Oculus stops selling Quest and Rift in Germany due to regulatory battle

If you live in Germany and are looking to get your hands on some Oculus hardware in the near future, you may have a more difficult time than usual. Facebook has temporarily paused sales of all Oculus hardware in Germany, including the Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest, due to ongoing discussions with governmental authorities. Mixed.de received an English FAQ from Facebook about the ordeal which further explains the happenings.

We've temporarily paused the sale of Oculus hardware to consumers in Germany due to pending discussions with the regulator. We hope to resume sales again in the future.

Facebook says that it was not requested by the German government to cease sales of hardware but is taking "proactive measures" vis a vis its actions today. There's currently no date set for when sales will resume in the country, but it paints a fairly ominous picture moving into the Holiday sales season, especially with the rumor of an Oculus Quest 2 just around the corner. Retailers with existing stock may continue to sell what they have, but Facebook won't be restocking supplies at this time.

Facebook says that existing Oculus customers in Germany have nothing to worry about as these moves only affect customers trying to get their hands on new hardware. Support and Oculus Store sales will continue to be allowed going forward.

While Facebook is remaining pretty hush about specifics, it's not difficult to speculate about what's going on. Facebook recently announced that, beginning October 1, all new Oculus customers will be required to login with their Facebook accounts in order to use an Oculus device. Existing customers won't need to convert their Oculus accounts into a Facebook account until January 1, 2023. European countries have traditionally upheld greater privacy standards than the US, especially when it comes to large tech companies like Facebook and Google.