This Facebook-connectivity update appears to be rolling out to Oculus Rift users in waves as part of the headset PC software’s 1.8 update. (credit: Reddit)

This week saw the latest Oculus Rift software runtime begin to roll out to PC users, and the 1.8 version includes one new feature in particular: official Facebook integration. The software update is rolling out in waves, so Oculus owners may not yet have this live on their PCs, but once it rolls out, users are told that “Oculus is better with Facebook friends” and are given the option of logging into a Facebook account.

To confirm, this is wholly optional, and the service will still operate normally should users not opt in. And in some ways, this change brings Facebook up to speed with other major online-gaming platforms such as Steam, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network, which all support Facebook-specific features like searching for friends and posting updates.

However, Oculus’s tie-in to Facebook is different than the others in more aggressively tying FB to a gaming service, according to the Facebook-in-Oculus terms posted to the headset’s official Reddit forum. For starters, should you log into Facebook via the Oculus Rift’s PC app, your username will change to your real name. If for any reason you’d rather your Oculus username continue to be your favorite gaming handle, whether for privacy’s sake or just because you like the sound of it, you’ll have to avoid the login.