Facebook, Oculus, and Trust

Now if only crowd funding didn't depend on that feeling of investment and ownership to make the entire model successful.

Nice write-up Patrick, everyone's jumping to conclusions far too fast, I'm still waiting to see what happens, just like I was before this.

Knowing when the cause for failure was something entirely out of your control and without warning, thus not needing to discard the entire method you were using last is kind of a big deal too.

Using that game as an example is just being silly, if for no reason other than it is the prime example of how learning from your mistakes lead to success. There is no way to win in I Wanna Be The Guy aside from memorizing every unfair trap that caused failure last.

Isn't this working from the answer, though? It implies that you already have success, at which learning through failure is simply redundant. Trying to get to success through failure only works when you have a limited number of options. Increase the options a bit (or realize that maybe you don't know all the options), and failure is not as powerful a teaching tool as it once was.

I also still stand by the "you can't reason everything out" argument I made before.

What an amazingly condescending blog post that manages to talk past the real concerns while erecting convenient strawmen. Good work I guess?

Guys, guys! You are just all being so EMOTIONAL!

How about devs that poured significant effort into integrating with the Rift? The story was eventual production prototypes as the SDK matured and stabilized along with the hardware. NO ONE EVER thought this would happen without serious investment from the outside.

The problem is it's coming from Facebooks. The fuckwads of the internet. PHP "programmers", database experts, and NSA waterboys. They contribute 0 technical skills to the Oculus team. Now they own Oculus. They call all of the shots, top to bottom. That's not good. Almost anyone else would have been better. I'm as unhappy as if McDonalds had bought them. It makes as much business and technical sense.

EDIT: Fuck, you know what? No. Even McDonalds fucking understands production supply chains, packaging, and third-world outsourcing. Facebook is a terrible match.

"And I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition."

Yes, you did. Everyone did. And Oculus probably won't be the last time backers struggle with this idea.

On some level, I get it. It doesn't feel fair. You were on the ground floor, and a bunch of other people get the big money.

Patrick this part sounds like you are saying Notch is sad because he didn't get any of the money. That doesn't make any sense though because he is already a gazillionaire as you stated. I haven't even seen anyone say they backed it and feel entitled to some money and I don't think that is part of this backlash at all.

I was gonna disagree and say something about the OUYA, but then you linked Bill Hicks. And then I scroll down and see this little gem:

And then I scroll further down and there's fucking Smashing Pumpkins videos in this thread?! What the HELL is going on? When did the comments section decide to be awesome? Did I miss a meeting?

Tell that to any civilization that fell because it ossified.

Also, tell me. If you had a wide number of options to accomplish a goal, how would you find success? This is perhaps the easiest way of ending this argument.

Imagine a kickstarter to "save the puppies" that promises and delivers you a "puppy-saver" t-shirt which becomes so popular they become valuable enough that a company which harvests puppies for their organs buys them for the good PR. You got what you paid for but something still seems a little bit unethical about the whole thing...

Are Oculus Rift backers and promoters to some degree complicit in whatever Facebook's version of VR becomes?

I thought the thing people mostly upset about is the possibility of the Rift becoming something else. A big corporation doesn't pay 2 billion dollars for something because they thought: "hey, that's cool." And I highly doubt Facebook would make a profit if they marketed the Rift as a gaming device.

But, apparently, according to the article that's not the case, so I must be wrong.

Ask somebody who already has it? Do the research? I honestly have no idea.

Ha! You're right about that. It's the double-edged sword that Kickstarter projects often emphasize that their product cannot be funded (or would not have been funded) without the help of you (the donor), even when the kickstarter is more to prove to investors that there is an interest in the product.

Maybe my dispassion for this comes from me pledging the minimum amount for all the projects I've funded instead of throwing down significant amounts of real money. I've picked some good ones thus far, but even if Wasteland 2/Pillars of Eternity/Tides of Numenera are duds, they'll at least be interesting duds.

