31 ms·

Facebook acquires Oculus VR

• higherpurpose 13y ago
  Terrible decision. I thought they "weren't in this for the money", and it's not like they were lacking money or relationships or hype. Why the hell did they agree to this?
• cocoflunchy 13y ago
  I'm kind of speechless here... Certainly did not see this coming.
  • a1a 13y ago
    Nobody did. Well, besides this guy http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1wf6mg/so_no_way_to_confirm_this_but_my_friend_works_in/ http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1wf6mg/so_no_way_to_...
• heifetz 13y ago
  wow..who's going to use oculus now..???
  • LoganCale 13y ago
    I was. I won't now.
  • segmondy 13y ago
    I just ordered my dev kit the other day, now I wonder if I should cancel it...
• arjn 13y ago
  Interesting... Is this a play against Google Glass ? I'm not sure how Facebook could benefit from Oculus VR unless they're starting a completely unrelated business (never mind what Zuckerberg says in the post).
  • kamkazemoose 13y ago
    It seems like it would be an odd play against glass, because of the differences of VR vs AR. With VR you're in another world, and that doesn't seem like facebook's goal, which would be to add facebook information with the rest of the world. So it seems unlikely unless they're planning to completely overhaul the project and make it AR instead of VR.
  • HillRat 13y ago
    Well, if Google's going to be a robotics and AI company, it's not irrational for Facebook to go into telepresence as a kind of next-gen communications property. They've got the cash to go big, and their dependence on a single, easily-substituted service as their source of revenue is about as big an Achilles' heel as any company can have.
• misterbwong 13y ago
  Wow. Didn't see that one coming. Hopefully this will speed the release of the commercial Oculus VR
• sz4kerto 13y ago
  The reason why people haven't commented yet because we can't find the words. I have no immediate idea what can FB do with Oculus VR, even if I read Zuck's comments.
  • fletchowns 13y ago
    Well it only got posted 8 minutes ago. Still, there's no shortage of garbage comments in the thread here already.
  • fasteddie31003 13y ago
    Facebook knows that Facebook.com is toping off. It wants to spread its reach. I really don't think there will be any crossover between Oculus and Facebook, just like there isen't any crossover between Windows and XBox.
    • tommoose 13y ago
      Windows and XBox have a strong crossover in DirectX
      • adventured 13y ago
        Not to mention that XBox is powered by a modified version of Windows.
    • WalterSear 13y ago
      There isn't a crossover today. There will be, if/when Oculus-like devices replace television viewing, and other shared vicarious experiences.
    • nwp90 13y ago
      Facebook needs to move to Oculus, not try to tie Oculus to what Facebook currently is. If they're thinking more that way, there's hope. I have very little faith in them allowing anything remotely awesome to come out of this, though.
    • moheeb 13y ago
• volune 13y ago
  More money than brains.
• superduper33 13y ago
  Couldn't turn down $2 billion :)
  • adamnemecek 13y ago
    Are you guessing the price or did you read it somewhere?
    • objclxt 13y ago
      TechCrunch are reporting $2 billion, of which $400 million was cash: http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/facebook-to-buy-oculus-vr-maker-of-the-rift-headset-for-around-2b-in-cash-and-stock/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/facebook-to-buy-oculus-vr-m...
    • nhm 13y ago
      "... for a total of approximately $2 billion. This includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones." http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-to-acquire-oculus-252328061.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-to-acquire-...
    • techwatching 13y ago
      Widely reported... http://techwatching.com/page.php?i=25236 http://techwatching.com/page.php?i=25236
  • baby 13y ago
    And free publicity, now everyone is gonna hear about Oculus. This is truly a good news, I don't see why people are so eager to hate on this acquisition.
• dmead 13y ago
  this is dumb.
• calcsam 13y ago
  "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die" -- Cersei Lannister
• viraptor 13y ago
  Ah, I get it! SecondLife 2.0 now with facebook integration. Which may not be a bad idea on its own, but I don't think people would be that interested in it for a long time... (quicker/better/easier mobile integration is what people would appreciate imho) I may be completely wrong though, maybe it's the new thing.
• ghc 13y ago
  I am astonished. I wonder if John Carmack could have ever imagined he'd work for Facebook.
  • pdq 13y ago
    I'll be surprised if John stays on past his golden handcuff period. The amount of money he stands to make after joining Oculus less than a year ago is certainly large.
    • ramidarigaz 13y ago
      He's in the lucky position of being able to pick pretty much any project he wants to work on and be accepted. From what I know about him, the thing he really cares about is pushing the tech forward, and as long as Oculus VR can do that, he'll stay on board. If he gets too stifled there, he'll probably jump ship over to another VR project. I sincerely hope this is a good thing for Oculus, but it could definitely go badly too...
      • ivanca 13y ago
        A virtual reality game console deeply integrated with facebook? What could go wrong there?
        • deegles 13y ago
          How about a Snow Crash-style Metaverse?
          • trobertson 13y ago
            Already exists. It's called Second Life.
    • ido 13y ago
      I'm guessing he wasn't really lacking funds before that either.
    • 13y ago
• tinalumfoil 13y ago
  I really hope Facebook has plans for VR besides mobile gaming. I don't want to see a technology that could really help high-end gaming just be used on phones.
• guidefreitas 13y ago
  huge WTF!
• evo_9 13y ago
  Fuck. This pisses me off for some reason.
  • rjd 13y ago
    Same reaction here. I'd say more about my opinion of Facebook and Zuckerberg business capabilities and behaviour, but it would add nothing to a civil discussion... EDIT: for some laughs have a read of the Kotaku thread on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/kotaku/posts/10102759696153589 https://www.facebook.com/kotaku/posts/10102759696153589 people are not happy
• clvrly 13y ago
  I don't like this. I don't trust facebook and they seem to acquiring many of the promising companies out there.
• emperorcezar 13y ago
  The comments on here are starting to look like a Facebook post.
• fletchowns 13y ago
  I guess this probably means I'll never get to use it since I don't have a facebook account
• clmorg01 13y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One Brought to you by Facebook. Just wait till you see the new Farmville.
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• lowglow 13y ago
  what.
• Sindrome 13y ago
  OcculusVR is dead. Can someone make a new Oculus VR that focuses on video games and not enabling Facebook to control everything you see. Get on it.
  • codezero 13y ago
    This sounds like what Valve and Sony are working on.
  • skymt 13y ago
    Sony's "Project Morpheus" is supposed to be on par with the current Oculus kit and it's explicitly intended to pair with the PlayStation 4.
    • seth1010 13y ago
      With the current Oculus kit? You mean the dev-kit 1? Because I have one of those and aside from playing around developing games on it for when a real version is shipped, I wouldn't pay $25 for it. Now I'm super worried that Sony is going to ruin VR by giving us a shitty version that makes everyone hate VR again.
      • skymt 13y ago
        What I heard was that the display is on-par with the second dev kit. (My mistake calling it their current kit; that was misleading.) 1080p, smooth head tracking, no noticeable lag.
    • devbug 13y ago
      Too bad Sony is chucking everything not in their core business model overboard so they don't sink. That includes gaming.
