As Oculus becomes increasingly merged with parent company Facebook, new users will soon be required to sign into their headset with a Facebook account. Existing users will be able to use their separate Oculus accounts until the end of 2022, after which “full functionality will require a Facebook account.” Facebook says the changes are being made to make it easier for users to find and play with friends in VR and to enhance moderation.

While a Facebook account is already required for some core social functionality on Oculus headsets—like cross-game messaging and voice-chat—Facebook today announced upcoming changes which require new users to use a Facebook account with their headset.

Facebook says that starting in October “everyone using an Oculus device for the first time will need to log in with a Facebook account.” Existing users will be given the option to log in with their Facebook account and permanently merge their Oculus account with it.

Further, the company says that existing users who opt not to merge their Oculus account with their Facebook account can continue using their headset as normal until the end of 2022, after which the company no longer guarantees “full functionality” without the use of a Facebook account.

“We will take steps to allow you to keep using [Oculus] content you have purchased [after 2022], though we expect some games and apps may no longer work,” the company says. “This could be because they include features that require a Facebook account or because a developer has chosen to no longer support the app or game you purchased.”

The company says that even when logged into their headset with a Facebook account, users will be able to maintain a unique VR profile, including a separate username and friends list, if desired. Facebook also plans to introduce a way for multiple users of a single headset to sign into their own accounts to keep things separate.

As it already does today, the company affirms that it will track how Facebook users use their headset and use that information for various purposes.

“Facebook will use information related to your use of VR and other Facebook products to provide and improve your experience. This information is also used to show you personalized content, including ads. For example, we might show you recommendations for Oculus Events you might like, ads about Facebook apps and technologies, or ads from developers for their VR apps.”

Users cannot opt out of sharing VR usage activity with Facebook.

“Even if you don’t log into your Oculus device using your Facebook account, we will use your VR information to create a consistent and safer experience across Facebook apps and technologies—for example, taking action on an Oculus account if it is flagged for spam or abuse,” the company says.

While the company says that it doesn’t currently display ads inside of Oculus headsets, it doesn’t rule out the possibility for the future.

SEE ALSO
Here's What Meta Says About Camera Privacy on Quest & Quest Pro

The changes come ahead of the launch of Facebook’s long-awaited social VR application, Facebook Horizon, expected later this year, and rumors of a new headset.

The company says the changes are designed to streamline social functions of Oculus headsets and strengthen moderation tools by leveraging Facebook’s social graph.

“Giving people a single way to log into Oculus—using their Facebook account and password—will make it easier to find, connect, and play with friends in VR. We know that social VR has so much more to offer, and this change will make it possible to integrate many of the features people know and love on Facebook,” the company says. “It will also allow us to introduce more Facebook powered multiplayer and social experiences coming soon in VR, like Horizon, where you can explore, play, and create worlds.

As part of the upcoming changes, Facebook says its Oculus products will shift from the existing Oculus Code of Conduct and instead adopt the Facebook Community Standards in addition to an “additional VR-focused policy.”

“This will allow us to continue to take the unique considerations of VR into account while offering a more consistent way to report bad behavior, hold people accountable, and help create a more welcoming environment across our platforms. And as Facebook adds new privacy and safety tools, Oculus can adopt and benefit from them too.”

The company published an FAQ about merging Oculus accounts into Facebook accounts here.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Ad

    Can’t even count how many angry facebook fanboys told me this would never happen. I thought they might wait a little longer considering what a toxic awful brand facebook is.

    • kontis

      Pepperidge Farm Remembers when Palmer Luckey was saying that would never happen.

      But it’s not like any of the Oculus people are still there. They all left.

      The irony of Facebook attacking Apple for iOS limitations. They are making even more dystopian / orwellian platform than the iPhone.

      I’m only a little bit satisfied that I was pointing out this problem of locked hadware platforms like a madman for more than 5 years on reddit and now it’s a big anti-trust story in the media. Finally, but it’s 10 years late.

      • Rogue Transfer

        Not just left, the company Oculus LLC was dissolved back in 2018, when the remaining teams were restructured into the Facebook AR/VR division, under the Facebook Portal manager, as Facebook Technologies Ltd.

        There is no Oculus left, just a brand/platform name from Facebook.

        The more concerning thing is for people only having potentially just over 2 years to keep access to their games bought from the Oculus store.

        It’s clear from how quick Facebook is shuttering GearVR and Go stores, that there’s no guarantee you’ll still be able to access your PC store games for that long. Especially if they decide to go all standalone in time and cut the revenue loss from rival stores on PC by closing the Oculus PC store in a few years time.

        • johann jensson

          Well, that’s the problem with digital distribution. Your games can be taken away at any time. That’s why i mostly buy games when they reach the 10€ mark. And i have never bought a game at full price, not even physical copies.

        • silvaring

          All you guys who invested into Oculus knew what you were getting yourself in to when the $2 billion acquisition happened. There was no ways Facebook was not going to try bring it into its existing 1 billion user platform… to think that would be incredibly wishful thinking guys.

        • Jonathan Winters III

          Going Steam VR all the way. No more Oculus Store purchases for me after this announcement.

          • NooYawker

            I stopped a long time ago. I bought two games early on but eventually uninstalled their software. It just isn’t worth it to me to have their crap on my machine.

      • Ad

        Same. I remember when “Smartphone Story” came out and was removed from the store for criticizing apple. I would love for Facebook to get an anti trust suit for a dozen, reasons, including owning Oculus. Horizon will be a damn world under their thumb,

        • Sven Viking

          I remember when “Smartphone Story” came out and was removed from the store for criticizing apple.

          I hadn’t heard about that, and can’t find it on Google because “smartphone story” brings up so many unrelated things. Anywhere I can check for more info?