In other words, learn from other people's successes and failures. It is very, very difficult to succeed if you don't have failures, whether they be your own failures of the failures of others that came before, to guide you.

@tourgen: As outsiders looking in, we can only really speculate as to what the actual relationship between the two companies will be like in the future. If Oculus can still operate independently as was reported in news articles, I can't see why that'll be such a bad thing. Sure we can speculate that Facebook is still calling the shots because they're the ones writing the check, but the same could have been said about when CBS bought Giant Bomb and everybody here thought things were going to be fucked.

Nothing at all against Patrick, but I would love to hear thoughts on this deal from Jeff or other game journalism/industry vets.

Were there some knee-jerk emotional reactions? Of course.

Are there some very real concerns? Absolutely.

Of course they say all the right things. But this is an unprecedented move for them. This isn't Instagram or What'sApp.

The concern isn't necessarily of failure. But of the potential and very probable change in direction given the Rift's very early stage of development. Not even sweeping changes, but little tweaks here and there along the way.

We'll just have to wait and see. I won't be overly optimistic (as I was for the Rift before the deal) or pessimistic towards it.

In the end, for all any of them want to try and legitimize their dislike of Facebook or whatever, it all comes down to angry nerds mad that a -- oh god -- social website now owns their dumb, relatively obscure, mostly theoretical nerd thing. After all, there's no way Facebook will use such amazing technology for the one thing it's truly meant to be used for, indeed the one thing that really matters in life to anyone whose opinion should have any credibility: video games.

Expected. Fair. Reasonable. Sensible. Measured. Timely. Profitable.

Sad.

Will Smith, the master of unintentional O-faces.

The whole deal seems very unfair and un-ethical, it is shame. Also that notch twitt, just made me want to buy Minecraft again.

I remember how the GB crew would previously talk about a major, very public kickstarter failing, like Double Fine, would lead to the destabilization of this entire model. I wonder if this will have a far more adverse effect.

Finally a reasonable take on it. So tired of all the doom and gloom, so tired of all the entitled gamers who apparently thought they own VR because they contributed a few bucks to a kickstarter... or in the case of most people whining, did fuck all but follow the Rift's development. VR is not something only gamers deserve, VR is for everyone, get used to it. It was always clear to me that VR was going to be way bigger than gaming, that something like this was inevitable. VR is the future of entertainment, and many other industries, it's applications and potential is nearly unlimited.

I'm glad this happened now and we can get all this crazy entitled whining out of the way and see the reality of how capitalism works and how Oculus was going to end up, the sooner the better imo. Joining up with a big corporation only hastens the VR future that I welcome, the faster and cheaper we can get to all the amazing VR experiences that transcend gaming the better imo. I'm extremely excited to see where this VR ride takes us once the whining and doom and gloom dies down, I'm still confident that the rift is going to blow us away as gamers, and then transcend gaming with the help and resources of Facebook and/or other big corporations that we love to hate to revolutionize many industries with the VR future.

I didn't take part in the kickstarter, but i have no problem seeing how people who did feels betrayed. Hell, i was ready for the consumer model. But i don't feel that this is alright, so now I'll let Sony have their say. They don't have this weird "we're like you!" going on, and i can respect that, at the very least.

I worked for 2 years making a web app that hooked into Facebook, I got all their email blasts, communicated frequently with people that wanted to use facebook for their business, and was pretty much in it deep with all the gritty details of what Facebook is.

I do not trust Facebook as a company, not because they make ad revenue but because of the moral ambiguity of their service in general. It plays into a larger argument about gamification (i am not a big fan of it) but they have taken basic human interactions commoditized them, warped the available ways to do them into a gameplay loop, and created a thing where many people use it constantly because of necessity more than convenience. Things like Farmville were not made by Facebook, but they are distinctly built off the trends that Facebook started same with the nastier F2P type games in general. The only difference is that Facebook is able to dodge the criticism by not charging money, to me that doesn't give you a free pass.

