Meta to lower the minimum age for its Quest VR headsets from 13 to 10

Meta has lowered the age limit for using its Meta Quest headset, giving kids as young as 10 years old a pass to enter the Metaverse.

In its blog post, Meta said that parents will retain control over their children’s accounts for the Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. (Image credit: Meta)

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Facebook-parent Meta plans to lower the recommended age for using its popular Quest VR headsets from 13 years old to 10 years old, the company said in a blog post. The change will happen later this year and apply to Meta’s Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets slated to launch later this year starting at $499. However, kids aged 10 to 12 will still need permission from their parents to set up an account and download apps on the headsets.

“We’ll require preteens to get their parent’s approval to set up an account, which will give parents control over the apps their preteens download from our app store,” Meta wrote in a blog post. Meta said it will also use children’s ages to “provide age-appropriate experiences” such as recommending suitable apps.

Lowering the age requirement to use its Quest headset could help increase interest in VR headsets. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has set out a vision for Metaverse, which he describes as a fully realized digital world that exists beyond the one in which we live. Meta is spending billions of dollars in Metaverse as it hopes to create the next computing paradigm.

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To lure younger audiences, Meta has slowly lowered the minimum age to use its virtual reality apps. Early this year, the company said it would allow people under 18 to use Horizon Worlds, its virtual reality-based social network. But after the intervention of two Democratic senators, Meta suspend a plan to offer Horizon Worlds to teens between the ages of 13 and 17. As of now, Horizon Worlds remains restricted to users 13 and older.

Experts say Meta’s latest move to lower the minimum age for its virtual reality headsets could trigger new privacy and safety concerns with parents and regulators. Over the past few years, accounts of women being sexually assaulted and harassed in the virtual space have gone up. Meta, however, has argued that it offers the right tools to protect its users in virtual reality.

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