Facebook is seeking to be clearer about its new ambitions in the battle for the metaverse

 

 

 

Although it was expected, users have not taken long to attack the renaming of Oculus as Meta Quest, made official today on Twitter by the manufacturer of virtual reality devices. The name change is intended to adapt to the Facebook rebranding launched a few months ago, with the aim of emphasising the company’s commitment to what has come to be called the metaverse.

“We understand that our community will miss the Oculus name, but change doesn’t always have to be seen as a bad thing. We hope our ambitions to help build the metaverse will be clearer with the new name,” they said on Twitter in response to one of the first criticisms of the rebrand. Even so, the complaints among the firm’s followers have not ceased with different arguments.

 

New Name. Same Mission. pic.twitter.com/USJafAPEdW

— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) January 26, 2022

 

This is the case of Slade Watkins, who sees how this change ruins years of brand positioning simply to associate it with a company that a large part of his generation hates. “How can you get rid of Oculus? It describes the product perfectly and is instantly recognisable!” exclaims Gil #88Forever.

Despite the poor reception to Meta Quest, it doesn’t look like Facebook is willing to backtrack on the rebranding and take back the Oculus VR signature, which they bought eight years ago in a deal worth nearly $2 billion.

Virtual reality is one of the Facebook owners’ big bets for their metaverse, and on that path in 2020, they took the reins from the creators of The Order: 1886. A few days ago, it was also reported in the press about contacts for a possible purchase of Activision Blizzard before the deal with Microsoft was made official. Sony will soon be launching PlayStation VR 2.

Source: eldebate