So yeah that is why I do not trust Facebook, not just some generic PRIVACY THEY ARE WATCHING ME type deal. My experiences with working with it so frequently for those 2 years led me to delete my admittidly neglected personal account and look at other ways to "connect" with people. So yes as Notch put it, I find Facebook creepy and I have real reasons why not just hatred for a big business or blanket privacy concerns.

this^

it seems everyone is too invested in the ideological conflict behind the facts, and raising the torches and pitchforks... I personally dont get it...

As I see it, this is a business decision. And although I feel a sting at the loss of the real indie-ness, I also think it's good for Oculus if it allows them to do what they dreamed with the device...

I still think its an awesome gadget, and I struggle to find how this transaction detracts from that very important fact.

I liked how you managed to sum up a bit of both sides @patrickklepek ....

if people want ONLY facts ( as if such thing is actually possible )... facebook bought oculus, everything else is assumption...

PS Patrick... you are taller than I though, I was rather intimidated to say hello in the Indie booth at GDC.

It is because people wanted the idea outlined in the kickstarter to SUCCEED that they are so upset by its death. And the reason they can clearly see that this is the death of the idea is because they aren't being handed a huge bucket of cash.

The problem is that Patrick seems to only partially understand the backlash. The whole kids who think they are investors on Kickstarter are just dumb kids and not a real issue. The idea that somehow Oculus would not be courted by suitors who were eyeing their goose that would lay golden eggs was a pretty safe assumption. The shock, disbelief, anger, and disappointment comes solely from the fact that it is Facebook who bought them, a company that has continually treated their users with disrespect and have ruined everything they touched because they force their social nonsense into everything. Even Instagram which Patrick brings up was bought because Facebook was scared of what Instagram was becoming and they could see that in the future it would become big enough to directly compete. So Facebook buys the potential rival and then stunts any innovation that might have happened independently.

Even worse is right off the top of our heads there are companies that have great relations with their customers that would probably treat Oculus with more respect. Who knows who else was interested in buying OR but I would have been completely happy if it were Valve, Amazon, or Google who jumped in. All three are great at purchasing companies and then seamlessly integrating them into their ecosystems often making them better in the process. All three of those companies would have given time and flexibility for the Oculus team to get the hardware right. Although Facebook says the same I just cant trust them to be true to their word and I fully expect that it may get rushed out the door sooner than it should be and that in a few years time they wont be able to resist getting their grubby social hands all over it.

I know it all sounds doom and gloom and maybe it wont turn out bad, I just have such little respect for Facebook that I have a hard time believing that this isnt one of the worst possible outcomes

Yo. Totes sweet. Up top.

In my opinion, @patrickklepek misses the point. I am disgusted because Oculus seem to have sold out in the worst way possible.

I do not at all believe that Oculus need all two billion dollars to succeed. This means they could have gone with a more suitable owner, or at least have kept half equity.

Instead, they sold everything to an owner whose core business is not devices, not VR, and not games. An owner whose core business and expertise is - at best - tangentially related in that you could use the Rift with 3D video chat in a decade.

When I back something on Kickstarter, I know that I may never see return on investment. But in this case, Oculus have shown themselves to be very capable. I have been so impressed with Oculus that I fully expect that they could have solved this in a much better way.

@patrickklepek Distrust of Facebook should be there from the beginning. It's like the pinnacle of shady underhanded internet money making. Do Facebook users ever ask themselves how Facebook has generated billions upon billions of dollars while you aren't buying a product from them? Have you ever donated or transferred money in some way to Facebook? No. That's because they're selling off all your information (aside from your name I'm sure but that doesn't mean anything to companies). It's vile in the same way current F2P game design trends are.