      • Sven Viking

        True, although “they all left” gives the impression they all went willingly.

      • NooYawker

        Lucky worked closely with Valve taking their tech and sold the company and valves tech to FB. Who knows how long he knew and was still taking tech from Valve. He isn’t trustworthy at all.

        Now I don’t blame a young kid accepting an offer of a billion dollars! But it was still underhanded and sneaky.

    • Bartholomew

      Can’t even count how many angry Valve fanboys told me they don’t buy Oculus Rift because “Facebook spy on me”.
      But then they install “Oculus launcher is a spyware” on their computers to play, via Revive, Oculus VR exclusives.
      Valve fanboys are a bunch of pathetic clowns.

      • Ad

        Sure, but they don’t lose access to their headset in two years.

        • MeowMix

          The account FAQ states you lose some functionality with existing headsets; what we don’t know yet (I assume losing of some FB only online features).

          But they clearly state that for existing hardware, you can continue to use your existing Oculus account w/o merging, even past the 2023 deadline. You’ll continue to have access to your existing headset and oculus app/games library.

          • Ad

            It states they’ll “try.”

          • MeowMix

            Then include that in your now corrected response.

      • NooYawker

        Being against a company who’s only goal is to datamine you isn’t being a fanboy. And I used Vive and Index. I did buy two games from oculus in the beginning but said screw that, not worth it. uninstalled.

        But yes, I agree, anyone stupid enough to install oculus spyware are pathetic clowns.

    • WyrdestGeek

      fwiw: I am not one of those. I bought a Quest. (B-c: no VR ready PC. Actually, no PC at all atm.) I knew it could happen. I just hoped I’d be in a position where I wouldn’t have to care if/when it did.

      • Ad

        You have two years.

        • MeowMix

          2 years to the 2023 deadline. If you continue to opt out past that point, then you lose some functionality; what does that mean we don’t know yet (perhaps you lose out on some FB only online features).

          But their account FAQ states existing hardware will continue to work and you’ll have access to your Oculus library, even past the 2023 deadline.

          • Ad

            Unless those apps aren’t updated, or if they are and use Facebook (which they will push hard to integrate).

        • JB1968

          Well in 2 years there will be Quest4 and his OG Quest will have dropped support for at least 1 year already. You remember Oculus’ products life time…

  • kontis

    Doesn’t facebook’s TOS require real names, which also mean a single account per user, at least officially?

    For a gaming platform?! WTF?!

    This is insane. Even more than using your real name for doing anything non-professional on the internet.

    We desperately need that Samsung’s Quest competitor…

    • doublej42

      Don’t be a jerk in games and this isn’t a problem. I’ve been using my real name in games for 28 years and never had a problem.

      • MeowMix

        I agree. However, some of us don’t want our ‘real names’ to leak out as gamers. Some of us work professions where ‘gaming’ may be looked down on as immature or unprofessional (example: healthcare).

        • Jeff Jacob

          I work in government. I just don’t care what others think.

          • NooYawker

            It’s almost impossible to get fired from government work.

          • kobalt staub

            Lol ask all the paper pushers who do absolutely nothing all day but stall the processes to make believe they do work

          • Jeff Edmonds

            oh as long as its ok with you then everyone should be good with it…… hubris much?

      • Warscent

        It is a problem.
        Don’t be an NPC.

      • geronimo

        Being a jerk has nothing to do with it. All it takes is having an opinion somebody doesn’t like and you can be doxxed/swatted/etc.

      • WyrdestGeek

        Ah yes the ol’ “I’ve got nothing to hide, therefore I’m totally ok with potential invasion of privacy.” argument.

      • iThinkMyCatIsAFlea

        Ok, doublej42, what’s your real name and why don’t you use it when commenting via Disqus?

        • Jeff Jacob

          Real name was not an option at the time that my disqus account was created. If you google my username you will find my real name, home address , phone number and record of employment history.

          By the way oculus doesn’t use real names even if you use Facebook to sign in.

          • iThinkMyCatIsAFlea

            My point is, why would you want people on the internet to know that info, Jeff?

          • doublej42

            Why not? Facebook already tracks this anyways from oculus users.

          • VR-Tests

            they can’t if you never gave them this info. A lot of Oculus Users don’t have & want an FB account and don’t gave oculus their reallife data like real name etc.. so what you say is BS.

          • Pablo C

            In a way you are right, because if you have absolutely nothing to hide, well, then you are probably so boring, no one should really care. It´s a great strategy for say, a spy. For a regular person is just plain boring, but you are probably right: as you and your relatives keep the boredom, you´ll be fine.

            Now, let´s say your son decides to protest for something like “black lives matter”. Then he´ll be done, because they´d know you, and your son just happens to deviate for the regular boredom of your surroundings, which most governments don´t like.

      • dk

        ok Doublej42

      • Phil

        What if the other person is a jerk? I know from a girl that got stalked in VR Chat. That guy found out her email address and harassed her and her VR Chat friends. She stated that she was glad she wasn’t logged in with her FB account, because the stalker could have found out about her real life friends, family and where she lived.

      • VR-Tests

        Best Example why your comment is BS.. ? In RecRoom as an example there are People who report you if they lose a game against you. And since there seem to be automatic bans after a certain amount of reports from users, you get auto banned if you meet a few of this users who report you because they hate losing against other people. If this happens with Facebook Account.. good luck getting it back. Facebook isn’t famous for unbanning people or even responding to support tickets. all you get is automated mails back who tell you “fuck you”. And since you would be tied to one Account, you wouldn’t be able to use the quest anymore.

    • ¥DK¥

      Create a Facebook account with a Internet nickname, like Kontis , problem solved.