    • DonGateley 13y ago
      People who have had the opportunity to see both the DK2 and the Morpheus have almost all thought the Morpheus a better device. I think Luckey et. al. saw the handwriting on the wall and sold for the best deal they could while they still could into a market where they won't need to compete with Sony, MS, and Google directly. They have no magic and they know it. Sony will trounce them technologically. Not getting to market before Sony is a fatal shortfall. I think they knew all along that they'd fall short going toe to toe with the big guns. There is something about Luckey that has always said huckster to me. On the other hand, games are but the miniscule tip of the tip of the VR iceberg and the new placement with respect to the larger market could benefit grownups like me why could give a rat's a about games and social but see endless passive entertainment possibilities. Of course, Sony is there to beat in those domains as well.
• bckrasnow 13y ago
  "I'm done for a while" my ass. This is really really smart. I'd guess it's a play for a talented team, and a bet that they can become a leader in an industry that will be revolutionary sooner rather than later.
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• whyrusleeping 13y ago
  I don't really feel like playing some vr game and then turning around to be confronted by an ad tailored to the quest I just finished.
• cruig 13y ago
  wtf...^2
• evanm 13y ago
  http://i.imgur.com/v841Qjy.jpg http://i.imgur.com/v841Qjy.jpg
• mindstab 13y ago
  I read it as facebook wanting to leapfrog google hangouts and skype and become the first next gen video chat client/platform. Games is now a side secondary thing.
• sohailk 13y ago
  Smart move by FB, honestly. I think its safe to say that VR will be a large part of the way we consume content in a couple years. Acquiring Occulus puts them ahead of the competition...for now.
• sukuriant 13y ago
  No! Please, please, please no!!! I've actively avoided Facebook for several years and now Oculus is making me choose between awesome tech and not having a facebook account?! REALLY?! What.. why!? What could Facebook be doing with this that they want it. I just. Why? No. No no no no no.
  • Kiro 13y ago
    I'm pretty certain you won't ever need a Facebook account to use Oculus Rift.
    • sukuriant 13y ago
      I don't even like the concept of associating with Facebook in any way. I don't want to have to justify myself when I go and buy an Oculus Rift ( "The money is going to Facebook, but it's okay because they have really awesome technology, even though I hate everything they stand for in every other market they're in" )
      • Kiro 13y ago
        Ok, if you're so full of hate for Facebook then I understand why you don't like this deal on an ideological level.
    • pekk 13y ago
      Let's think about the priority Oculus will now give to supporting random games that aren't connected to Facebook's business interests.
      • Kiro 13y ago
        That's what doomsayers usually say about these kind of deals but I have yet to see it happen. Let's see if you're right this time. I don't think you are.
• schmatz 13y ago
  I hope this doesn't kill the Rift's potential.
• apetresc 13y ago
  They have some of the best engineers and VPs in their space, huge hype, mindshare, and by all accounts a kick-ass product. Forget why Facebook is interested, I don't get why Oculus would even consider selling for 10% of a WhatsApp. Their star was rising if anyone's ever was.
  • giarc 13y ago
    Star rising vs star risen. WhatsApp was already a star. It had millions of users and was the "go to" app for communication in many countries. We forget that here in NA. Oculus, as cool as it is, still doesn't have a huge customer/user database.
    • pekk 13y ago
      WhatsApp was something essentially fungible with things we already had and things which can be built relatively easily. Decent-quality consumer VR was not that.
    • efuquen 13y ago
      I don't see how you're really addressing the point, the idea is that Occulus Rift's star risen would be way way more valuable then WhatsApp ever could hope to be. We all know they still have a journey in front of them, but the idea is they could have kept going on their own, and you know, had a star risen moment vs getting acquired before a general consumer product was released. But, you get a couple hundred million users that make next to no revenue and will be incredibly difficult to monetize and your star has risen. Pretty hard to compete with that rock solid proven model I guess.
      • giarc 13y ago
        I tend to disagree. Facebook is worth billions and they created a business of sharing photos and status updates. WhatsApp allows you to do this as well, but on the mobile platform that has escaped Facebook's grasp. WhatsApp is a hugely successful piece of software that fits within Facebooks portfolio very nicely. It also doesn't come with huge overhead, something like 20 engineers keep WhatsApp running. You don't have to speculate that WhatsApp (and it's 1/2 billion user base) is worth money. On the other hand you have a hardware startup with no customers and an unproven product. Sure they have sold a bunch of dev kit's, but those are far from being ready for the consumer market. In addition to not having a customers, they have Sony building a similar product and remember that Sony already has hardware in millions of homes and therefore roll out would be much easier. Occulus might build a great product, but competition is going to be much harder given Sony's pursuit. I would argue that Occulus has proven to be an innovative and smart company, but in no means have they proven to be a successful business and therefore their "star has not risen" just yet. Speculation on future value is much harder with Occulus and has too many "ifs" and therefore, currently, Occulus is not worth anything close to the $19B paid for WhatsApp.
• druidsbane 13y ago
  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :'(
• SEJeff 13y ago
  Wow, I never saw Jon Carmack working for Zuck. To be honest, they aren't even in the same league. This makes me a sad panda.
  • bluedino 13y ago
    Suck has a hundre John Carmacks (of various fields) working for him
    • kybernetyk 13y ago
      Which is sad because in the end Facebook is all about showing ads to people who don't want to see them.
      • waps 13y ago
        Well just think of Facebook's next product. They make everyone wear VR headsets, then sell "in your face" ads. They will make billions :(
      • grkvlt 13y ago
        Rather the opposite - Facebook want to show adverts only to the people who want to see them. Anything else is just stupid, why on earth would anyone pay to advertise to people who don't want to see my adverts?
        • bunkat 13y ago
          Does anybody actually like seeing ads when they are browsing around Facebook? Who thinks to themselves 'I feel like buying something, let's log in to Facebook and maybe a random ad will come up for something that I want'. If people want to spend money, don't they just search for it or hit up Amazon? I wonder, if given the option to show adverts when you first sign up - how many people would select it?
        • goldenkey 13y ago
          Wrong. They show adverts based on personal information (groups, friends, events, etc.) used incredulously to target folks of interest. That doesn't mean that person wants to see an ad regarding a band they have on their profile.
• addisonj 13y ago
  The argument for Oculus to push forward and usher in new forms of communication certainly isn't new, but with a company like Facebook behind it definitely legitimizes it... And also makes it suddenly incredibly scary...
• ac2u 13y ago
  Guess this is now the most successful kickstarter ever.
  • venomsnake 13y ago
    And also the one with the biggest share of pissed off backers.
    • thearn4 13y ago
      I don't know, I think 'Clang' will forever have that honor.
    • pepon 13y ago
      Indeed... The problem with Oculus kickstarter project was that you were buying a dev kit, not a final product. So now they sell the company and you have a dev kit for a facebook product... and the final usage of the Oculus may be now very different than the one you thought it was going to be when you purchased the dev kit...
  • deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
    • xbonez 13y ago
      Whatsapp wasn't a Kickstarted project, was it?
• dewarrn1 13y ago
  No part of this acquisition makes sense. I just hope that the product doesn't disappear without a trace after a write-down in a couple of years.
  • efiftythree 13y ago
    Trying to make sense of it in my head I can see where Oculus brings the VR technology Facebook may bring the data to create virtual worlds? Surely they will operate as separate entities like Instagram and/or WhatsApp. It also may be good to have a solid financial backer who is also a company who moves quickly. So long as the device doesn't turn bright blue and Facebook doesn't hinder the forward progress of Oculus VR we might as well sit back and hope for the best.
