Facebook has officially buried the Oculus branding. The current product, Oculus Quest, is now Meta Quest, reflecting the rebranding of Facebook to Meta.
Meta Quest, formerly known as Oculus Quest, will not need to have a Facebook account to use. This could have a huge implication on the sales of the device right before the upcoming Holiday Season in the U.S.
Meta Quest no longer requires an FB account, and multiple other initiatives planned:
It was amply clear that Facebook wanted to retire the Oculus branding. But the social media company first surprised the world with a rebranding.
Facebook is now Meta. The name is a strong indicator and reminder about the social media company’s future plans and ambitions.
The Oculus brand will be retired and the Oculus Quest 2 will be known as Meta Quest 2 from early 2022.https://t.co/a48dh1l2Dc pic.twitter.com/a3eocmGsw1
— UploadVR (@UploadVR) October 28, 2021
Facebook clearly wants to be the first company to create a holistic metaverse for the masses. Meta should include Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality. The Facebook universe should deeply integrate all these components.
However, for reasons not yet known, Oculus Quest, now Meta Quest, will not need a Facebook account to function. During the Connect 2021 conference, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg talked about how they are “working on making it so you can log into Quest with an account other than your personal Facebook account.”
Facebook’s Oculus Quest will soon be called the Meta Quest https://t.co/gP7iTbO0Y8 pic.twitter.com/l9GkqioDDM
— The Verge (@verge) October 28, 2021
Meta will also be reportedly testing this with work accounts first and then moving to personal accounts later down the road. Facebook published a blog post attempting to explain the developments.
How will Meta Quest function without a Facebook account?
The rebranding to Meta will affect the company and its many users going forward, including returning the Oculus branding in 2022, claimed Facebook Reality Labs VP Andrew Bosworth,
“For this reason, we’re simplifying our brand architecture and shifting away from the Oculus brand. Starting in early 2022, you’ll start to see the shift from Oculus Quest from Facebook to Meta Quest and Oculus App to Meta Quest App over time.”
You'll soon no longer need a Facebook login to use your Oculus Quest! 🥽🥳🙌https://t.co/1sLc88ePvy
— Android Central (@androidcentral) October 28, 2021
Facebook hasn’t offered specific details. The company underwent the rebranding exercise because “the name Facebook is a little too limited when it comes to representing various aspects of the company and what it plans to do in the future as a ‘metaverse’ company.”
38/ RIP "Oculus"@boztank says they're "retiring the name" of Oculus & the Oculus Quest will rebrand as Meta Quest.
Facebook Reality Labs will now be known at Reality Labs & eventually to Reality Labs Research
Facebook Portal will become Meta Portal.https://t.co/pGIfzcNvul pic.twitter.com/KgAsPR5BMB— Kent Bye VoicesOfVR (@kentbye) October 28, 2021
Meta will include Facebook’s apps and the ongoing efforts in Virtual and Augmented Reality. However, Facebook will continue to function with the original name.
It is quite likely that Facebook, and more specifically, its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, was inspired by Google’s rebranding to Alphabet. Google continues to function with the original name, but it operates under Alphabet.