Facebook to buy Oculus Rift

Team,

As you may have heard this morning, Oculus has agreed to join Facebook.

Facebook shares our vision for connecting a billion people through virtual reality with the power of shared presence.

Oculus will continue to operate independently. We’re staying Oculus, we’re still building the Oculus Rift, our email addresses are remain @oculusvr.com, and most importantly, our hoodies will still say Oculus.

By partnering with Facebook, we’ll be able to build a better product with zero compromises and a focus on growth. We’ll also be investing more heavily in made-for-VR content and exploring other opportunities to accelerate our vision.

In broad strokes, here are a few key points to consider for the long-term strategy:

1. We’re able to tap into Facebook’s experience and backend systems for our platform services. As an added bonus, Oculus now has a rock solid, global payments solution.
2. We’ll be able to leverage Facebook’s recruiting infrastructure, including hiring engineers from within Facebook, to supercharge our recruiting.
3. We can afford to always make the decision that is right for virtual reality and our customers in the long term – we don’t have to make short term compromises.
4. We’re going to invest in additional partnerships to build the best product and platform.

I’ll meet with everyone individually over the next few days to discuss what this means in terms of integration. In the meantime, know that things couldn’t be better.

No team, ever, has had a better shot at delivering on the dream of virtual reality. This will be the team that solves the hardest problems and delivers the final platform. We need you now, more than ever, to go out and find the very best engineers in the world to help us deliver the final platform, the Holodeck.

This is a truly special moment. The work we’ve done has captured the world’s attention and changed the perception of the medium forever. This partnership is a huge affirmation of everything we’ve done. Congratulations, guys.

Now, let’s get back to changing the world.

– Brendan
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http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/letter-to-the-team-from-brendan-iribe/
 
Tim-and-Eric-Space-Explosions.gif
 
http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/25/facebook-oculus-vr-2-billion/

We're on the call now, and Mark Zuckerberg is already pointing out Facebook's acquisition of Instagram as an example of how the company is getting experience buying properties and allowing them to continue to operate independently. Zuckerberg called out virtual reality as one of the computing platforms of the future -- following desktops and mobile -- and yes, talked about building Facebook's advertising into it. Specifically, he talked about the potential of a virtual communication network, buying virtual goods, and down the line, advertising.
:eek: :confused: :rolleyes: :mad: :(
 
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Lucid Rifter said:
We're on the call now, and Mark Zuckerberg is already pointing out Facebook's acquisition of Instagram as an example of how the company is getting experience buying properties and allowing them to continue to operate independently. Zuckerberg called out virtual reality as one of the computing platforms of the future -- following desktops and mobile -- and yes, talked about building Facebook's advertising into it. Specifically, he talked about the potential of a virtual communication network, buying virtual goods, and down the line, advertising.
:eek: :confused: :rolleyes: :mad: :(
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:(
 
Lucid Rifter said:
http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/25/facebook-oculus-vr-2-billion/

We're on the call now, and Mark Zuckerberg is already pointing out Facebook's acquisition of Instagram as an example of how the company is getting experience buying properties and allowing them to continue to operate independently. Zuckerberg called out virtual reality as one of the computing platforms of the future -- following desktops and mobile -- and yes, talked about building Facebook's advertising into it. Specifically, he talked about the potential of a virtual communication network, buying virtual goods, and down the line, advertising.
:eek: :confused: :rolleyes: :mad: :(
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Awesome! Now instead of getting fuq'ing pop-ups when browsing the net we'll get virtual hucksters up in our grill...
 
BDaddyK said:
Awesome! Now instead of getting fuq'ing pop-ups when browsing the net we'll get virtual hucksters up in our grill...
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Have you used PS Home? I'm thinking their aim is something like that.
 
BDaddyK said:
Nope, never used PS Home. What're the adverts like in it?
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Pretty much like walking into a mall: posters on the wall, monitors playing clips/trailers, watch movies. I only tried it out once or twice, trolling around as a Guy Fawkes character, but it was all done in a natural lifelike way. If PS Home wasn't so half-baked when it launched and slow to add anything decent it probably could've caught on a bit more.
 
I wonder what this does with their relationship with valve. I really am in wait and see mode. I'm not gonna cancel my dev kit 2 preorder or give up on developing a vr experience in UE4. I am very skeptical now though.
 
I can't imagine how FB could possibly use this tech with their product, not in a meaningful, mass-adoption sort of way. I'm confused by this acquisition. I first thought, "well maybe they want to use the rift to compete somehow with google glass", but the tech is so different, and FB doesn't have any of the back-end like google maps etc that would make that a cost effective endeavor. So what else is there? Gaming? Does Zuck really think people are going to put on those goofy goggles just to see facebook in 3D?

I like both companies individually, but together? I don't know ... this is weird.
 
And I was just starting to get interested in Oculus Rift. As of now that interest is gone and I'll wait and see now.
 
In the end, you'd have to think if your device did what it was supposed to do, you'd of made WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more than what was offered.
 
I am no fan of Facebook but like a few others see a big potential cash infusion in OR possibly be a good thing for the development side of the product. What happens from there is likely not a good thing for gamers in general. Still alot of moving parts in play before a final judgement can be reached.

I don't force myself to carry principles of not buying good products just because I don't like the company or the parent company.
 
Oblong said:
I am no fan of Facebook but like a few others see a big potential cash infusion in OR possibly be a good thing for the development side of the product. What happens from there is likely not a good thing for gamers in general. Still alot of moving parts in play before a final judgement can be reached.

I don't force myself to carry principles of not buying good products just because I don't like the company or the parent company.
Click to expand...

It's facebook.
 
I don't think it's that big of a deal honestly. Like he said, they now have more funds than they would have ever had before this.
 
Doesn't sound like a good thing, except for the infusion of cash. I don't like their priorities or Facebook itself. They say they're going to build it out for gaming first (but what kinds?), and then branch into social media integration, which is not interesting to me at all.

I'm not a PC gamer, so I was never going to jump aboard the Oculus train anyway, but still, it feels like a bad thing for VR, at least as far as its application to hardcore gaming.

I'd personally be aggravated if I were one of the Kickstarter contributors, who helped them get off the ground. They turn around and sell the company for 2 billion. I don't suppose they're going to cut their contributors any checks.

Heard Facebook stock fell 7% today. I don't think investors are all that excited either.
 
Please, you've got to be kidding me. Facebook of all things? So we'll be able to play Farmville in all its glory? :really:
 
It's tragic how dumb people are acting around this.
 
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