• locusm 13y ago
  Double checking its not April 1... Really wonder what vision FB sold them.
  • theorique 13y ago
    vision I see what you did there.
• nhm 13y ago
  More details at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-to-acquire-oculus-252328061.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-to-acquire-... "... for a total of approximately $2 billion. This includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones."
• Kiro 13y ago
  What's with the negativity? What exactly do you think will happen that's so bad?
  • evo_9 13y ago
    Virtually anyone else with the pockets to buy them would have been better. Microsoft for example have to be kicking themselves right now. After last weeks PS4 VR headset announcement I honestly expect them to buy Oculus immediately. I'm shocked they didn't or got out bid. I wonder if Carmack was in on the talks... he couldn't have possible left ID to cash in like this... he's got to be pissed off.
    • ChrisClark 13y ago
      Carmack has always wanted to build a full VR world/universe, if that's Zuckberberg's vision, they actually might fit. Crazy though.
      • thenomad 13y ago
        That's a very good point. And that might well be Zuckerberg's vision. He probably read "Snowcrash" when he was about 10, after all.
    • kybernetikos 13y ago
      All I know about Carmack is that he likes the 'metaverse'. It's quite possible that he thinks he has a better chance of building it with Facebook than without.
    • Kiro 13y ago
      Looking at his Twitter feed he seems to be happy and I don't see why he wouldn't be. The internet hacker crowd hates Facebook and loves Carmack but that doesn't mean that Carmack hates Facebook. No, he's probably way more pragmatic.
    • bripeace 13y ago
      Microsoft would of broken up the company and integrated it into their own products. Facebook allows Occulus to stay Occulus which is probably a huge motivator for the people there.
• lawl 13y ago
  Damn! I don't like this. I had hoped they jump in bed with valve. Yes, I just really dislike facebook, so I hate to see them aquiring something i was really excited about. Also from the article: > After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home. Nah, I'd rather not, thank you. I prefer to actually visit my doctor where facebook doesn't get all the data about it.
  • hueving 13y ago
    But how else will you automate the update to your Facebook page about your herpes treatment?
  • sudont 13y ago
    Indeed. I preordered the DK2, but I'm not sure if I should try to get a refund. I'm not on Facebook, and I don't want to develop for their platform. Although, one of the ideas was to replicate DFW's "samizdat" as an art project. Something tells me Facebook wouldn't look kindly on it pulling all your friend data to entertain you to death.
    • 1qaz2wsx3edc 13y ago
      I'm in the same boat, I'm going to wait a couple days, but I'm very tempted to cancel my preorder.
      • serge2k 13y ago
        I already sent an emailing asking how to cancel. If it turns out to be good I'll get one. Not bothering to preorder though. No need to risk money supporting the company now.
    • thisisrobv 13y ago
      I think this is what makes me hate this purchase. The most interesting part of Oculus to me was the "open-ness" of the platform. They were seemingly doing an amazing job of getting developers interested in the platform. I'd argue that Facebook does a pretty terrible job on both fronts.
• RKoutnik 13y ago
  From Facebook investor relations, looks like the price was $2B, $400MM cash, $1.6 stock, with options on $300MM more. > Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Oculus VR, Inc., the leader in immersive virtual reality technology, for a total of approximately $2 billion. This includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones.
  • waps 13y ago
    So they don't even have the money yet and have already lost 1.6 / 69.35 * 64.5 billion = 112 million. Good start.
    • randartie 13y ago
      Who doesn't have the money yet?
• Myztiq 13y ago
  $2 billion in total value [1]. $400 million in cash. $1.6 billion in facebook stock. Plus "$300 million earn-out in cash/stock based on the achievement of certain milestones." 1. http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140325-912577.html http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140325-912577.html
• jerryhuang100 13y ago
  i thought mark's shopping spree stopped at whatsapp...
• georgemcbay 13y ago
  Installing Oculus VR USB drivers... Please login using your Facebook account to continue. Email: ________ Password: ________
  • jhrrsn 13y ago
    This, absolutely this. I just can't comprehend why anyone with such a great buzz around their fledgling product would get into bed with FB, dooming their work to ad-riddled nonsense.
    • sehr 13y ago
      Resources, existing userbase of billions that are already familiar with the parent.
    • waterlesscloud 13y ago
      Yeah, like Instagram has become.
  • khafra 13y ago
    That was my exact thought. I had been waiting for the consumer version; now I'm thinking I'd better get the unencumbered dev kit.
• happyscrappy 13y ago
  Got mine. I'm out.
• sunseb 13y ago
  It's maybe irrational, but I don't trust Facebook and I certainly don't want to use Oculus VR for my private life.
• OedipusRex 13y ago
  From the people who brought you Doom and Facebook... This could go either way, Facebook could leave it on the path it was on and just act as a parent company and the Oculus will be as awesome as we had hoped it would be. Or Facebook brands itself all over the Oculus, closes it down to Facebook's proprietary software and opens it up to ads, killing what some view as the catalyst of the VR bump recently, then Sony takes over as our best hope. I love Sony but I want to see VR on more than just the Playstation Brand. Here is to hoping that Facebook stays as uninvolved as possible with the Oculus.
  • savethejets 13y ago
    Regardless of how this goes with Facebook's meddling, developers have left the platform. Ask Ouya what happens when no one is developing for your hardware...
• eigenvalue 13y ago
  This is a very smart move. The big tech houses now are basically just curators of the next awesome technology. This is no different from Google buying Nest or Deepmind or Boston Dynamics. Who cares if there is a direct link to their current business? Also, imagine how much more they can do with all the resources of Facebook at their disposal. This will surely accelerate the adoption of next gen VR hardware.
  • onedev 13y ago
    wow finally someone who gets it
• neotek 13y ago
  Why on earth would Oculus sell at all, least of all to Facebook? What possible reason could Facebook have to purchase a company so far removed from its core competency? People in the /r/oculus reddit are already expressing strong feelings of betrayal - eighty comments in under ten minutes, none positive. What a bizarre move.
  • pdq 13y ago
    Agreed it's bizarre from Facebook's perspective. But completely logical from Oculus' perspective -- if someone offers you $2B to cash out before you've even launched, you'd be silly to say no.
    • jmathai 13y ago
      I can't say I'm the type of founder to say no but I'm glad they exist. They're the ones who disrupt entire industries.
    • reportingsjr 13y ago
      Does it really always have to be about money? This is just stupid.
      • Mz 13y ago
        Try having none for a while. It's hard to stand by "principles" when you aren't eating. A lot of people are very, very afraid of stuff like that, even if they have not suffered in a long time or never really, truly suffered but maybe their parents grew up hungry and instilled in them terror of doing without. I mean, some folks stand by their principles. But, seriously, it's not easy.
        • neotek 13y ago
          Oculus wasn't exactly starving for cash, and even if they were investors would have beaten each other to death for a chance to pour some cash into it.
• dombili 13y ago
  Carmack now works for Facebook? Damn.
• venomsnake 13y ago
  I am really disappointed. Don't know why exactly, but it just doesn't feel right. I have had really great hopes for the product. Have you noticed that the giants work relentlessly to prevent any small player of growing with golden handcuffs - thermostat guys, whatsapp, now OVR ...
• jpeg_hero 13y ago
  One gets the sense that FB has the market capitalization capability (and inclination?) to buy a large fraction of the remaining "independent" tech sector.
