Piracy is rampant on Meta Quest

The largest VR ecosystem is currently under pressure on several fronts. Sales figures for the Meta Quest are declining, and at the same time, users are spending less money on games than they did a few years ago. The audience has also changed: Meta Quest is now used particularly intensively by children and teenagers who prefer free multiplayer experiences. Many studios developing premium titles with a single-player focus are struggling with declining revenues and are affected by layoffs or closures.

According to some developers, their situation is not solely attributable to market dynamics. They see unbridled piracy as one of the reasons for the crisis in the VR industry and accuse Meta of passivity in the face of a problem that is further eroding an already struggling industry.

A thriving piracy scene

Piracy on Meta Quest has received little media attention so far, which is surprising given the size and professionalism of the scene. The most widely used platform by far, “Rookie Sideloader,” plays a central role. The PC program lists thousands of VR games that can be downloaded to Meta Quest with a mouse click. Even game updates are possible with the application. “There’s a joke among VR developers that the user experience and reliability are better than that of the Quest Store,” says a VR developer who wishes to remain anonymous.

The user interface of the “Rookie Sideloader” 3.0, currently under development.

(Image: Github)

The statement is exaggerated, but it points to a core truth. Rookie Sideloader requires a PC and a cable connection, as well as adding an exception for Windows Defender. But once the program is set up, it is extremely user-friendly. And the “Rookie Sideloader” is actively being worked on: Version 3.0 is currently in development, which, according to the Github description, is intended to bring a “complete overhaul of the user interface, significant performance improvements, and extended features.”

The group behind it calls itself “VRPirates” and operates a well-structured, detailed wiki that guides beginners step-by-step through the installation and use of the program. In addition to an FAQ, it contains lists of games that work in multiplayer, as well as titles that have not yet been “cracked.”

Supporters of the platform communicate on the group’s official Discord server, which has thousands of active users. Another central hub is the Reddit subforum r/QuestPiracy with over 100,000 members. A considerable number given the relatively small size of the VR market.

The extent of the problem

The scale of illegal copying cannot be precisely quantified. However, there are indications. Until about a year ago, “Rookie Sideloader” displayed the exact download numbers for individual titles, allowing developers to directly compare them with their own sales. The operators have since switched to a relative popularity ranking that no longer discloses this data.

“Even based on these relative values, a clear trend is emerging,” says a VR developer. “Premium games often disappear from the sales charts after just one week, but remain in the Top 10 of Rookie Sideloader for months.” A prominent example is the single-player adventure “Ghost Town,” released in 2025, which is considered one of the best VR games of the year. It fell out of the top 50 best-selling Quest titles early on and was simultaneously very popular with pirates. The VR game “Pistol Whip,” whose studio Cloudhead Games announced layoffs of 70 percent of its staff this week, is also ranked high in popularity.

Image from a colorful VR game world, which also features a gun.

The studio behind the cult VR game “Pistol Whip” had to lay off a large portion of its staff in the current difficult market situation.

(Image: Cloudhead Games)

Meta itself accidentally provided another source of data. Last November, a new dashboard appeared in Meta’s developer analytics tools for a short time, containing data on app sideloads that allowed conclusions to be drawn about the number of illegal downloads. Although Meta quickly removed the dashboard, some developers were able to view their own data and compare it with sales figures. Depending on the title, this resulted in piracy rates between 1:1 and 1:4. The industry-renowned VR game studio Vertical Robot confirmed this upon inquiry. A representative said that according to the figures, there are approximately four illegal downloads for every copy sold of the titles “Red Matter” and “Red Matter 2.”

“I can understand that there will always be a demand for something like this,” says the CEO of another VR studio in a statement. “But as someone who relies on sales to pay employees, it’s painful to see how easily Rookie Sideloader makes it accessible to a very large audience.”

Meta leaves developers in the dark

Even assuming that some prevented piracy would never have led to a purchase, piracy still represents a measurable damage for developers. Damage that could be reduced through more effective protective measures by Meta. Developers agree that the existing mechanisms are currently significantly below the standard of classic game consoles and other closed app ecosystems.

When asked, Meta referred to two protective measures: a system check (“Attestation API”), which is intended to ensure the integrity of the device and software, and a purchase check (“Entitlement Check”), which determines whether a user has actually purchased an app.

A boy in an orange sweater plays Quest 3.

Piracy is likely to be widespread, especially among young users. However, according to some developers, this is no reason not to do anything about it.

(Image: Meta)

While the latter can be automatically bypassed by pirates, according to a VR developer, the system check only applies to titles that require an online component to play. Pure single-player games are not effectively protected by this and are therefore disproportionately affected by piracy. However, even for multiplayer titles, this mechanism is considered more of an anti-cheat measure than effective protection against piracy. There are no reports of lasting consequences with a deterrent effect in the Reddit subforum r/QuestPiracy.

Looking ahead, Meta remains vague, stating that it is continuing to work on protective measures and will inform about corresponding solutions as soon as they are available. Whether and when these will appear remains open. What is clear is that developers have long been waiting for a response from the company that goes beyond lip service.

Downsides of an open platform

A frequently voiced accusation from developers is that Meta currently prioritizes user activity and retention rate above all other success factors and therefore considers consistent action against piracy to be counterproductive. Furthermore, there is concern that Meta no longer assigns high priority to the category of single-player games anyway. The currently most active user group prefers multiplayer titles with a free-to-play business model, which are less or hardly pirated. Another possible reason for Meta’s hesitation is that the Meta Quest, based on Android, was positioned as a comparatively open platform that allows sideloading. More restrictive protective measures would potentially conflict with this policy.

Developers are not lacking in ideas to improve the situation. They range from concrete suggestions for more effective protective measures and analysis tools to better track piracy and convert pirates, to a more restrictive platform policy that restricts sideloading more. In addition, individual developers advocate for significantly stricter measures. “Meta should consistently take action against Rookie Sideloader and not make it so easy for the platform. A cease-and-desist notice could shut down the website, the GitHub presence, and the Reddit subforum. I am shocked that such a step has not yet been taken,” says a VR developer.

“Rookie Sideloader” initially appeased affected VR developers by removing games from the platform upon request. Nearly two dozen developers and studios have made use of this option so far. However, several developers now report that this offer is no longer being granted for new requests.

According to the operators’ website, “Rookie Sideloader” incurs costs for servers and bandwidth, which is why the pirates rely on donations. To learn more about the motivation behind the project, we tried to contact the operators, which is easily possible via Discord. However, a statement or conversation, even with assurance of anonymity, was refused.

(nen)

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This article was originally published in

German.

It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.

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