How to upgrade from the Quest 1 to Quest 3/3S and get the Quest referral bonus (and game)

[darabo]

Someone posted asking if it was possible to upgrade from a Quest 1 to a Quest 3 while still utilizing the Quest Referral Program. There is little to no information on if this is possible for the dozens of us who still have Quest 1s and want to upgrade to a Quest 3 or 3S. It is not only possible, but it’s possible to both get the referral credit and keep your free bonus game, such as Batman: Arkham Shadow. The Quest Referral Program, which lets you get the referral bonus within seven days of the device's purchase, and the bonus game offers work different, which is based on the account it's first activated on. I've chatted with Meta customer support and since you don't have a Quest 3/3S, it is condoned and even suggested by their customer support since you're not self-referring yourself and you can't even have your own referral link unless you have a Quest 2/3/Pro attached to your account.

The only thing other than a smartphone you need is a separate email address to create a new Meta account.

Disclaimer: This is based on chatting with Meta customer support and it’s an official policy, it can change at any time (at the end of the day I am just a person on the internet passing knowledge along. Also, for transparency, I will post my referral link in the post.

Important - If you are getting a Quest 3/3S and there is a free game promotion (such as Batman: Arkham Shadow): Setup your Quest with your primary Oculus/Meta account. Once you login to the Quest with your primary Meta/Oculus account, you'll get an email confirmation saying to redeem the offer. Redeem it immediately; that way, the game will be registered with that account instead of the secondary account you'll create in a few moments. You can confirm in the Quest app store via the Meta Horizon app that the game is attached to your account ("redeemed with your headset purchase").

After you do that, go to this link and delete the Quest 3(S) from your account, you'll get an email confirmation that a remote wipe has been indicated. Wait a moment and turn off/turn on your headset. Upon bootup, the device will automatically restart on its own and will do a factory reset. (Continue with the steps below to utilize the Quest Referral Program)

Now, in the Meta Horizon app, go to the settings section of the app and log out. You'll be prompted to login or create a Meta account. Click on "continue with email" and create a new Meta account, using either a spare email address including but not limited to via Gmail, iCloud+'s Hide My Email feature, or even DuckDuckGo's email feature.

Before you log into the Quest 3(S) with your secondary Meta account, activate the referral program on your account via a referral link of your choice. Here is my referral link if you need one or want to show your thanks for the guide. 🙂

Make sure you see this page showing you're ready before moving forward (try the above step again if you didn't get that page).

Now that your secondary Meta account has a referral attached to it, simply set up your Quest 3(S) with this account. Upon successfully setting up the device, go to the "Wallet" section in the Settings tab of the Meta Quest app to confirm the $30 has been added to your account, it should have been immediately added to your account (it'll take 30 days for the sender to receive their $30 credit).

With your $30 credit, you can gift games/apps to your primary account no problem. To make the credit go even further, you can utilize referral links for certain apps for a 15% discount, which will even be applied to apps gifted to your primary or another Meta/Oculus account. I'll post my recommendations, with referral links, at the end of the post. Before you purchase any game, click on the referral link for that app and get confirmation for the discount to work. It won't work if you do it afterwards. Many people have posted their respective referral links in different subreddits, other websites, etc.

When you want to gift a game/app to your primary Oculus/Meta account, find your primary account via your Meta/Oculus username or email address. It'll caution you that you two aren't friends and to be careful, but simply proceed. If you're super cautious about it, you can send it to your primary email address and redeem the code in your Quest app. You have up to 30 days to redeem the code, otherwise it'll be voided and your secondary account will get a refund.

Once you utilize all your store credit, you can either sign into your primary account in the headset (you can have up to four accounts active in your headset, including purchase sharing), or do another factory reset and set up the device again to have your primary account the admin for the headset. Don't worry, your purchases, gifted or not, will stay in your account.

Whew, sorry for the wall of text, but I hope this guide will be of service to people!

Edit: The devices section on Meta's website has changed, and I also updated the post with the Quest 3S, Meta Horizon app, promotions, and other updates in mind.

[darabo]

Did you create a Meta account? Technically they are different accounts. You can create a Meta account with your FB one. 

If you're still not able to go into the devices section, you can do a factory reset either in the headset itself via settings, or in the Meta Horizon app under "headset settings". 

[Jazzyvino]

I'm pretty sure I created a Meta account through Facebook back when I set up my Quest 2 over two years ago.

Does the referral still work, even if I didn't remove the Quest 3 from my Meta account before I factory reset it?

[darabo]

Maybe try accessing the devices webpage in Incognito mode on your browser? It might something wonky with the cookies.

I'm not sure what'll happen if you just factory reset it. Hence why it's better to be safe and do it straight from the devices webpage on your Meta account. 

[Jazzyvino]

I just tried Incognito mode and I still get the same problem...

I logged in to my Meta account through email. Because whenever I click the Facebook option, it tells me "Create a Meta account with your Facebook account?" as if I don't have one in the first place?? I do have a Meta account.. And they should be linked, I'm 99% sure of it. I don't understand why It's telling me this. My Facebook and Meta account email addresses are the same...

[Jazzyvino]

Nevermind, I found the issue. For some reason, I have another Facebook account. I'm logged into my main account on Mobile. and I just found the unused one on the browser on my laptop. 

It's going to be annoying to sort this out.

[darabo]

Hey, I'm glad you got it sorted and now know what's the problem. 

Let me know if you have any other issues or if the referral doesn't work! 

Hope you enjoy your new Quest! 🙂

[Jazzyvino]

I think I screwed up a step. Was I supposed to click on the referral link before setting up the new email? I heard you also had to follow yourself first now, so I created an avatar on my alt account and now the referral link doesn't seem to work.

I might have to create another email now

[Jazzyvino]

Just to clarify, I finished making the account on the Meta Horizon app. I didn't pair the headset yet

[darabo]

As noted in the original post, you first create a secondary account and then click on the referral link to activate it.

Then you go through the steps for to configure the headset. 

[Jazzyvino]

I'm sure I did that, but the link just brings me to the home page of the Meta Horizons app. I don't see the referral page that you showed an Imgur image of.