• zobzu 13y ago
  well, fuck.
• tucif 13y ago
  This seems odd to me, but after some thought I think they could become something like Second Life, powered by VR. Otherwise I don't see how facebook could take advantage of the device.
• ApacheEcho 13y ago
  People are getting pissed because they don't want Facebook to take over their lives. I'm pretty disappointed.
• jsutton 13y ago
  Hang out with your Facebook friends via Oculus Rift? Seems like this will come to fruition faster than we thought.
• ececconi 13y ago
  Facebook is really expanding everywhere.
• Mz 13y ago
  Someone shared this with me with the words "RIP Oculus." Can the megacorps please stop eating our young? Microsoft has a terrible history of buying up companies and then killing the project for some reason. Posterous got bought (I don't recall by whom) and killed. These big companies tend to not develop this stuff. They just eat it.
  • josephpmay 13y ago
    Posterous got bought by Twitter, I believe
  • adventured 13y ago
    I completely agree with the sentiment. However, if FB screws this up, it leaves an even more wide open market for other new start-ups to dive in and make a big dent in virtual reality. The technology is ready, there's absolutely nothing that can stop what's coming, whether FB screws them up or not VR is here and it's primed.
  • Taylorious 13y ago
    I don't think it's fair to blame the megacorps and not the companies that are selling out. All these startups talk a good game about being cutting edge, disruptive, a passionate place to work etc. but it's all BS. Engineers work their asses off working on something they believe in and the minute some megacorp waves a big check in front of the founders they sell out. They might be passionate about their product but they are still more passionate about giant piles of money. It's stuff like this that makes me not want to work for a startup. These guys had a great business. Everyone loved their product. Even the people who got physically sick from using it still thought it was cool and wanted them to succeed. They had a perfectly viable company that could have been very profitable on its own. But hey who wants all the responsibility and work of having your own profitable company when you can just sell out... Let's not even get into how unethical it is to use something like KickStarter to get you started and then turn around and sell out for billions a couple years later before you even ship a consumer product.
    • Mz 13y ago
• ChuckMcM 13y ago
  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Now with the new "Live your friends life timeline feature, you can virtually live anyone elses life being projected right into your own set of VR goggles!" Ok so that is the dystopian view :-(. I really don't get this move yet, much to process. I suppose 'hang out with your friends in a virtual bar'? concepts?
  • wonderyak 13y ago
    There is much more money to be made in 'dystopian' tech than there would be with 'utopian' tech.
  • pera 13y ago
    http://nooooooooooooooo.com/ http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
• morganwilde 13y ago
  Oculus has been one of the most forward looking companies to hit the scene recently. This acquisition shows that Mark is well able to look far into the future. Personally, I find this as a very good sign, since we now have Google and Facebook as two giants unafraid of taking the lead. The more, the better, because it seemed for a time with Apple out of the game, it would be Google alone at the forefront.
• kbar13 13y ago
  Well I guess that's a GG?
• lihorne 13y ago
  Well, after getting over the shock of this, it seems like a good move by Facebook. Ever since I first heard about Oculus the majority of applications that I'd seen people interested in were gaming alone. Based on Zuck's post it looks like they aren't going to change that at all, and it will be the first thing they ship with it, but they'll get a head start on turning it into a social / communications platform. People here seem shocked that it sold to Facebook, but really I think this means that everything that was expected of it will still happen, but even more interesting things will be done with it at the same time.
• mpg33 13y ago
  I feel like idealism is Silicon Valley's greatest asset...and it's greatest liability.
• tibbydude 13y ago
  They are going to use VR to build the next Like button. I don't get Facebook .. they are buying everything these days that is not nailed down ... they are the Ebay of Web 3.0
• 10098 13y ago
  Pretty sure they're going to ruin it
• Kiro 13y ago
  > Very little changes day-to-day at Oculus, although we’ll have substantially more resources to build the right team. I think this is a good thing.
  • 1ris 13y ago
    Maybe. I doubt facebook will be satisfied if they sell their Oculi (What's the plural?) like lg sells their monitors. I'm sure they sell it like samsung sells their phones: Full of stuff i do not want, deeply integrated into a ecosystem that i do distrust.
• mllobet 13y ago
  Huge mistake from Oculus. They had the potential to become a multibillion company and a true giant of the likes of facebook itself...
• serge2k 13y ago
  Cancelling order now.
  • sekasi 13y ago
    well that's a lie.
• falconfunction 13y ago
  I guess the youporn with facebook likes finally makes sense now
• czr80 13y ago
  I'm starting to think that fb thinks their stock is overvalued, and that they should buy as many things as they can before the price drops.
  • neotek 13y ago
    Their PE ratio is ~106, they'd be crazy not to take advantage of that.
  • sukuriant 13y ago
    Oops, sorry, didn't mean to downvote
  • sbt 13y ago
    Yes this is exactly what's happening. They are turning into a holding company, this is just even more diversified than WhatsApp. FB's business model cannot justify the FB stock price, they are effectively using money people thought (wrongly) they were investing in social media and deploying it to better use because they know FB's revenue model is not going to live up to investors expectations long term. I can see the Bloomberg tomorrow stirring up excitement for FB's retail investors so they won't take a hard look at the numbers they actually invested in.
    • zzleeper 13y ago
      What would you do if you were FB? As people have said, they may just be pulling an AOL, which sucked for TW's shareholders but was great for AOL's.
  • Theodores 13y ago
    They should buy Time Warner. Or merge with AOL (oops).
• jstsch 13y ago
  Wow, that was unexpected. Interesting, but unexpected. But not sure if I won't cancel my devkit. What I find interesting in Oculus' blog post (http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/oculus-joins-facebook/ http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/oculus-joins-facebook/) is that they write about an open connected world, but Facebook is everything but that.
  • npizzolato 13y ago
    That's because you're viewing "open" and "connected" through technological terms, as in how other technology can connect with Facebook and how open the Facebook platform is. If you view the words instead in terms of people -- opening people's lives to friends and connecting people around the world at a level that was almost impossible before the rise of social networks -- then it makes complete sense.
• cmdr2 13y ago
  me: mind, stop going down thought-threads about facebook empire building mind: fu me: okay, don't panic. facebook sees the potential in the upcoming VR industry mind: yeah, they also see the VR marketplace wars coming and want to own it me: marketplace wars? like apps built for VR accessible from within the headset [1]? mind: yeah, so (c)blocking Steam from exploiting valve's influence with Oculus, and instead push Facebook as the marketplace for VR content me: interesting.. mind? mind: yeah? me: you're just making up shit to explain why Facebook would buy Oculus VR aren't you? mind: yeah :( [1] http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/19/5524336/new-oculus-rift-dev-kit-price-july http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/19/5524336/new-oculus-rift-dev...
• deleted 13y ago
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• Jack000 13y ago
  this probably doesn't bode well for core gamers. At least sony is planning on a competitor.
• ebspelman 13y ago
  Google Glass shows you an augmented view of reality. Facebook Glass shows you a reflected vision of yourself.
• rowdyrabbit 13y ago
  This is really disappointing. I've been thinking about buying the dev kit for the last couple of weeks, I guess this news has made the decision for me :(
• Tiktaalik 13y ago
  I have no idea why Oculus would sell at this point. It feels to me like this is just the beginning of their story and of this technology. Did they just get scared about Sony's Project Morpheus and decide to get out early?