      • iThinkMyCatIsAFlea

        Problem with that is, if you already have a Facebook account, they’ll know that your fake account is yours.

        Facebook already collect data on users that don’t have a Facebook account.

        Google Facebook is spyware.

        • doublej42

          Why? It’s in their terms of service and privacy policy.

      • Jistuce

        They have a habit of banning accounts with names they think are fake(in at least one case, it was one of their employees’ account, and the “fake” name on the account was the same name facebook hired and paid them under).
        And it seems like if all your game purchases are tied to a facebook account, you will lose them all when facebook decides to ban you for having a fake name.

    • dk

      if it required a real name ….for real ….it would require your id card …which might happen at some point but not at the moment

      • VR-Tests

        Facebook already DO requires you to upload a id card or similiar document in a lot of cases to proof that you are really you.

        • dk

          yes when there is something wrong with the account or suspicious or if it’s stolen …they don’t require it when u create the account

          • VR-Tests

            i have lots of friends who created a account and then a few days or weeks later facebook wanted from them that they input their phonenumber and upload a id. it happens at random.. you can’t choose. and if it happens, you need to do it or you lose access to your account. so what ever you say.. it’s shitty from facebook and creating a fake fb acc is not a solution.

          • dk

            basically 90% of the people I know have alias account …if not from the beginning of facebook for many years

            …and they still don’t require your id for creating the account which was the point

          • VR-Tests

            not creating the account, but shortly after or at random. and that is enough to make it not rly a solution. people want to buy games.. and if they use a fake acc for doing so and facebook screws them over, it’s bad.

          • Grim Fees

            All it takes is for someone else to report your account as “fake” or “not a real person” and facebook will instantly require real ID to reinstate your account. It doesn’t even matter if your account is obviously real and not fake, people report you if they don’t like what you say and then some sheitclown at facebook will flag your account for real id verification. So, try again, skippy.

    • TechPassion

      They want to know what porn genre you like and how often you watch it.

  • BonWOLF

    Users cannot opt out of sharing VR usage activity with Facebook

    • johann jensson

      Damn. I’d really like to give Facebook my VR usage activity, but i don’t use a Facebook profile with my Rift S. Let’s see what i’ve played on my Rift S since mid 2019:

      – Lone Echo
      – The Witcher 1
      – The Witcher 2
      – The Witcher 3
      – Black Mesa
      – Half-Life: Alyx
      – Jedi: Fallen Order

      Most were PC games w- VorpX. I doubt FB can (or likely is willing to) do anything with that data, LOL… []-)

      • WyrdestGeek

        When I got my Oculus Quest, I went to set up a fake FB account in anticipation that something like this would eventually happen.

        It wouldn’t let me. It could tell my physical location and all of FB was like: “gosh, it seems suspicious.”

        In the end, I went for setting up just a fake email.

        Now I think about, I might be able to Tor my way to a throw-away FB account, and tie my Oculus email to that. Maybe.

        Also, per the Voices of VR guy: note: the device can potentially pick up all your body movements and record all that.

        Note the five built-in cameras and the mic– all potentially recordable.

        Five years hence, when whatever is left of the U.S. government calls Zuck back for the 50th time after it comes out that all the O Quests and O Rift S’s, etc were recording audio and video the whole time and using neural nets to process it all,

        Zuck will look right at those Congress critters and say it was an accident.

        ———-

        My apologies for going into the hardcore conspiracy theory place.

        2020 just kind of brings it out in me.

        Fwiw, I hope I’m completely wrong. I hope I’m concerned over nothing.

        I guess we’ll see how it all shakes out.

        —
        Furry cows moo and decompress.

        • Hokhmah

          Most people have smartphones with mics and cams … and you think a VR headset might be the biggest privacy threat? Also if I look in history books and analyze the last 100 years, it was mostly a bigger threat if states had access to such data instead of companies.

      • Jonathan Winters III

        How was the Black Mesa/Vorpx experience for you?

        • johann jensson

          The VorpX experience was good, except for some flickering of the weapons (graphics glitch). Problem was that i didn’t like the game – the Xen chapter was extremely disappointing, and that was my favorite part of the original HL. Next time i’ll play HL: Source instead.

    • Adrian Meredith

      Is that even legal? I thought GPPR prevented such things

      • WyrdestGeek

        Zuck doesn’t care a whole lot about legal. Obviously. And the UK is leaving the EU.

        *If* the other member EU nations are able to exert enough pressure, via fines on FB, then FB might change its data collection practices *with regard to *those citizens that are covered *only***.

        And everyone else in the literal world is still screwed.

  • indi01

    nothing surprising here.

  • Wow

    Count me out then… It’s just unfortunate Oculus was bought by Facebook out of all tech companies. The earlier days were much nicer… For some reason, I was one of those who were holding out hope the Oculus identity wouldn’t fully be disintegrated, but that was obviously wrong.
    I really only use the Quest these days, but I’m jumping ship to whatever decent wireless/standalone alternative will come.

  • johann jensson

    Yup, that’s what’s been expected for a while now. Luckily i’m gone to WMR soon (G2 :), and in the future maybe i’ll go full SteamVR (when Valve finally manages to fix their low resolution problem).

  • Luigi001

    I think this isn’t that tragic if we have a reality check for a moment:

    Oculus/Facebook aint that great. There are and always have been good alternatives. HTC Vive was pretty good, then Samsung Odyssey was pretty good, HP Reverb is good, Valve Index is good. Even when you use 3rd party tools the 2016 non-pentile PSVR looks pretty nice running PC games with that pure aspheric non-Fresnel lens.
    People in these small community sites and reddit have put Oculus and Facebook on a pedestal and created this fake image that Oculus headsets are somehow superior when they just aren’t. They aren’t bad but they aren’t ahead of the competition.
    Conisdering everyone these days uses the same LCD panels and Fresnel lenses and same quality outside in or inside out trackers, who cares what headset you use anymore? Sure, some are overpriced but even price difference isn’t huge unless you want a full Index kit or for some reason consider HTC an option in 2020. Even WMR headsets that cost even less than Oculus S these days are pretty good.

