FaceBook buys Oculus VR for 2 billion Smackers

[Scott7]

A little earlier this Afternoon, an announcement was posted Oculus Rift's official site claiming It has joined forces with the Social-Media Giant, Facebook. Buying the Company for somewhere near 2 billion US dollars.

 

http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/oculus-joins-facebook/

 

Now, we've all seen our fair share of small company buyouts in the past. Usually due to financial struggles or the studio just looking to get a bigger name for themselves, but this one strikes me as the most confusing since... Well, why would a Social Networking site that's mostly known for bringing people together and posting silly flash games want a Team of Engineers working on Virtual reality Technology?

 

According to the page, their belief is that they share a common goal toward bringing new ways to communicate and bring a new experience to the world. But normally when a Company joins forces, or buy's one out, they at 'least' have some sort of benefit toward each other. Oculus Is an Engineering team dedicated toward creating Virtual reality. They've received over a million in Donations and possibly just as much toward their developer kits, and Contributions from other companies. Facebook on the other hand is a Social media network, and while they're a giant in their own right: There just aren't many dots that connect that show that either company can contribute for one another.

 

It's all 'very' confusing to me.. Wether the Team at Oculus VR really have fallen Victim to the Allure of the Dollar bill, or this all just a bit joke for April Fool's in about a week.

[CrypticQuery]

The purpose of this purchase is puzzling to say the very least - I wonder if this rules out the possibility of other devs working with the Oculus hardware.

 

On the flip-side, there is still Sony's Project Morpheus to keep an eye on. [Or rather two eyes in! ]

 

[Scott7]

On the flip-side, there is still Sony's Project Morpheus to keep an eye on. [Or rather two eyes in! ]

Indeed. There Is alot of hype surrounding the new device, but for the life of me I hardly know much about it. Are the features similiar to that of the Current Oculus Dev kits?

[Dr. Orange]

I can see it now.

 

I'll be standing in the subway, just minding my own business, maybe listening to my headphones or something. Next thing you know, prep-y kids are walking towards me, with the big ass VR glasses over their eyes, while all I can see is the big FACEBOOK logo sprayed and emphasized across the front.

 

Now what are these kids doing?

 

Playing fucking Mafia Wars in 2D ... because nothing on Facebook is three-fucking-D. 

Nothing. 

 

At least I'll be okay when these kids run into a fucking bus because you can't see out of the glasses. 

 

[Scott7]

Seems already the announcment has taken a few negative glances by some companies. It was pretty commonly known that Mojang was also interested in Making their own 3-dimensional sandbox compatible with the VR headset, after hearing this however? Notch just plain scrapped the deal.

 

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/03/25/notch-cancels-minecraft-oculus-rift-deal-facebook-creeps-me-out/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

[CrypticQuery]

Indeed. There Is alot of hype surrounding the new device, but for the life of me I hardly know much about it. Are the features similiar to that of the Current Oculus Dev kits?

 

I believe they are very similar in basic function and concept, though I'm not entirely well-versed in the specifics of either.  Kotaku did get some hands-on time with the Morpheus though.

 

[DZComposer]

Great. Now we can know what it is like to walk into a room where every conceivable surface is a creepy targeted ad.

[Sarita]

Uh hello, VR Skype chats. ): I would have killed to have it in the first years Steve and I were dating.

 

(Or if you're in to it, Accel World levels of technology, the idea makes me weep with joy.)

[Scott7]

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[Ori]

If it's not be outright conversion from gaming to 100% of OMFG SOCIAL MEDIA then I can cope with whoever's the brand doing the product, so long as no harm is done to the gaming experience. If it turns out to be a "social" ad-overloaded bogus-ware, then that'll top my Not Gonna Buy list.

 

(Into video calls, I might be missing the point here, but VR calls would prove somewhat goofy or contradictory if there's a rather large gear blocking a portion of your face, when video communication is mostly supposed to be able see the other person's, er, face?)

[Star Fox Runner]

I personally don't know how to feel about this. I mean what are they gonna do with it? VR Farmville. Or like you all said, just ads all over the walls!

 

The only real reason I think Oculus sold out is because they saw dollar signs, 2 billion of them.

 

To be honest, if Valve or Google had bought them, I wouldn't have had a problem with this, they have a common interest in their computer engineering roots. But unless Facebook branches out into things such as VR Skypeing, like Sarita said, I don't really see this going any farther than a social network gimmick, which makes me really really sad.

