Facebook Just Bought Oculus VR

In more exciting news, looks like they're going to rebrand it.

I guess we'll have to wait and see where this one goes. Facebook and Spotify are pretty closely linked but Spotify still does what I need it to, and does it well.

Well, with Sony coming out with their prototype recently, at least this isn't a one horse race anymore.

I pushed "6" on my keyboard while on facebook, but it didn't bring up a rocket launcher. So I guess not.

Wait, I'm not sure I'm following you. You say that Facebook doesn't care about Oculus as a gaming device, but then say that thinking them owning it would negatively affect it as a gaming device makes no sense? That sounds contradictory.

Bully.

Facebook needs to die a horrible, painful death.

Trust can definitely be an issue with these sorts of things, but sometimes trust has a short memory. Facebook has a murky reputation thats more in the spotlight, but we shouldn't forget that Sony hasn't been shining beacon of trustworthiness either. Remember rootkits and other OS? They've built back some reputation since then but thats mostly been from distance not really in changing policy.

Don't be too sure about what older adults might buy into, remember the Wii? Facebook may be losing relevance with younger people but its still very solidly in the mainstream.

I think its too early to call where this thing is going, maybe its a bet by Facebook that VR will be the new TV, maybe they just want to own the tech so they can license it out and have another revenue stream, maybe they build some big scary socially-connected-VR-space-sharing-zone thing.

I'm not sure I like it, I have my doubts about what Facebook intends to do, their track record on acquisitions is far from sunny. But I have it on good authority that Carmack is no dummy. If he's still in this and thinks its going to work that give me some kind of hope for the project. If he leaves in 6 months then that'll be a pretty clear signal where things are headed.

Exactly, you don't buy something for $2 billion and run it into the ground.

FUCK!

@bgdiner: i think that kind of criticism of the situation is extremely naive, companies like oculus exist to make a product and sell it to make money. They had millions of dollars behind them from vc's so they haven't really been a homebrew/local project for a while and i think that trying to segregate the rift to being only for gamers is very short sighted. There are countless applications for this tech outside of gaming and that's probably where a lot of the profit on this sort of thing could be found

We love Facebook and Facebook related news! Best social network eva.

Facebook is not a game company. They could care less about the OR as a gaming device. Facebook sees the OR as a piece of tech that they can use in spaces outside of gaming. The thinking that Facebook would negatively impact the OR as a gaming device(while possible) is extremely short-sighted.

It's odd to hear people saying VR is dead. Because of this news, millions of people who had no idea what Oculus Rift was are now aware of its existence. With this much exposure and the potential of making even more un-godly sums of money, they aren't just going to start idly yanking their dicks around. They already have proven-great-by-all-who've-tried-it prototypes. And now they have the resources to manufacture cost-effective custom hardware, rather than scavenging for parts as they were originally doing. Had FB not acquired Oculus, I believe that the consumer version would've had a similar spec to the new DK2, i.e. the new dev kit with the 1080p 70Hz OLED screen. Palmer Lucky recently said on Reddit how part of the deal was to allow them to produce higher spec/quality hardware at a lower cost, and during GDC (right before the announcement) the OR team expressed their confidence that the consumer version would be greater-than-1080p with a higher refresh rate etc. The hardware will definitely benefit from this deal. However, I am less inclined to say the same regarding the software, but I want to be optimistic. I just want non-compulsory and unintrusive Facebook integration (if there has to be Facebook integration).

I love how nearly 10.7 trillion people have commented on this

It was probably the right decision financially--I can only imagine the cost Oculus RIft was facing to bring the product to the main market--but with Facebook's purchase, Oculus Rift seems somewhat less tangible as a self-contained gaming community brand.

It's gonna sound totally pretentious and selfish, but it was cool to see OR develop slowly in the community--for gamers, by gamers. Seeing beta testers trying out the prototype headset on Youtube videos made the brand seem like a homebrew project, a "local" success, perhaps. I fear that the project will fail to hit upon its original vision, and will become Yahoo'd, i.e. made useless by its new owners.

@brendan: Many people aren't educated or tech savvy enough to know why. Facebook has been becoming irrelevant in recent years due to the adoption by older adults. Those are people who are not going to be excited to use the new Facebook VR. Especially when their kids are like yea no. Sony has way more good will and if they can put forth a product it will definitely be the VR society chooses.

Sorry but I'll take my virtual reality experiences from someone I trust. We have that choice as the consumer. Other VR devices will come along. Put your hope behind those.

@jennibelle: I'm not a heavy Facebook user by any means, but this idea of Facebook as a solid block of evil that should disappear is very much an insular gaming community thing. Many people have problems with Facebook but the outside world at large uses it quite happily, a lot.

Actually, ended just now have they, my good man! There was supposed to be a war between the courageous Oculus and SONY but Zuckerberg just made Oculus forfeit!

All things aside, it's a pretty bold move by Facebook. They don't have a history of doing anything more than buying established userbases. This a new world for Facebook where they are buying into a market that hasn't been established. Maybe their research says, this is the next big thing, and where people are going, and if that's the case, gaming isn't going to be the catalyst for that.

I know this is a dumb way of thinking but buying something interesting from a somewhat independent company just seem more exciting in whatever way.

