It's fair to say Meta's Oculus rebrand isn't proving hugely popular with users of the VR headset. Formerly known as Facebook (you might have heard of it), Meta is doubling down on its new identity by having the name replace Oculus entirely – and we've just been given a glimpse of how it might affect the look of the hardware.
A new Super Bowl ad for the Meta Quest 2 shows the headset with Meta's logo instead of the Oculus design. But while it's a subtle change, the blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail isn't doing anything to assuage those opposed to the controversial rebrand. (Not got into the VR game yet? Check out the best VR headset deals.)
Squint and you'll see it (Image credit: Meta)
The ad, titled 'Old Friends. New Fun', features abandoned animated animals reconnecting with each other from across the world using the Oculus, sorry, Meta Quest 2. After separation, the group is reunited once more inside VR, which is about as dystopian as it sounds.
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But eagle-eyed fans have spotted that the previous Oculus branding has been entirely removed from the device, and replaced with the Meta 'infinity loop', or elastic band, or Pringle, or whatever it's meant to be. And it's gone down about as well as you might expect.
Ignore the dog, check out the logo... (Image credit: Meta)
"This suuuuuuuucks," one user tweets, while another adds, "Stop trying to make Meta Quest happen. It's not going to happen." "You will never hear the words “Meta Quest” ever leave my mouth," another comments, echoing thousands of others who have similarly refused to embrace the new branding. "I’m calling it an oculus till the day I die."
While it's hardly an earth-shattering redesign of the product, it's what the change represents that seems to have many users rankled. Those who've bought into the Oculus brand aren't happy to see it now named after the owner of one of the most controversial tech platforms of our age.
The original Oculus Quest 2 design (Image credit: Meta)
Indeed, so loud has the response to the rebrand been that Meta felt compelled to issue what you could almost call an apology earlier this month. "We hear you," the company tweeted the same day. "We all have a strong attachment to the Oculus brand, and this was a very difficult move 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."
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Still, despite the branding controversy, the Oculus Quest (yeah, we're gonna keep calling it for now) is going from strength to strength. This Christmas was the product's best ever in terms of sales, and if rumours are to be believed, the Oculus Quest Pro is already sounding pretty incredible. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, check out today's best Quest 2 deals below.
Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.
