Meta is 'making good progress' on removing the Quest 2's mandatory Facebook login

pcgamer.com:

Last October, Meta promised to allow users of the Quest 2 VR headset to login to the device using an account that's not their personal Facebook account(opens in new tab). We're still awaiting this change today, and a Facebook account is still required on the VR headset's first boot, but a Meta spokesperson tells me this long-awaited change in policy should be coming «soon.»

«We shared at Connect that we’re working on making it so you can log into Quest with an account other than your personal Facebook account. We are making good progress on that work and we’ll have something to share soon,» Meta says.

This will be a welcome change from the current login requirement of a personal Facebook account; not only does this lock out users that don't use Facebook, but it also raised privacy concerns regarding how data was used from the headset in conjunction with a connected Facebook account.

I know a few people that decided against purchasing a Quest 2 due to the mandatory Facebook login, and clearly many others were against the login requirement when it first rolled out back in 2020(opens in new tab). Some later bypassed it altogether(opens in new tab). This controversial decision hasn't stopped the headset from rising to become the most popular VR device of all time on Steam(opens in new tab), however.

The Quest 2 didn't require a Facebook account when it first launched. This requirement was added at a later date, and it doesn't appear to bring much functionality to the table. Users were informed they had until 2023 to link their device with their personal Facebook account or lose «full functionality» of the headset, though it would still work. That didn't go down too well for a heap of reasons, and understandably so.

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