[Arashikage]

I was going to buy an Oculus Rift, I even saved up a lot of money to go towards buying the developer kit, but now my money will be spent elsewhere.  I can't support Facebook, nor can I support the corporate buyout of everything new and innovative.  It's disheartening to say the least, that this has happened, but I guess my money is best spent elsewhere.  I'm just glad I didn't support them just before this happened.  

 

Even Markus Persson is disappointed with this business decision.  

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/26/facebook-and-oculus-rift-game-developers-react

 

The quote that hits home the most on this is "I don't want to live in a future where a handful of giant companies are dividing up every piece of creative enterprise that stands a chance of reaching mass market."

[Jeroscope]

Guys, Oculus isn't dead. The announcement was made LITERALLY the same day that they starting hiring for new workers (Which I applied for as a mechanical engineer) and launched a new Developer kit that with comes with three game engine developer kits, the Oculus SDK, the position tracking feature, and 1080p. I think Oculus was looking for a boost in funding so that they could get going with the projects they've got. Until we know the actual terms of the agreement, I don't think we're looking at the death of Oculus VR. I think this is just a way for Mark Zukerberg to get more money. I mean, as long as the consumers get the product they were promised, I could give less of a shit.

[sroberson]

Ill admit, im in the camp of hipsters who dont want to invest in Oculus because of the buy out...but I thought of it for a while, and I cant really blame the people who owned Oculus for selling. They were probably a bunch of bright eyed nerds who just wanted to build something neat. No business experience behind them, no management, nothing else. Facebook probably dropped by and said "hey, how about we give you a ton of cash for this project you started, and now you can continue working on it, but be a billionaire at the same time!"....hell I would have sold it too.

[Jeroscope]

There you go. The project isn't dead, it's just under a different funding source.

[Xortberg]

I don't care who owns it as long as I get to play Waifu Simulator 2015

[Dr. Orange]

The thing that everyone is getting up at though isn't mainly from FB buying them out, it's the anticipated results of that outcome. 

 

So Facebok sees a future for a higher entertainment quo. Cool. Fine. But instead of taking over an independent, not to mention a revolutionary company in the making, go hang out with the Google Glass boys and see how their plan worked ... And from what we have already seen, GGlasses are shit. Now I'm not punching at new entertainment ideas either, because trust me I would like to see a better Google Glass and a more improved social networking techniques in the future. Yet the Oculus was going to be designed as a new way to experience video games and change the way the user experiences the virtual world.

 

No, Oculus isn't dead as a invention, however it IS dead as a primarily utility for video games and related. We've already seen companies back out from creating bonds with Oculus since the buyout  such as Minecraft and I expect see more of these happening in the future. I really doubt Valve will back out however, since they're already so far in the game and concept that it would be foolish. Yet I wouldn't blame them if they put some space. What does Oculus have now? Money and and over-observant leader. Does anyone honestly think that Big Zuckerberg will promote a majority or even half the resources they're pouring into the Oculus as it is for video games than to promote Facebook usage? 

 

From what I've heard on the grape vine as it is, the company will go forward experimenting with things such as creating online meetings and being able to talk to your doctor without leaving home just by using the goggles to name an example. Yet last I checked, I just use Skype for that if I really need to. 

[unoservix]

plus it's perfectly reasonable to be distrustful of what Facebook will do with Oculus given Facebook's sterling record of respect for user privacy and dealings with advertisers

[Jeroscope]

Im willing to be the Oculus rift is a way to curb stuff from advertisers. Its actually a smart move. Think about it.

Facebook will use the revenue from Oculus to partially fund their social networking. While adverts wont be totally erased in the future, we can expect to see less. This is because it has a new source of income and it will only benefit the consumer IF and only if the Oculus Rift is an overal success.

Of course if you want to avoid the intruding software, I suggest you purchase the new dev kit now while you still can.

And no, Oculus wont be nixed from video game use. On the site, Dev Kit 2 is coming with three source dev kits including the unreal and source engines for Oculus use. Call me an optimist, but I think this will be a safe deal. I mean, Mark Moneybags, I mean, Dick Suckerberg, er, Mark Zuckerberg has made financial win affer financial win and so far the consumer is still winning. Facebook integration with sites makes sharing links faster. Facebook message lets you text with less charges.

I wont deny that there is a definite posibility for failure, but I also wont deny that there is a possibility for success, a success we as gamers can benefit from. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Gestalt]

Threw me off, but I won't go as far as to expire my rift fund as of now. On a positive note, they should be able to manufacture there own parts instead of relying heavily on external sources for essentially re-purposed cell phone screens. 

 

Regardless, Oculus set the blaze and there is going to be quality VR now. Even if other companies had rough/abandoned prototypes in the works, they will now realize VR is a thing that must and will be.