  • dragonwriter 13y ago
    > I have no idea why Oculus would sell at this point. Money? > It feels to me like this is just the beginning of their story and of this technology. That's probably the point, for any technology firm, where the "work done" to "money received" for selling out is the highest. When it feels like the end of their story and technology, they've missed the ideal time to sell.
  • billmalarky 13y ago
    2 scenarios: If all they care about it money (doubtful), they just locked down a vast amount of money in 2 years time vs the long hard fight in the marketplace against several serious competitors (Sony etc). A bird in the hand is worth more than in the bush. If they care about the technology, and bringing their vision to reality, then they now have Facebook's resources to make their dream come true, which is important given the size of their competitors' budgets.
  • robryan 13y ago
    There is a crazy amount of money involved. I understand the whole not in it totally for the money thing but at some point the massive figure being offered becomes hard to ignore.
• iamshariq 13y ago
  Looks like Oculus VR is going to be the next big platform for developers to make software for.
• steeve 13y ago
  What the? Whaaaat?
• lightcatcher 13y ago
  I just finished reading "Masters of Doom" last night. The book is about id software, the company that made Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake and that pioneered 3D gaming. The book primarily follows John Carmack and John Romero, two of the founders of id. Carmack was responsible for developing almost all of the 3D engine code. After finishing Quake, (what I believe to be) the first fully 3D PC game, Carmack wanted to work on a 3D virtual world inspired by the Metaverse from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. The book at least makes it sound like Carmack believed that a 3D virtual world was the next big thing. Despite Carmack's wishes, the rest of id decided to stick with making first person shooters and other video games. Carmack is now the CTO of Oculus VR. Keeping in mind Carmack's virtual reality ambitions and Zuckerberg's mission to "connect the world", this acquisition makes a lot more sense than it does thinking of Oculus VR as purely a gaming company.
  • doktrin 13y ago
    I'm currently reading MoD, and I agree with this analysis. I'm not thrilled about the purchase, but it does make sense given the ambitions of the players involved.
  • esw 13y ago
    This is the first thing I've read about it that makes sense. Thanks very much for sharing it.
  • krosaen 13y ago
    Yes - for those curious, more on MOD from coding horror here: http://blog.codinghorror.com/you-dont-need-millions-of-dollars/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/you-dont-need-millions-of-dolla...
  • d23 13y ago
    > Despite Carmack's wishes, the rest of id decided to stick with making first person shooters and other video games. Really? I actually just finished MoD, coincidentally, and it seemed to me that the rest of the team wanted to do things other than the repeated Quake/Doom re-hashing, and Carmack basically refused. He wanted to work on his engine.
• Crito 13y ago
  This is disappointing to me, I now have lower hopes for the future of the Oculus Rift, particularly as hacker accessible hardware. My only hope is that John Carmack is coming out of this well enough to bring Armadillo Aerospace back out of 'hibernation mode'.
• avenger123 13y ago
  Wow. What an unexpected buy. It's not even Aprils Fool's yet. This is likely a defensive buy. I would imagine it didn't cost too much either.
• dshep 13y ago
  Is this like an early April 1st joke?
• jpeg_hero 13y ago
  pretty bald plan to copy google's "expansive mandate" where you give your company a broader mission and add on these non-core schemes. feels a little hollow. also, is all company sellers going to completely inflate their price to FB? I get what Oculus is doing, but damn, i would guess that the second highest bidder would pay 10% of that much.
• orky56 13y ago
  I believe all the negativity here is as though David (Oculus VR) has partnered with Goliath (Facebook). What I don't understand is why HN users are already able to rationalize why Facebook is the antagonist here and why Oculus VR might not have a strategy bigger than gaming.
  • Don_ 13y ago
    Facebook has already proven to be a huge antagonist in many many ways. We can, however, give Oculus the benefit of the doubt; they might have ended up doing nasty things even if they hadn't gotten acquired by Facebook, sure, but Carmack's past actions were never even close to the nastyness of Zuck's actions. It's just a matter of analyzing the past and making a hypothesis on the future based on that. I don't see what's so difficult to understand.
• Elof 13y ago
  Facebook is obviously making calculated grabs for data, I get it. But the premiums they are paying seem Ludacris and I don't think spending this much on relatively easily replicated tech seems worth it. I'm going to guess that they are going to ruin the brands that these companies have created and there are probably already legitimate opportunities for incumbent companies or not-even-built-yet future companies to displace the things they are buying.
• Kapura 13y ago
  This is probably the most forward-thinking move that Facebook can make. I've personally been kicking around ideas about what society will look like in a post-VR revolution world, and it seems that Zuck et. al. have come to the same conclusion that I have, namely, it will change what it means to interact socially with others. Imagine a 10 year high school reunion that exists not in the old gymnasium, but in a virtual space where you can catch up with them. Imagine sitting in the front row of the next presidential debate, where you can see the sweat forming on the candidate's brow under the lights. You can look over and talk to your friend sitting next to you without disturbing the action. Imagine being able to tour a facebook friend's new apartment without leaving your chair. This is super duper exciting, but I hope that Facebook doesn't kill it.
  • saraid216 13y ago
    > Imagine a 10 year high school reunion that exists not in the old gymnasium, but in a virtual space where you can catch up with them. And you offer one of them a hug and then pause and realize, "Oh yeah. I'm just sitting at home by myself again. Just like high school." > Imagine sitting in the front row of the next presidential debate, where you can see the sweat forming on the candidate's brow under the lights. You can look over and talk to your friend sitting next to you without disturbing the action. And now I have no hope for American democracy. It is dead.
    • hsod 13y ago
      > And now I have no hope for American democracy. It is dead. I know HN has a natural tendency towards wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I don't understand this reaction at all. Why would watching a debate from a virtual auditorium be any worse for democracy than watching it on TV? Sometimes it feels like comment threads on here are secret competitions to see who can have the most extreme negative reaction.
      • saraid216 13y ago
        > I know HN has a natural tendency towards wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I don't understand this reaction at all. That's fair. I didn't bother explaining it since the details of implementing a democracy is a hobby horse of mine and dropping a couple paragraphs seemed... beside the point. But, > Why would watching a debate from a virtual auditorium be any worse for democracy than watching it on TV? It's not the act of watching that I'm criticizing here. It's the fact that it's being venerated as remotely important. The mere suggestion that seeing a sweat drop on a presidential candidate's forehead is even passingly relevant to anyone is profoundly disturbing to me.
• reitzensteinm 13y ago
  As a game developer that's interested in doing some work with the Oculus, I could see this going one of two ways: 1) Facebook could stay hands off, giving the company the company the breathing room and capital to absolutely revolutionize gaming, and then on to other fields. 2) Oculus as a "communication platform" is attempted too soon and the core team is drawn away working on pet projects resulting in a drastic lack of focus, which would kill the product (momentum is key here). Given that Facebook is the acquirer, I'd lean much further towards #1. If it were Google, I'd bet money on #2 (see the GAE thread today). I don't think the privacy stuff is going to be a big deal, by the time this turns from being an interface device to an integrated product like Glass, the market will have matured and there'll be plenty of competitors offering the former. So, it'll either good or bad. You read it here first, folks.
  • igravious 13y ago
    As soon as this whole shebang turns out to be good or bad I'm going to point to your comment, reitzensteinm, as having called the result first. People will extol your prescience from misty dale to cloud-tipped mountain top. Three cheers for the ambivalent future of Facereality and Oculusbook!
