Oculus will soon require all its virtual reality headset users to sign in with a Facebook account. The company owned by Facebook says it will remove support for separate Oculus accounts in October, although users can maintain an existing account until January 1, 2023. All users can maintain a distinctive “VR profile” with a separate friends list.
Starting later this year, you will only be able to register for an Oculus account via Facebook. If you already have an account, you will be asked to merge your account permanently. If you do not, you can use the headset normally until 2023, at which point official support will end. Old headsets that use unlinked accounts will still work, but some games and apps may no longer work. Developers can continue with an unlinked developer account without social functionality, and the Oculus for Business platform uses a separate login process that does not last.
Facebook also says that all future unreleased Oculus devices will require a Facebook login, even if you already have a separate account. The company is widely expected to announce a new version of its Oculus Quest headset this fall, and that policy would likely apply accordingly.
The new changes apparently consolidate Facebook’s management of its platforms. A new privacy policy will be governed by Facebook itself, not by the separate subsidiary of Facebook Technologies, and “Facebook manages all decisions regarding the use, processing, storage and sharing of your data.” Oculus will also adopt Facebook’s core community standards instead of using a separate code of conduct, and Facebook will add a new “VR-focused” section to its standards. A single sign-on also simplifies launching experiences like Horizon, the social VR world that Facebook announced last year.
Facebook gradually integrated the Oculus platform after acquiring the company in 2014. In early 2019, it added new VR social features that required a Facebook account and began using data collected through Oculus in advertising. The divisions shared information well beforehand, a fact that has drawn criticism regarding Facebook data collection practices.
In 2018, Facebook confirmed that it could do things like ban connected spam accounts across the platforms, but it has refused invasive tracking of user behavior. And while Facebook’s targeted ad has drawn criticism, it is currently not rolling out any new ads on the Oculus platform. This new policy removes a definitive layer of separation between Oculus and Facebook accounts, though, and it forces anyone who is net on the core Facebook service to finally sign up.
