IIRC he/his account said “Oculus _Rift_ will never require...” So they killed _Rift_, launched Quest, and started requiring it.

Rift will also require it in a few years.

So the phrasing “Oculus Rift will never _require_...” means they can add something rudimentary, such as SteamVR plug-in, that could enable Rift to partially work, thereby satisfy “require” requirement.

Unless something is contractual and legally binding, I don't know why anybody would take a word of PR at any value. An SLA of 99.99% uptime, sure, I can probably assume there's organization incentive to uphold it, and even still, you should perform your due diligence. Some company like Facebook saying one thing and doing another is to be expected, especially when the stated reason is purely emotional and stands at odds with core business directives.

Not to be too coy, but gaming circles are already pretty bad about questioning marketing narratives. Anecdotally I think it’s gotten worse.

There’s a large incentive for, and a community around “hyping” things. So when they say “You’ll _never_ need a Facebook account” the outlets run with it, and the comments applaud it.

Similar things with the Cyberpunk 2077 “we will have never have micro transactions” statement. People believe what they want to hear in these communities. And it makes their emotional reactions very easy to manipulate.

More specifically, he's matching the bounty put up by someone else.