    Then you have Quest. It’s a closed platform with shitty graphics. Wireless VR doesn’t justify the limitations after a while.

    Then we have few exclusive games. FEW. Some of them aren’t that great either. That’s it.

    Finally Facebook does research. Cool, did you know there’s a huge community of researchers puhsing AR and VR forward? Maybe not if you only use UploadVR and RoadToVR or reddit as your news sources. Check r/AR_XR_MR just as a single example or go to scholar.google.com and type “virtual reality”. Most of their research is not something they started themselves or will be the ones to continue. Varifocal mechanical or liquid crystal lenses, hybrid Fresnel lens profiles, pancake lenses, fixed and dhynamic foveation, AI upscaling…I could go on. None of these are something Facebook has invented or is working on alone.

    So when it comes to the hardware, the games, or the research, we don’t need Facebook. This is not a ramblings of a Facebook hater, this is just facts. There has been miniscule amount of real upgrades or research after CV1 was released. Real upgrades would be FOV, resolution, HDR, eye tracking.

    So I say, if Facebook is becoming a walled garden, let them. You shouldn’t care. The only companies that invest in VR heardware but understand gaming are Sony and Valve, not Facebook.

    • benz145
      • Luigi001

        Sorry didn’t mean to imply you’re a bad news source, rather “not enough”. I don’t expect to only watch CNN or Fox News and assume to know enough about scientific progress thanks to them, it’s not what they are for. Not that CNN or Fox News are reliable or comparable but you get the analogy.

        • silvaring

          I’d say RoadtoVR are leagues above those bastardizations of news that you linked above. But thats just my perspective : P

          • Luigi001

            “Not that CNN or Fox News are reliable or comparable”

      • Ad

        I loved this paper: https://uploadvr.com/facebook-holographic-vr-glasses

        If you think for two seconds, that photo they include is a person wearing a piece of plastic nothing on his face. It has no relation to reality, it’s basically an ad. I stopped reading anything about facebook research after that. I don’t think you’re as bad as UploadVR for sure, but everyone reports on these things and feeds this narrative that a Quest more powerful than the PS5 with feet tracking is coming soon. It kills any attention for other news in the VR space.

        • gothicvillas

          I agree, most websites jumped on the hype train and reported things that “don’t matter” and gave platform to the beast.

        • Hokhmah

          Yeah so many companies/organizations researching and developing stuff like Varifocal Optics … NOT. Some stuff is hype, wishful thinking, ads, … but nonetheless whether one likes FB or not, they put a lot of money in VR/AR development and show results.

          If the others are so brilliant, why is only Oculus/FB having a real good Inside-Out tracking or hand/finger tracking? WMR is slowly becoming better, but if you think about how long it exists and the progress, FB is a lot faster and better in their development.

          • Ad

            Other people are, but for AR. There are AR contact lenses.

    • Ad

      Facebook is making a gamble that can take over VR, that they have the market share and the Quest is going to kill every other headset. Overly generous reporting has helped them, multiple big tech outlets told people to get the Quest over any other headset, often omitting basic flaws. I think they won’t succeed but it’s a dangerous game.

      • Luigi001

        No amount of generous reporting is going to sell hardware and apps in the long run. With brand you can sell an overpriced okay-ish hardware like an iphone but if the hardware is just bad people won’t use it purely as a fashion statement, especially for a gaming hardware where the content is interactive media, not a gimmick time-killer app.

    • Ad

      That would be nice but the quest is getting absurd attention. Polygon, today, republsihed a review of the Quest where they say “Just go buy a quest, Seriously.” Wtf? And that’s after a long weird rant about the quest is the one headset that won’t go obsolete. Again, we literally have photos of the next Quest and they republished something they should have known was untrue then. That is why Facebook thinks they can do this.

      • Luigi001

        From Linus Tech Tips to Polygon I genuinely believe they either are bribed by facebook or kissing its ass for some serious favors in the future, or just one of them doing that and the rest parroting the review. Wouldn’t be the first time. Did you know if you as an individual influencer or a company review something with a bad verdict you are less likely to get anything in the future from the same company, at least early like the other reviewers.
        Even in the gaming industry it’s taboo to give a bad rating to a game that others have given good ratings, or reviewers are more hesitant to give negative reviews to a game by well known publisher/firm. Take for example Death Stranding, the game would probably be ignored if it didn’t have Kojima making it.

        So it’s probably favors mixed in with some human psychology.

  • Greyl

    Best solution is to just create a dummy Facebook account and turn on as many privacy settings as you can.

    • benz145

      The unfortunate part is that this is technical against Facebook’s ToS. Unlikely to be enforced, but they will still have an avenue for tracking you via the account which will interface with cookies on other websites.

      • Greyl

        I’m talking about people who already don’t use Facebook, and would never log in to it while browsing the web. For them, it’s not going to be that big of an issue.

        • benz145

          You might be surprised at the level of tracking that happens. I do not know specifically if Facebook does this, but I wouldn’t be surprised; companies like Twitter will identify devices that you are not logged into by associating them with information from those which you are logged into.

          So for instance, if Quest was a Twitter headset, you’d need to be logged in to the headset and on your phone for the smartphone app. Even if you never signed in to Twitter on your PC, they could identify the PC as yours because it shares the same Wi-Fi hotspot. From there they can track some of your PC activity because they know it’s your PC and many sites you visit employ Twitter cookies even when you aren’t logged.