Then again, buying a product from Facebook just seem so wrong in so many level

I was shocked and disappointed by this bit of news. I think its a great move by facebook, I really think they bought low on this one, surprised it didn't go for more. They said the right things in other articles I read, for now they just want to support the release of the product as it has been in development and expand on the idea later. Still, remains to be seen if this is stays the case.

I was excited to see the Rift grow as a product, but seeing Facebook acquire it just makes me gag. And reading Zuckerburg's statement drives home that they have acquired the Rift, and have no idea what they will be doing with it, other than to act as another means to drive ad revenue.

this just went from "i'm going to get this" to.. "something from facebook? no thanks"

Only begun, the goggle wars have

RIP in peace, VR.

Could this have gone more badly?

For my tastes it sucks.

As much as I object to Valve, I have to say, I just love how they do their own thing independently. I may not agree with all the practices, but staying private, always experimenting... I respect it as I see a cool looking company sold right when it's on the brink of being it's own thing.

haha!

what the fcuk.

@thoseposers: Selling out for more money and "stability" is still selling out. There are plenty of people who do care which is why there is so much negativity to this acquisition. Facebook has no good will. They deserve no respect. If Microsoft or Valve or Sony, or any other company would have acquired the Rift we probably wouldn't care so much. Sure there would be some outcry but not this much. People want Facebook to disappear not invade other aspects of their lives.

i was just thinking about picking up a rift, not anymore

Hmm I'll wait a bit before I judge this.

And it's the worst way ever to "get people to do things", because people will only care about "getting the job done, to get their money", they won't do their job properly. It's already shown again and again that money is one of the worst motivators around, because after a certain point, it's motivational value drops heavily.

But that doesn't stop people, who need money, from doing pretty much anything and everything for it these days, it's a sad state of affairs.

I don't blame people for hoping that somebody might be motivated by something more worthwhile than pure greed. It's a nice thought because that's the way it's actually supposed to be.

I rather think people should prepare for a future where we won't even have "money" around, that's one of the biggest issues right now: Most people can't even imagine anymore to live without money, it's become their new oxygen, their new god. With that kind of motivation it's no surprise people are so busy constantly screwing each other over for a "profit".

Mark Zuckerberg is a chode.

@spraynardtatum: The secret is to never fall for the trap. But some people never get it. I remember trying to educate my mother on why not to use Facebook. It fell on deaf ears.

@jennibelle: i do have a facebook and frankly i don't care that they have information on me, i am fully aware that anything i post on there is basically public and i'm fine with that. Read up on Palmer Luckey's responses to all this to see how this isn't all the sudden ruining the project, it's giving it even more stable finances and a more comfortable long term time frame http://www.reddit.com/user/palmerluckey#page=1

You guys are crazy idiots.

This has been on the main news in the UK all today and I still can't make any sense of this. But hey if I was Mark Zuckerberg and had 2 billion burning a whole in my pocket I'd be like 'eh, fuck it I'll buy that'.

I deleted my Facebook for a reason (if you can call removing your profile on Facebook deleting, they still retain all my information and I have no way of getting it back). I can't support that corporation any more than I have to.

I will no longer be buying the Oculus because I sincerely don't support the company that owns them now.

@nethlem: I'm totally with you philosophically, but I also think people should prepare for and protect themselves from companies pretending that they have "your best interests" in mind.

@nethlem: Money is just a way to get people to do things

Well shit...

Because some people like to think that humanity could be a little bit more responsible than that?

You can't eat money, you can't plant money to grow food out of it, you can't drink money, money is only a symbol for a promise that nobody has to actually keep. Without that, you only have useless pieces of paper and scraps of metal (or rather digital 0 and 1), nothing more.

Yet people behave like money is an integral part for humanities survival, when the evidence rather looks like it's responsible for most of our "modern problems". There is just so much wrong with the way people think about money, the way it's "created" and handled these days. People have lost all touch with reality, when they equal "having a lot of money" with having actual "wealth"..

@thoseposers: I don't think you get it. It's not about them ruining the product by rushing it out or whatever. Having Facebook attached to the device. Or rather having Facebook be the device. That is the problem. There are many of us who stayed away from the social network rush, and don't agree with the way Facebook steals people's privacy. Do you understand that when you sign up for Facebook you are signing a contract that entitles them to do whatever they want with what you share? You are selling your right to privacy, so they can make ad revenue. They compile lots of data on you and can sell it to whoever they want. Which who knows could be used to harm you some day. The way they play the uneducated and non tech savvy population out there for fools truly disgusts me. A lot of us don't want to have to pay any attention or thought to them. So now they decided to snatch a product that gamers were drooling over and putting their faith and trust behind away from us.

Sorry but I refuse to give any money to Facebook. Occulus is Facebook now. It's not some cute little indie company anymore. It is Facebook VR. And New York Times reported on a proposed rebranding. So don't think you can just use it and ignore the Facebook influence. Oh and by the way. Go ahead and check your web browsers cookies. Bet you have some Facebook tracking cookies even if you aren't a member.

@ceno: the exact response i had when i read the headline.

What has Carmack to do with anything, he's not the CEO or founder of Oculus, he's just the lead technical person and he joined them 2 years later when they already delivered the first development kit.

About his work, judging from his past work on games his intentions are genuine to better the experience for the user. Latency is a big factor, weather or not the final product will be used for games or social crap is however not up to him, but to the bosses of which Facebook is now one.

So now we will have to stare at the 'Trending' bar while in VR? Psh, I shall pass. They can keep that TMZ bull.