Update: The newly-renamed Meta is also retiring the Oculus brand. In an update posted to Facebook, executive Andrew Bosworth outlined the social media giant's plan to consolidate its various technology verticals under one name.
"VR will be the most immersive way for people to access the metaverse and as we look toward our goal of bringing 1B people into VR, we want to make it clear that Quest is a Meta product. For this reason, we’re simplifying our brand architecture and shifting away from the Oculus brand." Bosworth wrote. "Starting in early 2022, you’ll start to see the shift from Oculus Quest from Facebook to Meta Quest and Oculus App to Meta Quest App over time."
If you don't wanna click that FB link: pic.twitter.com/wiyXtFUcNb
— Sam Machkovech ☂ (@samred) October 28, 2021
He continued, "We all have a strong attachment to the Oculus brand, and this was a very difficult decision to make. While we’re retiring the name, I can assure you that the original Oculus vision remains deeply embedded in how Meta will continue to drive mass adoption for VR today."
Bosworth also says that Meta Horizon will be expanding to encompass all of the company's "first-party immersive social experiences," shifting from Oculus to "Horizon Home, Horizon Venues, Horizon Friends, and Horizon Profile."
The original story continues below.
Facebook, the beleaguered social media company, has announced that is renaming itself under a new parent company name called Meta.
It was reported earlier this month that Facebook was interested in rebranding itself in order to divorce itself from being seen as "just a social media company." Instead, as founder Mark Zuckerberg spent an hour explaining, the company's big focus is the Metaverse.
This is why Facebook has appropriately renamed itself as Meta, a company that will focus on the metaverse and other future technologies. Meanwhile, social media services like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp will become brands under the Meta umbrella.
In fact, Zuckerberg announced that in the future, customers will not have to use Facebook at all to work with its Metaverse products. To sideline its flagship app is a dramatic step for the former social media company.
Rebranding is not new in the tech industry. Google, for example, created a parent company called Alphabet to which Google is just one brand under its umbrella. Likewise, Meta will exist as an umbrella company where historic Facebook brands exist and new metaverse technologies will be developed under.
But at the end of the day, a new name will not change Facebook or Instagram. But it's clear that Zuckerberg's interest is now fully invested in the metaverse, not social media.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.