The Oculus Quest 2 is one of the newest virtual reality headsets to hit the market, iterating on the original Quest's design with a slimmer form factor and some technical improvements. However, concerning reports are beginning to emerge about trouble with Oculus' Facebook integration, with some users even experiencing the device bricking due to an account error, turning it into a 'paperweight,' as some users put it.
A report on UploadVR, and a detailed claim on the Oculus SubReddit, provides more information about what's happening to the device. It appears that in some cases, users connecting their Oculus accounts with Facebook are having their accounts immediately disabled. Normally, there are steps to fix the issue, but for some users even going through that process hasn't helped, as the review system may uphold the suspension – a decision that doesn't seem to be reversible.
For those users, there's little that can be done. The device is effectively unusable afterward, so the only solution is to return it. Facebook has taken steps to curb users having multiple accounts, which is what makes the identity verification process – where the users must present their ID – so stringent.
Facebook claims that the issue is only affecting a "very small number" of users, and referred those experiencing problems to Oculus Support to help solve it. However, Oculus is powerless to resolve the account issues on its end, so it's unclear what Facebook's intended solution is here.
Facebook has stated that users aren't losing any purchased content and that everything will go back to normal once the login issues are resolved, but with the account being banned and no appeals process in place, that doesn't seem to be the case. For users that have been longtime Oculus supporters, that could mean that a vast library of games is suddenly inaccessible due to the error.
Facebook's purchase of Oculus has been unpopular among many of its fans since it was announced. Following Facebook's acquisition of the company, Oculus stated that Facebook integration wouldn't be mandatory, though that has changed. The move has been a point of contention for many fans, particularly those that were early adopters of the platform.
For now, there isn't much that can be done for the issue. Facebook's verification process is currently hindered due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused an increase in wait times for the manual review process. With any luck, some sort of appeals process will be put in place for Oculus users, but it's unclear when or if that will happen.
The Oculus Quest 2 is available now.
Source: UploadVR