Facebook To Acquire Oculus VR, Games Only The Beginning
Facebook is snapping up Oculus VR, maker of the hotly-anticipated Oculus Rift virtual reality gaming headset. For those immediately worried that Facebook will ruin Oculus Rift, fear not: Mark Zuckerberg assured the world in a post that not only will Facebook be accelerating the Oculus Rift gaming platform, it will be leveraging Oculus VR’s technology into other spaces, as well.
Zuckerberg calls Oculus VR a communication platform, and he sees the technology expanding in powerful new ways. “After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.”
“Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction,” continued Zuckerberg. “But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.”
This is a huge development for Oculus VR, as not only will it get the full support (financially and otherwise) from Facebook that it needs to fulfill its wildest ambitions, the company will operate independently within Facebook (and will remain at its Irvine, CA offices), so hopefully all the best parts of the company will remain intact.
There’s reason for that hope; say what you will about Zuckerberg and his ideas about privacy, social media, and selling user data, but the man is truly a visionary. If any major company was going to acquire Oculus VR, it may as well have been Facebook.
The deal is worth $2 billion, including $400 million in cash, according to a Facebook investors release. The deal should close in Q2 2014.
Zuckerberg calls Oculus VR a communication platform, and he sees the technology expanding in powerful new ways. “After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.”
“Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction,” continued Zuckerberg. “But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.”
This is a huge development for Oculus VR, as not only will it get the full support (financially and otherwise) from Facebook that it needs to fulfill its wildest ambitions, the company will operate independently within Facebook (and will remain at its Irvine, CA offices), so hopefully all the best parts of the company will remain intact.
There’s reason for that hope; say what you will about Zuckerberg and his ideas about privacy, social media, and selling user data, but the man is truly a visionary. If any major company was going to acquire Oculus VR, it may as well have been Facebook.
The deal is worth $2 billion, including $400 million in cash, according to a Facebook investors release. The deal should close in Q2 2014.
