Meta introduces new anti-piracy measures for Meta Quest 2

Picture: Meta

Meta introduces a new API that performs hardware and application checks, targeting piracy among other things.

The so-called Platform Integrity Attestation API is open to developers who want to protect their VR apps “from unauthorized modifications and potential security breaches”.

Meta lists the following use cases on the Oculus Developer Blog:

• Securing device authentication
• Hardware-based app bans
• Protecting financial and enterprise app data
• External data misuse
• anti piracy

According to Meta’s description, the API generates an encrypted token and verifies its authenticity with an attestation server. If the test fails, the VR application’s app server can refuse to launch the application.

The new measure seems to be optional

Exactly what impact the API will have on piracy and widely tolerated software modding is anyone’s guess at this point. Could the new measure mean the end of custom songs for the native Beat Saber, for example? We will have to wait and see.

Meta is probably most concerned with protecting its own VR ecosystem. Virtual reality is still a niche, and making money from VR applications is a big challenge for many developers. Giving them tools to curb piracy makes Meta’s ecosystem more attractive to developers.

The API does not appear to be a system-wide measure. Instead, developers can choose whether or not to implement the Attestation API. There also seems to be an online requirement for the API to work properly, as the checks require a connection to an attestation and app server.

Supported devices are Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the Meta Quest 3, which will launch in the fall.

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