Oculus headset fans are ‘mourning’ the loss of the device’s longstanding brand name as Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of the virtual reality (VR) manufacturer, has changed it to the Meta Quest 2.
In a tweet on Wednesday, the world’s top-selling consumer VR headset rebranded to the Meta Quest 2, reflecting a list of changes Meta, formerly Facebook Inc, aims to complete in a bid to build Metaverse technologies for consumers and enterprises.
A cheeky tweet from the Menlo Park-based firm said: “New Name. Same Mission.”
New Name. Same Mission. pic.twitter.com/USJafAPEdW
— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) January 26, 2022
While many responded they preferred the original Oculus branding and others slammed it as “cringe,” Meta restated the change would reflect its ambitions to “help build the metaverse.”
We understand our community will miss the Oculus name, but change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing! We’re hoping to make our ambitions to help build the metaverse more clear with our new name!
— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) January 26, 2022
A Meta spokesperson added,
“We understand our community will miss the Oculus name, but change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing! We’re hoping to make our ambitions to help build the metaverse more clear with our new name”
The news comes after a major overhaul of the tech firm, namely after Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Chief Executive and Founder, said in an interview in August said the firm would shift to becoming a Metaverse company, shocking both Facebook fans as well as the global XR industry.
Facebook later confirmed at its Connect 2021 event in October it planned to officially rebrand as Meta Platforms Inc and restructure operations to reflect its ambitions to build new Metaverse technologies.
It also unveiled a host of products at the event, including its Horizon suite of Metaverse apps, realistic avatar and body tracking tools, as well as its upcoming Quest Pro and AR smartglasses, codenamed Project Cambria and Project Nazare, respectively.
Bosworth Statement on Oculus Name Change
At the event, Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s Head of VR/AR and Reality Labs, also said at the time the Oculus brand would gradually transition to Meta along with its extended reality (XR) solutions.
Bosworth confirmed the product lineup rebrand in a Facebook post the same day, stating the name change would inform consumers the devices they had purchased reflected the company’s “metaverse vision” and consistency across its product portfolio.
@oculus has changed its name to @MetaQuestVR!
Do you like this rebranding?“Meta Quest reflects Meta’s intent to reimagine itself as a social #VR company, not a social media company.”https://t.co/bysjAML3dR#metaquest #meta #oculusquest2 #oculus #vrheadsets @Meta @RealityLabs
— XR Today (@Xrtoday) January 27, 2022
The VR/AR chief added,
“We all have a strong attachment to the Oculus brand, and this was a very difficult decision to make. While we’re changing the brand of the hardware, Oculus will continue to be a core part of our DNA and will live on in things like software and developer tools”
Speaking further on the matter, Bosworth said in his statement that the company wanted consumers to clearly recognise Quest devices as “a Meta product” by “simplifying our brand architecture” and dropping the Oculus branding on its hardware devices by early 2022.
Meta’s product lineups are set to expand significantly over the next few years, triggered by numerous factors as the Quest 2’s popularity, its efforts to develop Metaverse solutions, and massive competition from tech rivals such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, NVIDIA, HTC VIVE, NextechAR, and many others.
