Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Meta, Facebook’s parent company, will no longer require Oculus/Meta Quest headsets to use a Facebook account.
- This rolls back a very controversial 2020 requirement.
- You will still need a Meta account, which will require lots of personal information.
The Meta Quest 2 — formerly known as the Oculus Quest 2 before Meta confusingly rebranded it — requires a Facebook account. If you buy one and don’t want to sign up for Facebook, it simply won’t work for you. This was a controversial move.
However, it looks like Meta and Mark Zuckerberg have finally realized how stupid this limitation is. Starting in August 2022, you will instead be able to sign up for a Meta account to access your Meta Quest headset (via The Verge). This will be different from a Facebook account and will not require any connection to the Facebook site.
See also: The best VR games for most VR headsets
Interestingly, a Meta account will become a requirement. If you have a Quest connected to a Facebook account, you will need to create a Meta profile starting in August. If you’re using one of the older Oculus accounts, you’ll have until January 2023 to migrate that.
In other words, the Meta Quest series will now be Facebook-free. This will open the headsets up to a huge swath of buyers who, until now, have boycotted the purchase of a Meta Quest due to its Facebook account requirement.
No Oculus/Meta Facebook account requirement
Of course, the Meta account will still require a ton of your personal information. This will include your name, email address, phone number, date of birth, and payment details for buying apps. You will also be required to create a separate Meta Horizon profile, which will be your metaverse-facing digital self.
One of the most surprising new developments here, though, is that Meta will allow you to create multiple Meta accounts as well as multiple Horizon accounts. This is a huge shift from Facebook’s long-held requirement that each person has just one Facebook account to better reflect real life. With the new Meta system, you could have multiple accounts for various reasons: say, one for your gaming life and another for your work life.
Time will tell if this change is enough to finally convince skeptics to jump into the world of VR and the metaverse. But it certainly can’t hurt.
