after Oculus and Facebook, users will have to switch to “Meta” accounts

Two years ago, Facebook, now renamed Meta, forced users of Oculus series VR devices to drop their dedicated virtual reality accounts and replace them with personal Facebook accounts. Following this decision, the company was forced to recall its VR devices in Germany, and users faced major problems where a suspension on the social network also led to an inability to access purchased VR games. Now, with the launch of a new VR device approaching, the company is changing its mind and introducing dedicated accounts for these devices again.

Meta company wants to allow separation of VR and social media identities

Most VR users most likely already have a Facebook account (which they already use to connect to Quest devices), an Instagram account, and a WhatsApp account, but now Facebook will force them to create another one. The new account will be one for the “Meta” platform, and at the moment it appears to be used only for Quest VR.

The reason this might be good news for Meta VR users is that their social media activity won’t affect access to the virtual reality platform. Then you can have a completely separate identity in VR from traditional social media. Of course, Meta will allow you to connect existing accounts on other proprietary platforms, but this will be completely optional.

However, users’ personal data will still be stored and processed by Meta, and with the data analysis methods the company has at its disposal, it can probably quickly identify that a VR user is the same as one of its Facebook or Instagram users. Most likely, the company is trying to avoid further problems it might have in the market, as happened two years ago in Germany.

Those who haven’t yet switched to logging in with Facebook on Meta VR can use their old Oculus accounts until January 1, 2023, as previously announced. After that date, users will have to switch to Meta accounts, with the transition being a simple one.