with triple-butted aero wing steel spokes.
Hunt’s Aerodynamicist 44 front wheel weighs 567g. Hunt The Hunt 46 rear wheel tips the scales at 707g. Hunt
54/58: 1,391g with carbon spokes, 1,468g with steel spokes
44/46: 1,274g with carbon spokes, 1,364g with steel spokes
34/34: 1,175g with carbon spokes, 1,264g with steel spokes
Hunt’s Aerodynamicist 34 front wheel weighs 508g with carbon spokes. Hunt The rear 34 Aerodynamicist weighs 667g. Hunt
Proven faster
Hunt claims the new Aerodynamicist range, paired with a 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tyre, offers an average 1.4-watt (2%) saving compared to the previous models.
When benchmarked against industry-leading wheelsets, Hunt’s wind tunnel results were positive.
All the wheel sizes were tested in the wind tunnel using Mavic’s WAD (wind averaged drag) protocol to analyse the data. WAD is explained as “The time spent at any given yaw angle will be different, depending on the conditions and route”.
To give a consistent method of combining these yaw angles into a single (WAD) value, Mavic has developed and published a ‘ponderation law’.
Wind angles over 15 degrees are unusual (and the WAD takes this into account), but this is a situation where the steering moment experienced by the rider is accentuated, leading to a feeling of instability.
Above 15-degree yaw angles, although experienced less often, it can have a significant effect on aerodynamic performance if stalling has occurred, leading to airflow detachment.
Wind tunnel results
In the shallowest 34/34 size, the Aerodynamicists were only outperformed in low aero drag (WAD) by Shimano’s Dura-Ace C36s, which bettered the Hunt wheels by 0.58W, although the Aerodynamicists weigh 172g less than Shimano’s 1,368g. The Hunts bettered Reserve’s 34/37, the DT Swiss ERC 1400 35, Campagnolo’s Bora Ultra WTC 35, Roval’s Alpinist CLX II and Mavic’s Cosmic 32.
In the 44/46 size, the Hunts topped the testing, besting Mavic’s Cosmic 45 SL, the ENVE Foundation 45, Zipp’s 353 NSW, the DT Swiss ERC 1400 45, Zipp’s 303 Firecrest and 303s and Campagnolo’s Bora WTO 45s. The difference between the top and bottom of the list, however, was a mere 2.47W (WAD). The Aerodynamicists are the lightest in this test group.
On the largest 54/58 wheels, the Aerodynamicist also topped the testing table, besting ENVE’s SES 4.5, Zipp’s 404 Firecrest, the Reserve 52/63, Shimano C50, Zipp 454 NSW and Roval’s Rapide CL II (round spoke version). The difference between the top and bottom of the range tested was 3.12W (WAD), and again, Hunt’s 54/48 was the lightest wheelset at this depth.
For a full run-down of the aerodynamic testing, head over to Hunt’s website to read the white paper that covers both results and testing protocols.
UploadVRHarry Baker