          • Greyl

            If anything, I’m now more worried about using Twitter than Facebook after reading that, lol.

          • kuhpunkt

            Facebook is probably even worse.

          • Weston

            Facebook is DEFINITELY the same or worse. They use pixels (a single pixel image on a page, which ALL cookies are sent with these requests unless you disallow that) all over the place that send cookies to their servers (and ad partners) which is constantly building a huge neural network of interest data points for each and every one of us. All that’s needed is a link between cookie/IP and a name to suddenly be considered LIKELY to BE that strongly-connected-network of non-signed-in user behavior.

            Facebook mines the shit out of all human data they have access to, VR included. If you feel that this is unethical (which it is in my opinion) then do not buy a Facebook product, start using a privacy oriented browser, use a Google search proxy (like DuckDuckGo), and interact with others over encrypted services like Signal or Telegram.

          • I made a decision to minimise my data footprint starting earlier this year; switching to Firefox browser (instead of chrome), duckduckgo search (instead of Google) and always using my VPN. Dumped Gmail for encrypted protonmail.

            Very different “view” of the www with tracking off and Google services withdrawn, many sites refusing to load as you won’t let them collect data.

          • Rudl Za Vedno

            The sane happens with google account. All big social media platforms and search engines and even some retailers like Amazon spy on us. It’s just scary when you deep into it. The only way to stay semi anonymous is by using trusted payed VPN service, data encryption and Thor.

        • Warscent

          Still a futile attempt .

    • MeowMix

      IN the new terms, it states merging accounts is a permanent process. Thus, if your fake Facebook account is terminated by FB, then it’s possible you lose access to your purchased Oculus content.

      As of now, linked FB accounts are not technically merged. Their FAQ said they’ll be a notice to merge when the time comes.

    • Warscent

      That will do nothing.

  • CURTROCK

    Good. There will be no ambiguity about it now. Don’t like Facebook? Don’t buy an Oculus HMD.

    • WyrdestGeek

      Fair.

      I wish it wasn’t, but it is.

    • Grim Fees

      Thanks, I won’t.

  • sebrk

    We all knew this day was coming. Feels good to never ever buy anything more from Oculus then.

    Also fuck you Facebook.

  • Gamer1st

    Well this’ll save me some money. No more store buys for them from me. If this doesn’t carry over to the single player part of games it’s not a big deal. But I’m not taking that chance.

  • Khagrin

    Not *at all* happy about this announcement. I don’t have a Facebook account and hoped to never have one. Guess I’ll have a couple of years though, and then, or sooner, a competing device will get my money.

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    LMAO, Zuck count me out, no data mining happening on my ass. I didn’t buy Quest to be your biatch :)

    • CURTROCK

      Ok. Bye.

      • Rudl Za Vedno

        I’m going nowhere, I still own a Reverb & G2 soon hopefully LOL

    • MeowMix

      But it sounds like you still bought a Quest which for the most part already requires a FB account for basic social features (something the Rift can bypass since it uses a PC – discord, STEAM, etc) . . . .

      • Kris Bunch

        I have a Quest, but with Virtual Desktop app you can bypass the Oculus Store to get to Steam cause it streams from a PC.

  • The biggest impact I see from this is that the “non-big-enterprise AND non-consumer” users will be forced into the overkill (and overly priced) solution of Oculus For Business – primarily I’m talking about school teachers, librarians and museums who are creating one Oculus account and connecting multiple Quests to use Tilt Brush, Anne Frank etc.

    It’s such an under-served yet high-potential middle segment of the market that Facebook is blatantly disregarding in a strategy move like this. I wonder if they will offer a better solution for them, or if those users will simply have to look for an alternative supplier.

  • wowgivemeabreak

    I see what you did there with that image. “F” Oculus. Nice!

    As a Quest owner (and also Rift CV1 though I stopped using it when I got the Quest in May 2019), I’m done with buying future Quest or Oculus headsets and I’m most likely done buying Quest games as I don’t want to feed the beast by letting them get their 20-30% cut.

    I kind of want devs to boycott Oculus now though I know they most likely won’t given the big revenue stream that it brings, especially with the Quest store. It’s one of those situations where I don’t want the devs to lose out on money but wish they would stick it to farcebook by boycotting their ecosystem. It’s obvious that lost revenue is the only way that company would ever possibly consider walking back this absurdity.

    • Rudl Za Vedno

      The sad truth is Zuck and other shareholders would pull a plug on Oculus as soon as they realize their vision of spreading their social media platform into VR space and data mine s*it out of the users won’t come to tuition. That’s the only reason why they’ve prepared to buy & support Oculus in the first place.

      • doug

        *fruition. To bear fruit.

      • MeowMix

        as they realize their vision of spreading their social media platform
        into VR space and data mine s*it out of the users won’t come to
        fruition.

        and you realize VR extends beyond just PC VR users right ? The Oculus Quest already disproves your point (growth, attachment rate, and users already showing a willingness to link a FB account).

        I’m a fellow PC VR user, but I’m not blind to what’s going on.

  • Jason Pilley

    If you subsequently lose your FB account for wrongthink, what happens then??

    • You would be SOL and then lose access to all content on that account.
      Friends don’t let friends buy Oculus.

    • Warscent

      That will happen.

    • WyrdestGeek

      That’s a disturbingly good question.

      God, I hate FB. On so. many. levels.

      I’ll go post about it on FB! J/k. Although I am sadly “addicted” to FB messenger.

      I gotta get more platform diverse.

