Meta Ditches Facebook Account Requirement for VR, But There's a Catch

pcmag.com:

Meta VR headset owners will no longer have to sign in to their Facebook accounts to use those devices... because they'll have to use new Meta accounts instead.

"Starting in August 2022, if you’re new to Meta VR devices or have previously merged your Oculus account with your Facebook account, you’ll need to create a Meta account and Meta Horizon profile," the company says(Opens in a new window). "If you’ve been logging into your VR device with your Oculus account, you can continue to do so until January 1, 2023, at which point you’ll need to create a Meta account and Meta Horizon profile to continue using your Meta VR device."

All of which means that Meta has decided to use both a carrot (no longer requiring VR headset owners to connect their devices to their Facebook accounts) and a stick (requiring those VR headset owners to connect their devices to a Meta account) on its Oculus customers to make sure they won't buck too much as the company tries to lead them into the metaverse. Never mind that many of those people bought their devices back when Meta was still Facebook.

It seems even Meta is confused about the ramifications of this change. "Your Meta account is not a social media profile; it lets you log into your VR devices and view and manage your purchased apps in one place," it says. "In the future, we’ll extend Meta account functionality so you can use it to log into other Meta devices." Yet it also says that "once you create a Meta account, you’ll also need to create a Meta Horizon profile — your social profile in VR."

Here's how the company describes Meta Horizon profiles:

"Your Meta Horizon profile is your social profile in VR and other surfaces, like from a web browser. You can customize how you appear to