Meta will no longer require customers purchasing its VR headsets to log in with a Facebook account to use them. Today, the company introduced Meta accounts, which will start rolling out in August and become the default login for Meta VR devices.

Starting next month, users who’ve been logging into their VR device with their Facebook account will need to create a Meta account and a Meta Horizon profile, the latter being a new social profile in VR. For users who’ve been using a legacy Oculus account to log into their VR headsets, the switch to Meta accounts will happen in January 2023.

It will also be possible to add Meta accounts to the company’s Account Center alongside Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger accounts, and unlock connected experiences: This will include playing games with Facebook friends or chatting with Messenger contacts in VR, though all of this will be optional.

Meta previously made headlines when it started requiring Facebook IDs to use its VR devices, a change that didn’t apply to users who already had an Oculus account. Considering Facebook’s not-so-great reputation these days, dropping the Facebook ID requirement was the right thing to do to make Meta VR devices more attractive to people with privacy concerns.

“In the future, we’ll extend Meta account functionality so you can use it to log into other Meta devices,” the company said today. In addition to VR headsets, Meta is also still selling its Portal smart displays which can also be used in an enterprise setting.

Tagged with Facebook, Meta, Metaverse, virtual reality, VR