Well, it was only a matter of time before the beloved Oculus brand would no longer represent the future of VR. Facebook, now called Meta, has just officially taken another significant step towards phasing out the Oculus name by rebranding its entire VR division and VR hardware from Oculus to Meta Quest.

Meta announced the change in a tweet that stated, “New name. Same mission.” The official Oculus Twitter account, which now no longer exists, has been updated with the handle @MetaQuestVR to reflect the new branding efforts.

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

— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) January 26, 2022

Since the announcement, the response across social media has not gone well with fans of the Oculus brand. Many people online have been poking fun and criticizing the company’s decision to replace the Oculus name as a sign of betrayal to the brand and its legacy. In response to the overwhelming criticism, Meta claimed that “change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing!” while reaffirming its commitment and ambitions to building out 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

Others on social media continued to express and be more vocal about their disapproval regarding the name change, which prompted another response by Meta acknowledging the VR community’s attachment to the Oculus brand and stating that this decision was a “very difficult move to make” for the company.

We hear you. 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.

— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) January 26, 2022

Meta has been gradually phasing out the Oculus brand since its Connect event last year in October, which is where it first revealed it’s changing its name from Facebook to Meta as the company’s new corporate entity. According to Meta, this is all part of its long-term strategic goal of simplifying its brand architecture and being able to reflect a much clearer vision to consumers as it pushes towards making the metaverse a reality.

With the rebranding, consumers can expect any products from Meta, like the upcoming new standalone headset, codenamed Project Cambria, to also take on the company’s new moniker, including all other future hardware devices.