  • nobodysfool 13y ago
    >Facebook could stay hands off No, they could have made a sizable investment without having a controlling stake in it. No, they Acquired it. You don't do that unless you want to change something there. My best hope is that the Zuck sees something cool going on with the Oculus and wants to try his hand at something new. My worst fear is that they will develop the 'Oculus API' as a wrapper around the original API and Facebook. Now Facebook can ad ads featuring your friend's faces in games... and free 3d games if you just watch a 15 second ad for every five minutes that you play...
    • cyphax 13y ago
      > Now Facebook can ad ads featuring your friend's faces in games... and free 3d games if you just watch a 15 second ad for every five minutes that you play... But that might be fairly easy to compete with, perhaps, and so people would, if the situation you described came to be, just think "this is ridiculous" and maybe not buy an Occulus Rift. Sony's working on something similar. That said, my interest in the project also just took a severe beating. I'm kind of done with Facebook, I don't want to be a part of it but I should keep an eye on it. Maybe Facebook will allow the product to become what its makers are intending. Or, maybe they'd require you to have, say, a Facebook account for, some reason, in which case I wouldn't really be interested in the product.
• computerslol 13y ago
  Farmville 2: The ultimate farming experience.
• ldayley 13y ago
  Important to remember that this was initially funded via Kickstarter.
  • Pyrodogg 13y ago
    And also how you don't even get the tiniest little sliver of equity for that early proof of concept funding....
• jordanthoms 13y ago
  It's April 1st already?
• Demiurge 13y ago
  This is so disappointing! :(
• tomphoolery 13y ago
  Can't wait for "Oculus Chafe", their upcoming virtual reality codpiece.
• MrZongle2 13y ago
  Dammit! This is like the Google acquisition of Nest: something cool, now owned by a large company historically more interested in monetizing my activities than providing me with a quality product.
• jobu 13y ago
  Facebook has made some good purchases that align with their overall strategy, but I definitely don't see how this fits. And why would Oculus sell to them?! It makes no sense. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony... The list of better technology matches is huge.
• ApacheEcho 13y ago
  Well, I'm routing for Valve now.
• benched 13y ago
  Is this the real Hacker News, or am I being spoofed? Well, obviously I'm as disappointed as everybody else, but at least there is still Valve's research? Perhaps that could be productized for games in a couple of years.
• javiercr 13y ago
  From Zuckerber's post: > Imagine [..] studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world I think his mention to Education is quite relevant here. Days for traditional Education are numbered.
  • drakaal 13y ago
    <Not sarcastic> Do you feel that distance learning is limited by the fact that it is in 2d instead of 3d? is the ability to see the teacher in stereocopic presentation hampering? </not sarcastic>
    • javiercr 13y ago
      IMHO, what matters most is not if the VR actually helps learning, but that a company such Facebook is putting a spotlight on Education. Zuckerberg could have mentioned a hundred different things where VR would be applicable. The press release [1] from Oculus also mentions Education: Mark and his team share our vision for virtual reality’s potential to transform the way we learn, share, play, and communicate [1] http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/oculus-joins-facebook/ http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/oculus-joins-facebook/
      • zenbowman 13y ago
        Play. Learn. Communicate. That was and still is the slogan of my previous employer. http://alelo.com/ http://alelo.com/ I'd love to see this really take shape, I worked on the virtual education problem for a long time, and it badly needs an investment of money. If facebook invests in virtual education, I will be very pleased.
• orasis 13y ago
  WTF
• ivanca 13y ago
  That's it; Oculus is lost, we need some kind of non-profit working on virtual reality instead of private ventures otherwise this shit is never going to work.
• erikj 13y ago
  Are they just acquiring every startup that shows up in news?
• deleted 13y ago
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• c0ur7n3y 13y ago
  This sucks so unbelievably bad.
• pdeva1 13y ago
  no more carmack pouring his passion. it will be left to 'product managers' in facebook.
• mcescalante 13y ago
  As long as they don't turn it into Facebook Glass (which it sounds like it may eventually become) it may not be the worst thing. I think with Facebooks cash the Oculus team might be able to get a quality consumer headset for gaming out a lot faster than as a "startup" without having to worry about multiple additional rounds of funding. The founders also probably couldn't say no to $2b...I wonder if they'll bounce when they can or who even is going along with the acquisition.
• martin1b 13y ago
  whoa. didn't see this coming. Doesn't really fit Carmack's style at all. Wonder if this deal was done over him...
• fasteddie31003 13y ago
  I'm not super thrilled by this but at least it's better than GM acquiring Tesla.
• aresant 13y ago
  Zuck is buying his way into the next generation of consumer digital consumption. Trying the Oculus for the first time was one of those "this is going to be huge" moments in my life akin to seeing the first iPhone demo. FB's entire business went to mobile, and pre-IPO there was a lot of discussion around if they were going to figure mobile out. Now they own arguably the best team and technology that's going to be in front of the next wave of consumption. Palmer & the early Oculus team deserve the huge success, but man I hope they stay hungry and keep innovating given the brilliance that they gave us with the 1st Dev Kit.
• nichochar 13y ago
  This is really upsetting.
• kailuowang 13y ago
  I wonder does this have anything to do with Sony announcing her own VR project Morpheus. Technology wise Sony's alternative didn't show much advantage, but industry support wise it showed that it's a very very prominent opponent Oculus VR has to beat. Selling it to Facebook seems to me an indication that the leadership no longer believe that Oculus can be as successful in the gaming industry as they hoped.
• deleted 13y ago
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• frakkingcylons 13y ago
  Palmer Luckey (founder of Oculus VR) just wrote a statement[0] on the Oculus subreddit: "I’ve always loved games. They’re windows into worlds that let us travel somewhere fantastic. My foray into virtual reality was driven by a desire to enhance my gaming experience; to make my rig more than just a window to these worlds, to actually let me step inside them. As time went on, I realized that VR technology wasn’t just possible, it was almost ready to move into the mainstream. All it needed was the right push. We started Oculus VR with the vision of making virtual reality affordable and accessible, to allow everyone to experience the impossible. With the help of an incredible community, we’ve received orders for over 75,000 development kits from game developers, content creators, and artists around the world. When Facebook first approached us about partnering, I was skeptical. As I learned more about the company and its vision and spoke with Mark, the partnership not only made sense, but became the clear and obvious path to delivering virtual reality to everyone. Facebook was founded with the vision of making the world a more connected place. Virtual reality is a medium that allows us to share experiences with others in ways that were never before possible. Facebook is run in an open way that’s aligned with Oculus’ culture. Over the last decade, Mark and Facebook have been champions of open software and hardware, pushing the envelope of innovation for the entire tech industry. As Facebook has grown, they’ve continued to invest in efforts like with the Open Compute Project, their initiative that aims to drive innovation and reduce the cost of computing infrastructure across the industry. This is a team that’s used to making bold bets on the future. In the end, I kept coming back to a question we always ask ourselves every day at Oculus: what’s best for the future of virtual reality? Partnering with Mark and the Facebook team is a unique and powerful opportunity. The partnership accelerates our vision, allows us to execute on some of our most creative ideas and take risks that were otherwise impossible. Most importantly, it means a better Oculus Rift with fewer compromises even faster than we anticipated. Very little changes day-to-day at Oculus, although we’ll have substantially more resources to build the right team. If you want to come work on these hard problems in computer vision, graphics, input, and audio, please apply! This is a special moment for the gaming industry — Oculus’ somewhat unpredictable future just became crystal clear: virtual reality is coming, and it’s going to change the way we play games forever. I’m obsessed with VR. I spend every day pushing further, and every night dreaming of where we are going. Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined we’d come so far so fast. I’m proud to be a member of this community — thank you all for carrying virtual reality and gaming forward and trusting in us to deliver. We won’t let you down." [0]: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/21cy9n/the_future_of_vr/ http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/21cy9n/the_future_of...
