Meta Quest headsets will finally stop requiring a Facebook account

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The 2020 requirement for most users to log in with Facebook has been changed by Meta. The new Meta accounts don't require users to sign up for Facebook, and they come with a lot of other updates.

The accounts will be available for new and existing users. You will need to create a Meta profile in order to use a Facebook account with a Quest headset. You can use your account until January 1st, 2023 if you have been logging in with it. If you migrate your account, you should be able to see all the apps you bought before.

The new option addresses the fact that a large part of Meta's virtual reality users hated the Facebook account requirement. It shows that Meta wants to move away from traditional social apps like Facebook. Meta account service will be extended to other Meta devices in the future according to the company.

A lot of Facebook account requirements can be found in Meta accounts. Meta account creation requires a lot of personal information, such as your name, email address, phone number, and date of birth. Your Meta account is not a social profile, but you will need to create a Meta Horizon profile, which is social and will appear on other surfaces, like the web.

You can set your account to private, which will allow you to approve people who follow you, or you can open your account to everyone. The accounts use a system called a "followers" instead of a "friend" system. Similar to Facebook, people can still search for a locked-down account on the service, and they can see how many people they follow.

One important difference is that you can create multiple Meta accounts, each with a different profile. This is a way to keep multiple personas, like a business profile and one for gaming with friends. Meta's App Sharing feature allows these accounts to share apps on the same device, and you can link them to a Facebook andInstagram account to enable some features.

The real problem of people being locked out of their headsets over a temporary Facebook suspension, something that is fairly easy to be hit with on that massive platform, is mitigated by a separate Meta account.

Meta's model is more locked down than other competing headsets that don't need an account to set them up. It might be less annoying for people who don't want to deal with Facebook than it is for people who do.