    • MeowMix

      TBF – from the hysteria garnered by major media, FB is probably the safest place for ‘wrong think’

  • We all knew this day was coming. I’ve been telling Oculus fanboys that this would happen for years and I’ve been steering away my audience from Oculus headsets for several years due to their parent company.

    If the next Oculus adds foveated rendering, that means inside eye tracking, which means capturing images of your eyes (a genetic fingerprint) using internal cameras to track where you’re looking in-game, then Facebook will be collecting that information and selling it too.

    Facebook is a data company. They make money from selling their users data. The more they know about their users, the more money they make selling everything they know about you. Jump ship while you can.

    • silvaring

      You think any VR company selling eye tracking headsets is *not* going to sell or use that eye tracking data to benefit their algorithms and cash flow? Come now….

      • Rudl Za Vedno

        No, because tech companies like Sony, LG, HP &co create revenue by producing and selling material products, not by collecting and selling information to the 3rd parties like Google, Facebook and Amazon do.

        • silvaring

          Just because they aren’t obviously selling it to advertisers doesn’t mean they aren’t collecting it, to be sold off at a later stage. And to say data isn’t a ‘material’ product is a bit silly, I mean it’s not hardware, but it most certainly is material.

        • MeowMix

          ummmm, HP is based on Microsoft tracking tech tho ….. I’m sure Microsoft will use your data, like they currently do with W10/W7.

          LG doesn’t have VR headsets

    • MeowMix

      TBF – when Oculus does finally release their eye tracking headset with digital varifocal displays, I’ll be the first in line to buy one. And I’m in a field where gaming is considered immature and frowned upon. But that ain’t gonna stop me.

    • Dylan

      You do realize that foveated rendering already exists and does not always involve eye tracking? The current most common implementation is rendering in lower detail the progressively farther you get from the fovea of the eye, which is usually directed at the center of the lens.

    • NooYawker

      I uninstalled Beat Saber from my steam library when they bought it. I want nothing to do with Facebook.

  • Nilok

    This is a horrible idea, please dear god don’t force them to link!

  • superdonkey

    Don’t see the big deal, login to Facebook once a year to say Happy christmas to family and that’s it. I don’t see how they are destroying me dr evil style.
    I’m more annoyed at the stupid prices of quest games. Oculus store is way over priced.

    • kuhpunkt

      Because people don’t want fucking FB accounts – not even one where you just login once a year.

      • MeowMix

        You can disagree, but that’s probably not worthy of downvoting their comment.

    • Bob

      The issue is that they track and hold your data. Once that profile of you starts it cannot be removed, its out on the internet forever. One day, if not already, that data will be leaked or hacked. Now this profile of you exists online for any bad actor to use against you for the rest of your life.

    • doug

      destroying me dr evil style

      That’s a strawman argument. Have fun with the in-game ads zuck gets paid for you to look at.

    • gothicvillas

      I dont think you really understand what this is about… and FB feasts on sheeple like you :(

  • deHavilland

    We knew that’d happen ─ from day one, didn’t we? The leopard cannot change his spots and Zuck cannot jump over his shadow (and data greed). So it’s “Good-bye Oculus” had a nice time with DK1, DK2, Rift, but I won’t miss you anyway. Now it’s Reverb, Pimax 8KX and I am on preorder of the G2.

    • Ryan McClelland

      Except Facebook literally promised it wouldn’t.

      • deHavilland

        Correct! But not the first time Zuck proves to be a reckless liar…

      • Jonathan Winters III

        Interesting – link?

        • MeowMix

          I think it was more Palmer promised this wouldn’t happen. I don’t believe FB themselves said anything of the sort

  • ReverendTed

    Well, I’m glad I’ve made almost all my purchases for my Rift CV1 through Steam. Only have a few exclusives (and a handful of free titles) purchased through the Oculus store. I don’t have and don’t need a Facebook account. By 2023 I’ll probably be ready for a new headset and I’ll pick someone else.

  • TechPassion

    Just setup a fake Facebook account. I have a few facebook account. None of them for my real name.

    • Rudl Za Vedno

      I’m sorry to break it to you, but as soon as you open FB account, FB will follow & collect your data through cookies. It’s completely FU. The only way to stay anonymous is by signing up and signing in through VPN, but FB usually recognizes and blocks that option.

    • Warscent

      Once you opened that demon portal, the fake accounts you made became irrelevant. They now have your data fingerprint and will follow you on all devices until a proper exorcism is performed.

    • Phil

      problem is they look for fake accounts and delete them. so you will lose all the games you purchased on the store

  • TechPassion

    Facebook wants to know what porn do you watch. bbc or maybe teens or milfs.

    • Warscent

      Then socially engineer you to prefer trannies.

      • MosBen

        Transphobia is not ok.

        • Warscent

          I didn’t say it was. My point still stands.

          • MosBen

            You didn’t have to say it. You performed it. You should really just delete your comment because it’s gross.

  • Nilok

    I wonder how fast there will be rooted Oculus firmware that allows you to bypass the Facebook/Oculus login because of this.

    • Ad

      That would be great but I don’t know how long that will take.

  • Rudl Za Vedno
  • Warscent

    No more oculus for me.

    • Jetson

      Same here. I’m getting in contact with my EU communion contacts today to look into this. They can not force someone to have a social media account by a certain date especially when the product was bought before these rules were announced.

      • MeowMix

        Read the Oculus account FAQ, for existing headsets you do not need to merge your Oculus account by the 2023 deadline.

        Although, they state if you do not, you may lose out on some functionality (which I assume may be something like FB online features). But the FAQ clearly states you can continue to access and use your existing hardware and access your Oculus library past the 2023 deadline.

    • nejihiashi88

      me too even though i have cv1 i won’t buy anything from them.