• eswat 13y ago
  Sudden urge to read Snow Crash again. Reading this makes me feel like they want to take the first step into making a Metaverse[1]. That way they can control it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash#Metaverse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash#Metaverse
• Tloewald 13y ago
  This is a bit of a WTF. I don't think Facebook would necessarily "ruin" Occulus (although it likely will) but I don't really see the fit. Courtside seats at basketball games -- OK totally doable technically speaking, but the hard part would be licensing. If VR ever takes off in the mainstream it will probably end up becoming a "FRAND" kind of deal, where a bunch of key players pool their patents. Occulus will be a player, but hardly the only player. I could see Sony or Microsoft wanting to sew up Occulus (although I think it would be a mistake to sell to either). Facebook just doesn't make much sense. Maybe it's just Zuckerberg really likes the technology.
  • cweiss 13y ago
    Here's the thing, if FB really wanted to do the 'courtside seats' thing, they should have licensed being able to stream the feeds through the FB web site - In terms of revenue stream, they'd make a boatload more $$ off of charging for that than they will by attaching it to a $1500 piece of headgear that you're not going get away with slipping on in your office to sneak a quick game.
    • Tloewald 13y ago
      The point is that to stream video from an NBA game you need to license it (you can't even carry pro photo gear into a professional sports venue without the appropriate credentials, let alone hook it up to the internet and stream video out of it). So this is totally pie-in-the-sky above and beyond the technical side of it which is perfectly feasible with off-the-shelf stuff today (Occulus would simply be a nicer HMD than most).
      • bripeace 13y ago
        The NBA has heard of Facebook. The NBA probably had not heard of Occulus. They certainly have now. These are the kind of things that once the technology has matured a bit the Facebook association will really help out with. The idea that brands like NBA/MLB/NFL won't want to get in on selling people VIP VR Experiences is crazy. VR is going to be absolutely huge, it's the next truly disruptive technology.
• dkersten 13y ago
  And suddenly all my interest in Oculus VR has vanished. What a pity, I had high hopes for them :(
• 80 13y ago
  Honest, naive question -- what makes human data worth so much? Is it speculation that it will be worth more in future that drives the feverish collection of it, or are there already concrete uses/buyers? It feels bigger and more urgent than to simply help brands sell their merchandise more effectively
  • waps 13y ago
    Not really, it's having the ability to hack on human behavior, to make large amounts of people do things. Buying things is the obvious example, but there are other things (like giving X some attention, push a political cause, convince them of something ...) And yes, you're of course right that things like this wouldn't convince X. That's not the point. The point is that 0.1% of facebook's audience is one massive group of people.
• malandrew 13y ago
  I really want to see a comment from Oculus stating that this acquisition came with legal guarantees that the platform will remain open. If Oculus ends up only working with a Facebook login, we all lose. :(
• servowire 13y ago
  So Facebook is buying every tech available? AI tech, Drone tech, VR tech - uhoh, are they going to build the Matrix?
  • yankoff 13y ago
    What.. they also bought something from Drone tech?
• ckaygusu 13y ago
  My relationship with Oculus VR were just merely following the threads on HN and even I have this disturbing feeling of betrayal.
• pavlov 13y ago
  Facebook is today what Microsoft was in the '90s. With a soaring stock price and a solid, if somewhat staid, core product that enjoys a near monopoly in crucial markets, the company looks for nebulous long-term innovation by buying interesting startups in various fields and promising them near-term independence. Microsoft's shopping spree included companies like WebTV, Hotmail, Softimage and Bungie. Maybe Facebook will also splurge on a game studio soon.
• wzy 13y ago
  I have just glanced over the comments on the FB post, am i the only one who is amazed at the "thumbs up" comments and general elation by the 45,000+ people liking the 'news' ?
  • nailer 13y ago
    It's Facebook. Every 'like' is probably someone who: - likes Oculus Rift - likes Sony VR - likes Google Glass - likes 'I hate VR' - likes 'luddites' - and likes 'Lawnmower man'
  • WalterSear 13y ago
    Not sure why you are surprised. Joe-sixpack thinks facebook is A-OK.
• comatose_kid 13y ago
  FB gets a lot of hate on HN, but I think this is a really important strategic deal for them. Consider: * No one really knows how wearables will play out yet * It is within the realm of possibility that as headsets get better (end goal: stylish), they will enter the mainstream. This means more content will be consumed there (cellphones are an obvious analogy) * FB pays to play in this space with a world class team which has shown an ability to produce and iterate on hardware in relatively short time. * This also gives FB more consumer h/w chops, something it will need as FB integrates with devices that are ever more personal in nature. It shows that FB is playing offense, working to invent the future, not just resting on its laurels.
• deleted 13y ago
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• pbiggar 13y ago
  Looks like Facebook is preparing for the next battle. Google's got Glass and Nest, Facebook has Oculus, and Twitter, Apple and Microsoft have nothing announced yet. Assuming that this is the reason, that's a shockingly strong and forward looking move.
  • WalterSear 13y ago
    Glass is part of the battle. Oculus is a different war entirely.
• bane 13y ago
  Well...that's unfortunate.
• servowire 13y ago
  My prediction about further buys Facebook will do: 1) Mind control tech (like those headsets that control Betawaves) 2) They will buy some big cloud-music provider (Spotify maybe even) 3) They will buy Tesla 4) They will buy an OS startup and rebrand to FaceOS-1 6) They buy something like Ripple for currency tech. Then they have all the stuff covered.
  • xbonez 13y ago
    I imagine the only way they acquire Tesla is over Elon's dead body.
    • otikik 13y ago
      I imagine Facebook can arrange that.
      • dwd 13y ago
        Facebook is starting to act like a Corporation. When you have $171b market capitalisation you can expect some diversification in its corporate holdings. Their big problem is that they perceived as the cashed up bogans of the corporate world. Buying companies with tangible products or services is the only way they will shake that perception.
• whatgoodisaroad 13y ago
  Is anyone else reminded of this passage from the prolog to Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age? > You could get a phantoscopic system planted directly on your retinas...You could even get telaesthetics patched into your spinal column at key vertebrae. But this was said to have its drawbacks ... it was rumored that hackers for big media companies had figured out a way to get through the defenses that were built into such systems, and run junk advertisements in your peripheral vision (or even spang in the ... middle all the time - even when your eyes were closed. Bud knew a guy like that who's somehow gotten infected with a meme that ran advertisements for roach motels, in Hindi, superimposed on the bottom right-hand corner of his visual field, twenty-four hours a day, until the guy whacked himself.
