Here's one you probably didn't see coming.
Facebook announced today that it is acquiring Oculus VR, creators of the still-in-development Oculus Rift VR headset, for $2 billion in cash and shares of Facebook stock. Go ahead, take a moment to process that. Facebook now owns Oculus Rift.
"Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the company's official press statement. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."
"We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world," said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. "We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."
The Oculus Rift has been in development since 2012, following a successful Kickstarter campaign that netted the company nearly $2.5 million in funding. The Rift has only been available in dev kit form thus far, with the final consumer model expected to hit the marketplace in late 2014/early 2015. Most recently, the company retained the services of longtime id Software figurehead John Carmack for the role of chief technology officer.
And now Facebook owns Oculus Rift. Facebook. Anyone else having a hard time parsing this one?
767 Comments