Oculus AR and VR divisions are now under the umbrella brand of 'Facebook Reality Labs'

(Image credit: Facebook)

A week ago, we learned that beginning this October, new Oculus VR headset owners would need a Facebook account if they wanted to use their devices. "Everyone using an Oculus device for the first time will need to log in with a Facebook account," the company said in an August 18 blog post, while existing Oculus headset owners have until 2023 to merge their Oculus accounts with a Facebook account.

In another announcement, Facebook introduced Facebook Reality Labs, now the name for the AR and VR work being undertaken at Facebook. (Facebook Reality Labs was the name given to the Oculus Research division back in 2018.) Divisions working within Oculus are still called Oculus, however.

"Much like Facebook’s recent corporate rebranding, our emphasis is on clarity—visually identifying us as a part of Facebook while looking toward the future of the next computing platform that puts people at the center," wrote Andrew Bosworth, Facebook executive and head of Facebook Reality Labs.

Oculus Connect, the annual AR/VR developers conference happening digitally in September, is now called Facebook Connect.

Correction: This article originally stated that Oculus VR and AR teams were being rebranded as Facebook Reality Labs. This was incorrect. While Oculus teams will now be under the umbrella of Facebook Reality Labs, the divisions inside Oculus are still called Oculus. We apologize for the error.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.