  • WyrdestGeek

    I have an Oculus Quest.

    I have attempted to keep “it” from knowing my identity, but at this point, I can’t be sure if I’ve succeeded or not.

    I had hoped someone would find a way to rip all the “Facebook-ness” out of these things– just go full side-load *before* the inevitable Zuck crackdown, but I suppose that was good ol’ wishful thinking.

    —
    Furry cows moo and decompress.

  • Foresight

    Saw this coming since 2014…

  • Bartholomew

    “I don’t like Oculus headset because Facebook spy on me, so I buy SteamVR headset”.

    But then they install “Facebook spy on you” launcher on their computers to play, via Revive, “Facebook spy on you” VR exclusives.
    Are this people mentally retarded?

  • marcandrdsilets

    You guys know that you can put your whole profil to private right ? Like nothing will be visible to anyone.

    The funny thing is that most people that are complaining already have a fb account (+google home, a phone in their pocket, alexa in their car and siri on their wrist).For gaming people are using steam, origin, ubiplay (where they already have a list of all their games, friend list and credit card number) and that all the communication and chat are running on their server.

    Pretty sure that most people saying that they wont buy a oculus headset anymore are already using a different headset OR will buy it anyway. Oculus want to become the platform for social VR I don’t see where linking your oculus account with the social platform they already have is a problem.

    • Ad

      Facebook was genius when they said they were adding privacy by letting you hide things from your friends. Everything can be private from your friends (sort of) but nothing is private from facebook.

      • Jonathan Winters III

        Yup, because FB considers their users sheeple to be used and manipulated for FB’s huge financial benefit.

  • WyrdestGeek

    Now that I’ve had more time to think about this, the path forward seems clear: If I want to keep occasionally doing VR, I need to go ahead and buy a PC with a good enough graphics card, and go that route. I’ll come back to mobile VR whenever there’s a non-Facebook pwned way to do so, but not before. This will need to happen by the end of the CY.

    Zuckerberg is not your friend.

    —
    Furry cows moo and decompress.

  • marcandrdsilets

    Facebook ,Apple, Google, Twitter, Tiktok…name any social media companies and you can be sure they are selling your data. Do you think that steam is now selling all the platform stats and user retention data ? There are cameras all around cities, people have open smartphone in their pocket with a camera that is filming their face everytime they use it. Apple has a very complex 3d scan of your face, they could technically 3dprint your face of do very high quality deep fake with all the data they get from it. Private life is no more, we have to deal with it.

    The next oculus will add foveated rendering on their next gen for sure. It will allow lens based DOF and a higher resolution/fidelity rendering with lower processing power. It will also be used to drive your avatar and do realtime facial mocap and track your emotions and lip movement. It is just common sense, this is the future or VR. (By the way, the first headset that was supporting foveated rendering was the HTC Vive not an oculus headset)

    • Ad

      1. The Quest already uses foveated rendering, it has to because it is so weak. If you mean eye tracked then no, eye tracking costs at least 200 bucks to add to a headset so it won’t be in facebook ones for like two years.
      2. Facebook, google, and Amazon have the most data collection and the worst by far. Steam isn’t selling your data, they have way less and have no need to. Whereas Facebook makes over 90% of their money from ads.

      • marcandrdsilets

        Quest uses fixed foveated rendering and it’s game based not activated by default. It’s simply to get the most out of it, it’s a very efficient optimisation technique. If set properly, active foveated rendering is invisible to the user since it’s cutting resolution in peripheral vision. Pc games and the next psvr will probably use it to in the future. This will make 4k/8k rendering possible on consumer hardware. And no, active foveated doesn’t cost 200$… that number comes right out of your head you’r just trying to prove your point here. All it requires is 2 cameras and ir leds. The next generation of snapdragon XR2 is made to support 7 cameras by default, from what we see right now facebook is using 4 cameras for inside out and 3 for expression tracking and includes foveated rendering (2 for the eyes and one for the mouth)

  • R3ST4RT

    Meh.

  • We knew that this day was going to come, sadly

    • Ad

      Lotta devs coming forward. Many leaving, lots sharing stories of Facebook “screwing” them, and it makes me think Valve needs to swoop in for at least a few, like bigscreen and webXR.

  • dk

    time to use my Blank Account

  • Dustwitch

    Sickening move.

  • leveler

    Now where are those guys that “you can use a quest without a facebook account”?

  • Jonathan Winters III

    Terrible idea for this ONE reason: Facebook often deletes accounts, with no warning and no recourse, for the smallest of reasons – reasons you will never be able to find out, because their support won’t divulge. Losing your profile, games, VR contacts etc would be catastrophic.

    Methinx I’m checking out the Reverb G2 and sticking with Steam VR.

  • brandon9271

    Zuck you, Facebook!!

  • Hurricane

    I’ll be sure to get rid of my Oculus by 2023.
    Facebook can go fuck itself.

  • MosBen

    Welp, time to hope for someone to release a mobile VR HMD that is on-par with Quest. The problem, of course, is that Facebook paid devs a bunch of money in the early days to make apps for the platform, so even though content still has a long ways to go in VR in general there’s a reasonably well-stocked Quest library for people who buy a new device. It would be pretty hard for a company to just start fresh, especially since as a mobile device they can’t just allow you to play your Steam games.

  • ThatGuy984

    Looks like I will be selling my oculus rift S by the end of 2022 and switching to Valve Index like i should have done from the get-go. I knew Facebook purchasing Oculus was bad idea.

    • Hokhmah

      Index is unfortunately no option for me. It’s almost perfect but the displays (colors/contrast) and especially lenses (glare problems) are a No-Go in this price category. If the Reverb G2 would have Lighthouse (option), I think most people would stop buying Index and go directly for the HP headset.