It's a gigantic voluntary (involuntary at times I'd say) survey or census pool. It's a field of millions of milk cows. I find it weirdly disgusting to see things like Facebook and Twitter on almost every TV show and webpage I see. The news covering people dying, wars, or the latest drive-by shooting, but hey.. Join the conversation! And here's a button to quickly tell all your friends about it! Tell us what you think about this cat playing a keyboard! #abortion

Have you ever run a script blocker on the internet? The amount of back end stuff that's running to gather your information, everything you click on or look at, is staggering. This very page I type on now has google-analytics running. So for the most part you still can't escape this crap even without Facebook.

The amount of time my 13 year old niece spends on crap like Facebook and Twitter and the pictures she is posting or things she is saying on there is abhorrent and even after repeated talks from her Mother, it still continues. I'm 26 years old and I sound like the the typical old person we make fun of as a kid. It's crazy. And people think video games are destructive to the mind or a waste of time? Hah.

So when I see something like Oculus Rift, something seemingly pure and grassroots, a company executing on a project that grew out of the passionate video game community, likely because other giant well-funded companies were not willing to take the dip, and sell themselves off to the information broker that is Facebook, is soul crushing in a way. I might have felt a little differently if this was way down the road after Oculus had already shipped a successful commercial product. Then it would seem expected. Headlines like "Oculus Rift the hot new Christmas item?" or "If you aren't Rifting, you aren't living" and hopefully "Oculus Rift sells 2 million units" being published by the NY Times and NBC, CBS news. It would then make more sense for a major (tech/video game) company to swoop in and get in on that successful business.

While nothing is for certain, it doesn't sit well with me that Facebook has stuck it's dark and seedy fingers into the vanilla cake that is the Oculus Rift. Hope for the best, expect the worse.

I will adopt as as I have said before a wait and see. At the moment you can consider what facebook says about oculus rift as damage control. When large amounts of money are concerned and with facebook's gung ho attitude to privacy and personal information. Wait and see is the best option.

People who are trying to cool the pot keep going back to Kickstarter and saying "so what. They don't owe you anything" and are ultimately dodging the point. People had hopes for occulus, backer or not. The Facebook acquisition has dashed them as, given their history, their non-speculative long history of "creepy" things they've already done, and show no interest in deviating from. Lots of people don't want any part of that. Occulus is now a part of that, and as such, people don't want any hand in what Occulus is likely going to be used to promote.

Excellently put, Patrick. I can understand the backlash here, I'm definitely not a defender of Facebook. However, I think this is the best possible thing that could happen for VR, if not necessarily for Oculus. While the Rift has been making major waves and impressing people non-stop, it still hasn't penetrated the mainstream. With this purchase, Oculus is guaranteed to get an actual consumer product out the door. It might be heavily compromised by their new moneybag overlords, but it will become an actual thing regular people can buy. This is the best shot to create a viable market for this type of technology.

Basically, either the Rift comes out and is amazingly successful, or it's a commercial failure but still establishes VR as a legit platform so others can pick up the torch. Devoid of emotional investment, either outcome is great for the future of VR. The fatal third option is this is all just a fad that'll be dead on arrival like motion controllers or 3D TVs, in which case this acquisition would make no difference either way. So yeah, Facebook is evil, whatever. At the end of the day, this is still good news.

Another fantastic write-up, Patrick. I don't know why I'm still surprised.

Let's see.

A kickstarter success that relied pretty much on "core" gamers crowd backing a cool thing that was a dream of a better/cooler future option.

A company that among the exact same demographic has become synonymous with "soulless shit", by chasing after money and behaving shady time and again, while also heavily facilitating the rise of the bad f2p model that is so reviled by the same people.

Surfuckingprise reaction...

I think the "tragedy" gamers are crying about is the very real chance of the Rift now becoming a general consumer electronic, instead of a product with coherent/clear customer base in mind. Look what happen to the X1 when MS attempt to go the general electronic route, last we heard they lost market share in all market even inside the US/UK. It is nice to want the biggest audience possible but when you try to homogenize thing with the "this is for everyone!" in mind. A lot of times, you get no one. A kid movie is made targeting kids, if it is good then adult can enjoy it too. An action movies are targeting young males, if it is well writing then young females can enjoy it too. Same with any type of product.

