Have Some Facebook With Your VR: Facebook and Oculus Integration to Become Mandatory

[Raevenlord]

Back in 2014 when Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion, then Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey said that the acquisition was made with respect for the Oculus ecosystem as a whole, and that its management would be akin to that of a private entity that just so happened to be under Facebook's umbrella. Fast forward to 2020, though, and that seems to no longer be the case. Facebook has announced that Oculus accounts will be phased out; come this fall, all new Oculus accounts will have to go through a Facebook one - if you are one of the holdouts from that particular social network, you'll just have to bit the bullet.

The transition will be gradual; starting this October, new accounts will have to be linked through Facebook. Existing standalone Oculus accounts will still be supported; however, they will only be grandfathered until 2023. According to Facebook, they'll still allow users to run their content on these accounts; but any new apps and content that's acquired for the system after then will not be available for usage in such scenarios. Facebook further said that some content might stop working by then, due to integration of some applications' backends with Facebook-bound accounts, capabilities and servers. And thus, Facebook will finally be fully integrated with Oculus, ensuring a new ecosystem of users, and thus, new data on which to base their publicity and marketing efforts. It's all about the value a user brings; and perhaps some social network integration with your VR environments. Because nothing makes more sense than creating Facebook-bound communities in the VR space, and seeing a Like emote pop up on your most recent spaceflight maneuver.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[ZeppMan217]

Why do you need an account to use the headset anyway? Is there an online component of some kind that aids the VR?

 

[Dammeron]

Why do you need an account to use the headset anyway? Is there an online component of some kind that aids the VR?

If You own Oculus Quest, I guess fb account will be required to view the app store.

 

[maxitaxi96]

In the future everything will be facebook!

Sure Mark heres a 360° view of my room through 5 cameras while watching VR-p playing Beatsabre. Nothing new to you...

 

[Caring1]

This is so wrong.
I had my FB account deleted as I don't need or want anything to do with them.
Looks like Oculus is off my list too now.

 

[Vayra86]

Oculus was off my list the moment Facebook owned it.

This was inevitable and if they do something similar to Whatsapp, I'm off to Signal or something else.

Death to MSM (Mass Social Media)

 

[maxitaxi96]

This is so wrong.
I had my FB account deleted as I don't need or want anything to do with them.
Looks like Oculus is off my list too now.

I was just about to buy a Rift S and now this! I really hope for some good alternatives in 2020/2021 otherwise it's another year without VR

 

[Houd.ini]

Guess I will have to sell my Oculus Rift S in 2023 when I cannot use it any longer without connecting to a Feisbukk account.

 

[Dux]

I had Rift S. Was good at first. Then you had to create FB account to add friends in Oculus home. Didn't need that at first. Then they started ignoring Rift S almost 100% when it comes to updates. Quest headsets and software for it sells a lot more.

 

[xkm1948]

Just use Steam VR store only, simple as that

 

[Mindweaver]

I was just about to buy a Rift S and now this! I really hope for some good alternatives in 2020/2021 otherwise it's another year without VR

I'd still buy it. It's a great VR HMD. Just create a burner account. I don't see what the big deal is about having to create a FB account. It's not like you have to use it. I just merged my Oculus account with my FB account (Wife created it years ago....). Just go into settings and turn on only you can see when you are using the headset. Right now FB is the only company offering an HMD that's affordable. Plus you don't even have to use the Oculus store just load up Steam VR and you're in. Plus in 2023 when you can't use the oculus store just start using the better Steam store. I've done this when they drop support for the DK1. It was actually a blessing because steam picked my dk1 up without any issue. Now every time I use steamVR i have to login to Oculus.

Guess I will have to sell my Oculus Rift S in 2023 when I cannot use it any longer without connecting to a Feisbukk account.

No need too just use Steam VR, but really I doubt anyone with a Rift S now will still be using it in 2023. There should be much better and cheaper HMD's by 2023.

 

[Chrispy_]

Zuckerberg was the worst thing to ever happen to VR. Microsoft aren't much better with their mandatory Cliff-house rubbish and an unintuitive, always-on fully-rendered resource drain messing around in the background and generally offering nothing of value whatsoever.

The only thing I want from a VR headset is application support, and perhaps a basic utility to configure headset/controller settings and deal with updates. I don't need some bullshit advert-infested purgatory between me and my VR experience. What I want is to start the application with VR support and put on the headset. Anything that gets in the way of that is bile - to be purged, complained about, cracked/reverse-engineered in order to disable it if necessary, and voted against, with your wallets.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Just another reason to avoid VR....well, at least The Oculus. FB sucks...but I'm odd because all social media sucks.

