Facebook has had to halt the sales of its Oculus Quest 2 headset and is issuing an urgent recall and replacement of existing headsets' removable foam face pad, following complaints from the community that it was leading to skin irritation and rashes among users.
"As more people started using Quest 2," Facebook said on the Oculus site, "we received reports that a very small percentage of Quest 2 customers were experiencing skin irritation after using the Quest 2 removable foam facial interface. We've been working hard to address the issue, working with experts and making adjustments to our manufacturing process, and communicating proactively with regulators."
This is a more extreme step taken from the initial ones last year, where Oculus announced an investigation into the irritation concerns hadn't turned up any problems in the manufacturing of the face plates. The only change it made then was to reduce the number of manufacturing byproducts present on the devices, which could in some small cases, cause irritation. That appears to not have been enough, though, as report still trickle in about the effect the face masks have on gamers.
To that end, although it suggests that the impact is minimumal and rare, Facebook is now issuing a voluntary recall of its face masks and will also provide anyone who requests it, a silicon cover to protect against further irritation. It will also start shipping Quest 2 headsets with the silicon cover as standard in the near future.
If you want to request a cover, or send back your foam face pad for a new one, you can find the details here.