Facebook owner Meta launched a virtual reality (VR) subscription service as they tried to make that part of the business profitable.

Meta says paying users will get access to two new games every month.

In the first three months of the year, Instagram’s parent company lost $4 billion (£3.1 billion) at its VR unit.

Meta faces competition from companies including tech giant Apple, which unveiled its much-anticipated mixed reality headset this month.

In Monday, the company said Meta Quest+ service, priced at $7.99 a month or $59.99 for an annual subscription, is compatible with the upcoming Quest 2, Quest Pro and Quest 3 headsets.

In 2021, Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, revealed plans to build a “metaverse” – an online world where people can play games, work, and communicate in a virtual environment. , usually using a VR headset.

“Over time, I hope that we’re seen as a multi-dimensional company, and I want to tie our work and our identity to what we’re all about,” Zuckerberg said.

In February last year, Meta unveiled several ambitious artificial intelligence projects, and Mr Zuckerberg described AI as “the key to opening the supermarket”.

However, its Reality Labs division, which makes VR headsets and other products, reported a net loss of $4 billion during the period.

Earlier this month, Apple unveiled the Vision Pro mixed reality headset, in its first major hardware launch in nearly a decade.

Apple’s headphones, which will be released early next year in the US, will cost $3,499.

That’s significantly more than other headphones currently on the market. Meta’s VR headsets range in price from $299.99 to $999.99.