 

[RedelZaVedno]

I was just about to buy a Rift S and now this! I really hope for some good alternatives in 2020/2021 otherwise it's another year without VR

HP Reverb G2... Way better than Rift S for $599.

 

[windwhirl]

This was inevitable and if they do something similar to Whatsapp, I'm off to Signal or something else.

In a way, they already did. I noticed one day that my instagram account suggested contacts to me that I only had on WhatsApp. Like, I only have Whatsapp for work-related stuff, nothing else. So, you should assume that Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp already share some information between each other.

EDIT: Well, had Whatsapp, more precisely, since my phone no longer is supported, so I went Telegram from my desktop lol

 

[maxitaxi96]

HP Reverb G2... Way better than Rift S for $599.

i'll check that out. Thanks for the tip

 

[Wshlist]

I wonder of there will be a class action lawsuit.
I mean they specifically said it would be separate, and people paid on that basis. So it should be a workable charge.

 

[windwhirl]

I wonder of there will be a class action lawsuit.
I mean they specifically said it would be separate, and people paid on that basis. So it should be a workable charge.

I'd say no, but there is likely someone upset enough and wealthy enough to call a lawyer and start making some ruckus in the courts...

 

[Fouquin]

Boy that didn't age well.

 

[INSTG8R]

View attachment 166029

Boy that didn't age well.

Big Oof!

 

[Bones]

I had thought one day I may try VR just to say I did.....
Not anymore.

 

[Franzen4Real]

Just create a burner account. I don't see what the big deal is about having to create a FB account. It's not like you have to use it.

I was of the same opinion. I see logging into a Steam VR account, or a fake FB account to be about the same thing. Both are going to track when/how you use your headset. If they want to track the VR usage of a fake person on a blank FB account, well...ok then. What they are really going to lose is the revenue from those users no longer (including myself) purchasing apps through their store front.

Coincidentally

View attachment 166029

Boy that didn't age well.

For sure. Unfortunately the entire original Oculus team has all moved on, there isn't an original member left. So that pretty much dissolves the whole "separate entity" from Facebook status that Oculus had after the buy out. This requirement probably would have been inevitable down the road regardless though.

 

[kapone32]

I wonder how this will impact on VIVE sales (getting one of those for sure now). Especially with Games like Star Wars Squadrons begging to played with VR headsets. I guess if you are a certain generation it is a moot point though.

HP Reverb G2... Way better than Rift S for $599.

I am about to turn of my PC and look this up. This is one of the reasons I really enjoy this forum.

 

[Octavean]

I'd still buy it. It's a great VR HMD. Just create a burner account. I don't see what the big deal is about having to create a FB account. It's not like you have to use it. I just merged my Oculus account with my FB account (Wife created it years ago....). Just go into settings and turn on only you can see when you are using the headset. Right now FB is the only company offering an HMD that's affordable. Plus you don't even have to use the Oculus store just load up Steam VR and you're in. Plus in 2023 when you can't use the oculus store just start using the better Steam store. I've done this when they drop support for the DK1. It was actually a blessing because steam picked my dk1 up without any issue. Now every time I use steamVR i have to login to Oculus.


No need too just use Steam VR, but really I doubt anyone with a Rift S now will still be using it in 2023. There should be much better and cheaper HMD's by 2023.

Exactly!!!

My first VR HMD was the Oculus Rift and now I have the Oculus Quest. I went with Oculus options because they were cheaper. However, I didn't want to be locked in to a specific manufacturer so while there where Oculus exclusive games that I was interested in (Lone Echo, Stormland and so on) I abstained from buying them. Simply put, I'm not buying anything from the Oculus store in part due to trust issue but I also don't know that my next VR HMD will be from Oculus.

A side note,...

People who have used / bought a VR HMD know or eventually come to understand that these things are like typical PC peripherals. Its not one and done, you'll eventually upgrade to a new VR HMD. Therefore there is no reason to use something like this Facebook / Oculus fiasco as an excuse to opt out of VR,....although a lot of people are oddly enough just looking for excuses.

 

[DemonicRyzen666]

There are people in the u.s.a who are not allowed on Facebook legally, and by Facebook's policy.

Facebook integration into everything needs to stop for that reason.....

Yet there's is nothing stopping them from purchasing said items.