Numerous players are reporting that their Meta Quest headsets, including the Meta Quest 2, 3, and 3S, have been bricked following a recent update. The issue is impacting those who have owned Meta Quests for a long time as well as those who have just bought one, as both older headsets and new purchases have been affected.

Meta regularly releases updates for the Quest headsets that fine-tune the experience, add new features, and fix bugs. Generally, these updates roll out in waves and go off without a hitch, but something seems to have gone wrong with the most recent rollout, and fans are upset.

Starting on December 25, some Meta Quest users started reporting that their headsets weren’t working properly following the most recent update. Owners of all three currently supported headsets, the Meta Quest 2, 3, and 3S, have stated that their headsets are displaying a critical error following the update. The error message, which simply states “Your device is corrupt. It can’t be trusted.” seems to indicate that the device has falsely flagged headsets as being modified or otherwise tampered with. While many user complaints have come from those dusting off and updating their VR headsets that have been in storage, others are brand new buyers, so it’s not clear why it’s impacting some Meta Quests but not all.

After players reached out, Meta responded on its official forums, acknowledging the issue and stating that it’s looking into it. However, some users are concerned about the fate of their already-bricked headsets, as they’re out of warranty. It remains to be seen how the fixes will be delivered. In the meantime, players are advised to not try factory resetting Quest headsets, as some have found their units will no longer power on after doing so. Meta’s official advice is to try booting up Quests that have encountered the error by pushing and holding the power button for 45 seconds.

According to some users, Meta seems to have paused the update that was causing issues, with brand-new Meta Quest headsets now being updated to the most stable version that previously released. While this might mean that users who haven’t updated their headsets in a long time or have brand new ones may be in the clear, it would be wise to wait until Meta releases an official announcement and confirms that a fix has been put in place. Unfortunately, this update couldn’t have had worse timing, as many gamers are trying out Quests for the first time that they received as Christmas gifts. With any luck, it won’t take long for a solution to be put in place.

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Meta Quest 3S

Meta Quest 3S is the budget alternative to the Meta Quest 3, one that still offers high-end performance. Supporting virtual and mixed reality, the headset comes with a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, 8GB RAM, HD resolution (1832×1920 pixels per eye), and roughly 2.5 hours of battery life.