The Oculus Quest 2 recently released, and with it came a new and refreshed opportunity for wireless virtual reality experiences on-par with PC VR. Oculus/Facebook soon announced that new buyers of Oculus products would need to register and connect a Facebook account to their devices in order to use them.
This information hasn't been taken entirely well by the gaming community, and it seems with good reason, as some Oculus Quest 2 buyers have reported losing access to their device entirely after their accounts were disabled by Facebook. Now even more restrictions are coming to light, as it's been revealed that anyone who connects an Oculus headset to a Facebook account and later deletes the account will lose just about everything on their Oculus.
To be clear, Oculus owners who purchased their headsets prior to the Quest 2 launching don't need Facebook accounts - yet. Starting in 2023, this will change, and all users with Oculus accounts will be required to migrate to Facebook accounts in order for the headsets to work. While it was known that users would lose access to their apps if Facebook suspended their accounts, now it has come to light that anyone who connects an account and subsequently deletes it will lose access to their apps, purchases, credits, achievements, and any messages sent utilizing Messenger.
This is undoubtedly upsetting news for some early adopters of the new device. Deleting a Facebook account will effectively brick the Oculus Quest 2 (and any other Oculus headsets starting in 2023), nixing data and rendering it incapable of accessing the Oculus App store. Facebook hasn't detailed any method at this time for restoring apps and data in the event of any accidental account deletions.
For now, Facebook doesn't seem to be budging on its policies. This has led to the sales of the Oculus headsets being paused in Germany, as the country's officials have questioned the legality of requiring sharing personal data with Facebook in order to access the units.
For now, there isn't much Oculus owners can do except to keep an eye on the situation, unless they decide they no longer want their headset and are still within their 30-day return window. Plenty could change between now and 2023, so those who picked up their headsets prior to this rule being put in effect may see the situation change entirely in the next few years, especially if other governments choose to step in. While Facebook is standing firm for now, as more virtual reality devices are produced, the requirement could ultimately drive customers to Facebook's VR competitors.
Source: UploadVR