Meta Says It's Deleting All Oculus Accounts At the End of the Month

Emma Roth reports via The Verge: If you still haven't migrated your Oculus account to a Meta one, you might want to do that soon. In an email sent to users, the company says it will delete Oculus accounts on March 29th, 2024, preventing you from reactivating or retrieving your apps, in-app purchases, store credits, and more. You'll lose your achievements, friends list, and any content created with your Oculus account if you don't migrate to a Meta account before then.

Oculus accounts have been on the way out since 2020, when the company then known as Facebook started requiring new users to sign up with Facebook accounts instead. However, it added the ability to create a Meta account in 2022, offering an alternative to users who didn't want to link their Facebook account to their Quest headset. Meta stopped letting users log in to their Oculus accounts in January 2023. If you've got a Quest gathering dust in a drawer somewhere, now's your last chance to migrate your Oculus account to a Meta one.

You can migrate your account by heading to this page and signing up for a Meta account with the same email you've used for Oculus. From there, you'll be able to access all of the same games, data, and other purchases saved to your Oculus account.

Why not auto migrate to dormant meta accounts?

[rta]

Don't know the internals, but since migration is a possibility, it seems well within their capability to just migrate things over to Meta accounts that would be dormant and make you agree to some "new terms" if you want to resume. If there's an advantage to dealing with megacorps it's that at least they can swing stuff like that.

Re:

[GrumpySteen]

They could, but they get to eliminate a bunch of dead accounts that will never be used again by adding a step where those who want to continue using the Oculus manually create new accounts.

I'm on the fence about moving my own account over or just tossing/selling the thing since I haven't used it the last couple of years. While this does require a minimal amount of effort for those who want to opt-in to having their data transferred, I appreciate that it's an opt-in system. If I decide I don't want it, I d

Didnâ(TM)t they already do this once?

[illafam]

I thought I started with an oculus account.. was told to get a Facebook.. told I donâ(TM)t need it anymore?(lol I tried to remove it.. didnâ(TM)t work) now I need it again?

Re:

[GrumpySteen]

It's literally explained in the second paragraph of the summary. Too bad you couldn't be bothered to read that far.

Users must keep up

[cstacy]

This customer policy is bound to create a rift.

Is an account required?

[evanh]

Does that mean the VR devices become useless without any account? Were they always useless without an account?

Re: Is an account required?

[SuperDre]

Just like you need an account for your iPhone. Yeah you could do without, but you won't be able to use any service or buy apps, so in reality you would have a very limited phone.

Meh

[vrhelmutt]

My Occulus got placed in a box once Facebook bought it.

Re:

[Saffaya]

| Only DKs were available prior to Facebook. CV1 was always Facebook since before the initial preorders.

Mod parent up. This is the truth.

_DK1, DK2, Rift owner.

Privacy? Tracking? Accounts? Shrug

[iAmWaySmarterThanYou]

I got the oculus for my kid about 2 years ago. I setup a new fb account with a new email address, got it on WiFi, played around with it for a few minutes and handed it to her.

They can track the oculus-only email and fb account all they like. Both are used only for that one device.

She used it for 3 weeks and set it aside. I pulled it out this week and got it going again because a friend wanted to try it out. Asked my kid if she wanted to use it again since we moved and changed WiFi since the first time. She couldn't care less. It's dead to her. Dust magnet.

Re:

[evanh]

Where'd the new email address come from?

Re:

[iAmWaySmarterThanYou]

Uh, I created it? What do you mean?

Nobody wants to have to login with Meta...

[Ed Tice]

... just to use a VR headset

Re: Nobody wants to have to login with Meta...

[SuperDre]

Funny, why not? How would you buy apps otherwise? You need an account on your smartphone (iOS at least) if you want to buy apps or use any meaningful service.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

METAs business is to spy on you

Re:

[JackAxe]

I'm probably the exception. :O I bought a Meta Quest 3 knowing it required I sign up to Meta. I avoided the prior Quest because it required a Facebook log in*. Technically I know I'm still connected to Facebook, but public facing at least, it is a desperate area and I was able to set my account friends only.

*I very much dislike Facebook and only created an account to keep my name and likeness.

If the Quest 3 were crap, I wouldn't even bother commenting about this, but the Zuc guy has really hit on s

Re: Nobody wants to have to login with Meta...

[jerrylucky]

Just donâ(TM)t purchase games from their in App Store if you donâ(TM)t want to ever deal with their migrations and further future mess ups. Better off connecting it to a capable PC and doing PCVR games and any purchasing over SteamVR. Meta personally robbed me when they migrated from Oculus accounts in 2020. I spent years back and forth with them and they never were able to restore my account or transfer my purchases. These companies are awful and no consumer who values their money should throw it

sure they're separate...

[SeaFox]

it added the ability to create a Meta account in 2022, offering an alternative to users who didn't want to link their Facebook account to their Quest headset.

If you think Meta is not linking these internally you're a fool.

A prediction

[Opportunist]

A lot of dead parents and grandparents will sign up for new Meta accounts, finally cementing the idea that Meta turns out to be for old (and dead) people.

No problem

[PPH]

You'll lose your achievements, friends list, and any content created with your Oculus account

I have no friends. I have no achievements. I create no content. I just sit here all day with this stupid headset on.

And I thought the Matrix was just science fiction.

Meta stole from me

[jerrylucky]

I loved the quest until Facebook couldnâ(TM)t figure out how to send a password reset to my old oculus account. Years gone by and Iâ(TM)ve lost all my oculus purchase. There was no way to change the email and no spam folder to this day on Gmail will show any password reset for a working Oculus email. Their support was completely useless and unresponsive for weeks at a time. Meta ruined Oculus and for that I will never give another cent to Facebook or Meta. The whole experience gave me a really bad