  • Dylan

    To all of you who are freaking out, remember you used google to at some point find this site and maybe even this article, and Google is tracking you *much* more than even Facebook. Just create a burner account and don’t post anything on it, no big deal.

    • alboradasa

      The tracking that google does is transparent and widely accepted; this is about trusting a company that guranteed one thing and is clearly delivering another. Many people are not happy about the ethics of Facebook and don’t want their Oculus purchases to be part of that ecosystem. Now they have no choice.

  • TechPassion

    I’m lauging from fools here who were battling for Ocuslus Rift S crap, how amazing it is :)
    It is crap. In all aspects, including spying by Facebook. Samsung Odyssey+ is the only choice beside Reverb G2 and Index.

    • You don’t say? Actually, NO ONE was battling for Rift. That was DEAD the second they decided on Oculus Link.
      The Quest is where it’s at. Why? Standalone. Who here doesn’t understand that Quest is the iPhone of VR. And until someone else comes up with a competitive alternate, it’s not going anywhere.

  • fuyou2

    Quest Killer is here:

    https://www.pico-interactive.com/us/neo2.html

    Better Alternative!

    • Hokhmah

      Nice alternative, but some design decisions are not so nice (talking about the Neo 2 model). 75Hz display and only two tracking cameras. Also seeing how even HTC is struggling with Inside-Out tracking although having more experience with VR makes me wonder how good it’s working with Pico. Last but not least, Neo 2 also doesn’t seem to have IPD adjustment.

      • Head positioning usually works fine even with two cameras, it’s the controllers that can be the issue. Pico doesn’t track the controllers with the cameras but with magnets (how do they work???), and it supposedly works fine – according to testers just a bit more “floaty” than on Quest, and with no occlusion/out of FOV issues.

        75hz is higher than 72? There’s the thing about supported apps – not a lot of consumer/game devs have a big incentive to choose Pico over Quest.

  • fuyou2

    FUYOU2 OCULUS!

    • EliteForceCinema

      Are you trying to say you want Oculus to go out of business for good and get all of their employees to go bankrupt and homeless because you think Oculus is owned by Facebook and that you think Facebook is bad? Cause it sounds like you are, you HTC Vive and SteamVR fantard!!

  • NooYawker

    Who actually believed that they weren’t going to do this? Who was that dumb? But honestly, this won’t hurt them, plenty of people don’t care about their privacy anymore. They’ll tell you everyone’s core business is datamining.

  • TechPassion

    When you pay for something in Oculus Store, with “non-facebook’ account, don’t they know your name, IP and even address? They know, so..

  • Brettyboy01

    WT-Foculus, lol

  • JackRite

    All you guys that are switching away from Facebook please consider switching to Linux as well. If you don’t like Facebook spying on you, you might as well end Microsoft and Apple spying too.

    At first you may think you made a mistake because things will be different. You will need to learn new software (foss) and a new workflow. And admittedly my System76 is more clunky than my Mac but it is the first computer I’ve owned that truly feels like its mine. Think of it as migration that you do over the course of a couple years. Its hard to just cut out the big tech companies cold turkey.

    I’m extremely interested in getting my first VR headset but I’m waiting for linux VR to get more refined. If VR doesn’t take hold on linux, I won’t be using it. I prefer to maintain my privacy as opposed to having my every glance archived for eternity. Linux becoming the platform of choice for VR could save us from a dystopian future.

  • glowingsock

    We understand this for many people would be an issue if privacy and the like would come under circumstances not wanted by users and alike, me included. I have an accoount on facebook made while ago but do not use this as other people do, showing their whole closet and or prvate parts (sometimes) to show. If one are sensible enough to understand, everyone eventually will SEE YOU! ‘They’ can prommise you gold and diamonds (with ‘they’ I mean facebook and alike) but in the end we all should know it is about the mony they care and not so much about your private-parts.

    Just use it accordingly and use your brains, as for so much you can, then I think you are fine. With all the other ‘accounts’ swirling around the ‘internet’ it is hardly you can’t be invisible anymore or be totaly off-grid and be that ghost as many others, but it will cost you. I don’t know what I will do later on if needed to use my rift 3 years from now to login for any reason, i might look for alternatives means, probably.

  • T Taylor

    For me, it’s quite simple. I strongly dislike companies telling me what to do, and so the fact that I have no choice but to open a Facebook account (in order to access a several hundred dollar VR headset which I’ve bought with my own hard-earned $$) really irks me. This is even more egregious in light of Facebook’s “promise” several years ago that users would never require a Facebook account to use Oculus headsets. Will there ever be an end to the hypocrisy and greed? So, let the “invasive user-tracking and ad serving” begin, but I for one, will not be a part of it in this context. I’ve been wavering as to which path to take in light of new VR equipment being released shortly. Facebook just lost one of many customers (I hope) in the months to come. What a short-sighted shame.

  • kobalt staub

    How about if you want to keep your Oculus library but opt for a compatible headset (like HP reverb 2) will they be able to use their tyrannical TOS on you anyways? I mean you have paid for your Apps you should be able to use them without having to comply to their TOS…. unless the apps were never yours to start with loll

  • batpox

    Well, that makes for an easy decision. I was going to buy an Oculus, and now I won’t, for exactly this reason. Tracking bizarreness aside (yeah, they are tracking my behavior for my own “benefit”, so they can “Strengthen Moderation Tools”), what if I post something they don’t like and they block my account? Is my Oculus now toast? This is exactly the type of monopolistic behavior that should get them busted up. Steer clear of FB and Oculus.

  • Grim Fees

    LOFL…unbelievable.