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Oculus has announced that in order to use its future headsets, users are required to log in using a Facebook account. For those who already have an Oculus account will be invited to merge Facebook and Oculus profile.
Moreover, if the user declines to merge both accounts, they can still use the Oculus profile on their headsets until January 2023. Notably, after January 1, 2023, the Oculus accounts will be suspended.
Users will be able to maintain a separate “VR profile” with a separate list of friends. Besides, old non-linked Oculus headsets will still work. But some apps and games may no longer support.
Oculus is a Facebook-owned brand of VR headsets. Back in 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus, and this decision of requiring to log in using a Facebook account was on the cards.
Full functionality of the Oculus headsets require users to log in using the Facebook account
The purchased content on the Oculus headsets will still continue to work. However, some of the apps and games will require Facebook login for full functionality.
Basically, those apps that require Facebook authentication to run, will not support the use of Oculus account. So, it is advised that the users via the invitation link and merge their Facebook account with the Oculus profile.
Fortunately for the Developers, they can continue to use their non-linked accounts without social functionality. The Business platform that requires a separate login will remain unchanged.
Facebook also mentioned that all the future Oculus releases will require mandatory Facebook login. A new Oculus Quest headset is slated to release this fall.
A new privacy policy will also be administered by Facebook and not by any of the company’s subsidiaries. This means that Facebook will be the sole decision-maker on the use, processing, retention, and sharing of your data.
The social media company aims at streamlining its experiences like Horizon, the social VR world, with the Oculus, which Facebook announced last year.
The move has been slammed by the Oculus users on the official blog
This new change will apply to the users across all the countries where Oculus devices are sold. Well, this decision has not gotten down well among the Oculus users.
Several commenters have slammed Facebook for this decision. Basically, this merge of Facebook and Oculus accounts will now result in a highly targeted ad experience.
Besides, Facebook privacy policy being a mess can be the reason this decision is facing such a backlash.
The founder of Oculus Palmer Luckey, who left the company back in 2017, took to Reddit to apologize for a promise made back in 2014.
Notably, Palmer during the 2014 Facebook acquisition told its users that this merger does not mean they would have to log in using Facebook accounts.
However, the recent changes in policy now require the user to merge their Facebook accounts with the Oculus profile. And this is the reason the founder is facing heat from its users.