Meta Quest VR headsets will no longer require a Facebook account from August

Users of Meta’s Quest VR headsets will no longer need to have a Facebook account to log in from August. In August, the company will introduce Meta Accounts, which Quest users can use to log in from now on.

Meta emphasized that a Meta Account is not a social media profile, but an account that allows users to log in to VR devices, view and manage their purchased apps. In the future, users with a Meta account should also be able to log in to other Meta devices.

Users can link such a Meta account to a Facebook or Instagram account, but this is not mandatory. When creating a Meta account must users provide their name, email address, telephone number, payment details and date of birth. This information will not be made public, the company writes.

After creating a Meta Account, users must create a Meta Horizon profile. This is a social medium profile, but for the metaverse. This profile also replaces the Oculus profile. Users can specify what they should look like to other users here: ‘as a 9-to-5 character or as a gamer’. With a Meta Horizon profile, users can also choose a profile name and profile picture. Users can make their Meta Horizon profile private if they wish.

The Meta accounts remove the obligation to log in to the Quest headsets with a Facebook account. That obligation was introduced almost two years ago for new users. Logging in with existing Oculus accounts is also possible and will remain possible until January 2023. However, it is no longer possible to create such an Oculus account since October 2020. With the Meta Quest 2 it is not possible to log in with an Oculus account and a Facebook account is therefore required.