With that in mind, who the fuck is the target audience for this thing? My parents, sisters (who are not gamers) and non-gaming friends are not going to go out and buy a funny machine to put on your head so you can see computer worlds. This is a clear tech heads/gamers device and they went ahead and jump into the bed of one of gamers most hated company? Yea, this is gonna end well.

I still don't understand how Facebook plans to utilize this technology. I mean, your grandmother uses Facebook. Do they really expect the grandmas of the world to strap one of these to their heads? Your average non/Facebook casual gamer is very self conscious about looking the fool while playing. They're not going to buy one of these (especially not at $300) if it makes them look stupid.

Still, I don't think it's bad that Facebook bought Oculus, just confusing.

"No I don't have a ton of money; I have equity in the company. But we're not planning on selling the company or doing anything to liquidate that - we're trying to remain independent and build what we're building." Palmer Luckey

Well, so much for that. eh

Nice write up, I'm more optimistic. I just hope it pays off with a kick ass product in the end.

@whatisdelicious: Interesting point of view. Well said.

excellent article. I don't know how to react even after the whole ordeal.

I honestly don't believe Facebook really has what it takes to design a whole Facebook VR, I can see Sony doing that, especially after Home. I can see other third party devs trying something to build something that uses the interface well.

@ironlink: this is a capatilist society its all about selling out at the highest possible negogiated price. Why would you turn down less money for a "more suitable owner" when you could get a slice of 400 million and stock in one of the better companies being traded in that space?

Your assumptions on the price of doing buisness in hardware are misplaced. They were always going to be bought out. The only reason pebble hasn't been bought yet is their niche isn't mainstream yet and they are hella small. Oculus wasn't even niche yet and wasn't small.

Does this article feel messier than Patrick's usual stuff? There's just a ranty...messy feel about it. I don't really get a sense of what its about, like its jumping around to too many things at once.

I think the Facebook acquisition fucking sucks though. This version of this technology is dead with this acquisition. Sony's will probably be superior, but it may also show the ultimate marketing limitations of the technology. I'm anticipating a stark reminder of why VR *really* was gone.

I just don't see myself coming home and strapping on my Facebook Goggles to play Half-Life 3.

This is all good until Oculus forces you into anything that has to do with Facebook. It may not happen at first, but I'm afraid it may. Facebook sign in on some games? Advertisements through Rift where money goes into Facebooks' pocket? Some sort of Facebook integration through Rift? A possible competitor for Google Glass? Facebook gathering info on games you play through Rift? Anything can happen.

@penguindust: If everyone involved is just seeing each other's avatar, than what does it matter if the goggles look silly? No one in the Matrix was going, yeah this is cool, but you look pretty dumb with a big 'ol cable jacked into your emaciated meat body.

Personally, I don't know how much any of this really matters right now. It's yet to be proven how many people are really going to be willing to shell out the money for another gaming peripheral. Also, distrust of Facebook is not the point; the fact that they've had zero involvement in the type of gaming Occulus represents is the point. It's not really their market so how much are they going to invest in Occulus anyway.

I didn't back the rift via Kickstarter, but we did buy two dev kits at my lab. I'm actually a bit more optimistic about the future of the hardware after the purchase by Facebook. Hardware margins are tough (look at the consoles) and they needed other sources of income to stay alive.

Sure, the website Facebook is kind of lame, but they didn't "Facebookize" other companies they acquired, like Instagram. I would be much more down on the future of the hardware if they accepted an offer from a more gaming-oriented company like EA or Microsoft. The very fact that there's pretty much no synergy between Facebook and Oculus means that they are going to be able to act separately for longer.