- Watch parties are now available in YouTube VR
- You’ll all need to own paid content to watch it together
- You can’t watch 360 video together yet
VR gaming, like gaming in general, is always more fun with friends. Hopping into Just Dance VR is fine, but taking it on in a multiplayer session – either online or for couch co-op – is a much more enjoyable experience. The same is true for Walkabout Mini Golf and Beat Saber – and now you can also enjoy shared experiences when watching movies or other content in the YouTube VR app.
Whether it’s watching a 4K movie or your favorite YouTube Short, it’s now possible to host a YouTube watch party with up to seven other guests at the push of a button – no matter where you all happen to be (though it will need to be somewhere with an internet connection).
You’ll want to boot up the free YouTube app on your Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S (after installing it if you haven’t already), then look above the screen to see the co-watch icon (it looks like a person-shaped outline flanked by two silhouettes), and click it to start your watch party.
From there you can invite people from your followers list – provided you follow each other – by sending them a notification. Once they accept they’ll join your virtual group, and then you can decide what you all want to watch.
There are a few restrictions to note, however. As mentioned you’ll have to be following each other, and it’s important to note that you want to watch paid-for YouTube content everyone in the party will have to pay for it separately – so you can’t get away with splitting a single rental fee.
Additionally, full-360-degree immersive video is not yet supported, which is a shame as these 3D experiences are among my favorite ways to use the YouTube VR app. Hopefully it’ll be added in the near future, but for now I’m excited to start some watch parties with YouTube’s huge catalog of 2D content.