• _cbb1 13y ago
  Looks like I am buying a "Project Morpheus" :)
• aviraldg 13y ago
  I don't want a "general-purpose VR headset". There are already many devices described that way (that work well enough for that purpose.) I wanted something built exclusively for the extreme requirements of gaming, and I feel this acquisition is going to distract the Oculus team from that. Facebook has no experience whatsoever in that domain, and the only way I see Oculus benefiting from this is the huge cash reserves they'll have access to once acquired. Truth be told, I was really hoping they'd get acquired by Valve - that'd strengthen their existing partnership (which I'm sure will cease to exist post acquisition), give them a good team to work with wrt. videogames and VR in general, and put them in an environment where their core focus is the same as that of their parent company. In this case, if the "experiment" fails, Facebook will almost certainly dump the project. Every time someone says "... we're going to make X a platform" before they actually have X, a kitten dies somewhere. There are still technical issues with the Oculus headset, and I'm afraid Facebook's "platform" focus is going to draw attention away from that. In short, I don't see this working. If fact, if Oculus fails, it might set the entire VR industry back several years. Luckily, we still have some hope in the form of Valve. What a waste. I hate Facebook for doing this. And I'm not too happy with Oculus for accepting this either.
  • leoc 13y ago
    There doesn't seem to be that much difference between a good general-purpose VR headset and a good gaming-focussed one though. The refresh rate, positioning accuracy, latency and so on have to hit a certain high standard or you simply have a bad, non-immersive and likely sickness-inducing VR headset. (So the situation is very different from monitors: 60Hz and high latency is "good enough" for general-purpose monitor use but poor for competitive gaming.) If anything non-gaming applications may be more demanding when it comes to resolution: games can manage with 1080p but it's not really sufficient for reading text, viewing photos and so on.
  • Yhippa 13y ago
    I think this bothers me the most. Us gamers had our shiny new toy and then it got taken away so everybody can play with it now. I bet Facebook will figure out a way to subsidize this to get it in all of their user's hands and then gaming will take a big backseat to the Facebook Experience (TM).
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• fotbr 13y ago
  Add another person that was formerly excited about Oculus and is now walking away from it. Yes, I dislike facebook and their business practices enough that I'll turn my back on a very promising bit of technology I was looking forward to. I'm also looking into canceling my devkit2 pre-order.
• dylanrw 13y ago
  If you've used oculus you learned that it's probably the most anti-social thing (at least to those in the room with you). So the "Social company acquires Anti-social product" dichotomy is humorous to me right now (yeah I know it's short sighted, it's just what popped into my head)...
  • jfoster 13y ago
    Facebook is also faux-social. Seeing pictures of your friends checking into places and doing stuff is very different from being there, doing stuff with them. Multiplayer games were one of the first faux-social online activities. In a weird way, it feels like a good fit to me if Facebook is in this to create an online gaming platform.
• balls187 13y ago
  I was super excited for the Rift. Now, I'm torn. As a tech company, and a social platform, I like Facebook, a lot. As a gamer, I do not want my gaming tech force integrated into my social network. Not sure that's in their roadmap, or what that would even look like, but there is that risk.
• zan2434 13y ago
  Oculus needs money. Facebook has money.
  • clef 13y ago
    And They keep taking ours no matter what :)
• pera 13y ago
  Is there any way to stop this? Can we start a petition in change.org or something like that? :(
• qq66 13y ago
  I don't understand this. I sure hope that this is because I lack the information, insight, or imagination to understand what's going on here, and not because this is a terrible outcome for Oculus technology.
• dsirijus 13y ago
  This is an ideal time for introspection. Here on one side you have the company you hate the most - Facebook. On other, one of the hacker culture produces - Oculus Rift. And Facebook buying Oculus makes you mad to the point of blood boil. Think it through. See what angers you. Analyze it. Then destroy it and move on.
• tedkalaw 13y ago
  There's a live call right about this right now: http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/event/build3/stage/stage.cfm?mediaid=63723&mediauserid=0 http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/event/build3/stage/stage...
• briantakita 13y ago
  I hope someone makes a top-notch open source/open hardware VR platform.
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• spiritplumber 13y ago
  What does facebook have to do with Oculus?
• goshx 13y ago
  Facebook to become the new Second Life?
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• rch 13y ago
  It's fine if Facebook wants to compete with the PlayStation and XBox, but this does force me to temper my excitement for for the Oculus platform until I see the final devkit terms and costs. Maybe things will be open, or maybe FB wants to roll their own Steam network. The latter certainly wouldn't surprise me.
• pabb 13y ago
  I think Notch of Minecraft fame just cemented the folly of this in a Tweet a second ago: > "We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out." The guy literally just visited Carmack (whom he admits is his idol) and the Oculus team less than a couple weeks ago, and kept mentioning how excited he was to start working on new VR games. I think this says a mouthful.
  • balls187 13y ago
    How much does Notch have to do with Minecraft these days? I thought it he was working on his space game.
    • MrZongle2 13y ago
      Notch is a founder and owner of Mojang, the company that owns and produces Minecraft. And his space game has apparently been on hold for months.
      • balls187 13y ago
        Right, but from what I last heard, Jeb has been the maintainer with full creative control of Minecraft.
        • MrZongle2 13y ago
          Yes, Jeb seems to be the technical lead on Minecraft these days. But I believe that Notch and his partners still make all the calls for the company at large. While his declaration seems a bit brusque, I think the Mojang guys have quite a bit of pride in being an independent company that has done well and may wish to clearly make their corporate philosophy known.
        • pabb 13y ago
          Notch isn't developing, but it's ultimately his IP. He's made over $100M in licensing deals on the brand alone. I'm sure he's going to be the shotcaller (if not just a providing a massive influence) for any large-scale potential deals involving it. Even with that aside, he's a massive figure in the game development community. A lot of people respect him and look up to him for making out huge in the Indie game in industry pretty much of his own accord. His opinion is pivotal.
• laureny 13y ago
  Can't say I'm excited about this. I can't see a single positive thing coming out from a non gaming company buying a game focused company (and an extremely promising one at that).
  • froo 13y ago
    > I can't see a single positive thing coming out from a non gaming company buying a game focused company (and an extremely promising one at that). You mean like Microsoft acquiring Bungie in 2000? Gaming (at the time) wasn't one of Microsofts core competencies.
    • mrtschndr 13y ago
      This is a good example except that Halo sucks. Its popular, but weak.
      • froo 13y ago
        Back in the day it was a very promising game. I distinctly remember sitting in a computer lab at Uni watching the dev demo for Halo on a Mac and daydreaming about buying one, specifically to play this game in 1999-ish
• gkya 13y ago
  Wouldn't world be a better place if these huge, hungry companies did not exist? Their greed makes the world a sadder place. Reckon me a zealot, but I really wish Facebook and alike die out of the hunger that makes them the greedy animals they are. Everything one might get excited about, gets sold to a stupid trust, and die of lack of enthusiasm and nonchalance of those companies. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, this, that and whatever. Just, why would these companies not do their own business, but want to own all the f..king world? Albeit this comment is accompanied by many other similar ones in this thread, I just could not keep myself from posting it.
• vicbrooker 13y ago
  I have a bit of a feeling that this will be a point that people in 20 years will consider a turning point in the bubble that we're in now; it's too premature to say whether this is good or bad though. That said, I can't come up with a roadmap for FB and Oculus here that involves the facebook.com and doesn't make me slightly uncomfortable...
• pekk 13y ago
  Something I think people are completely missing is FB's opportunity to gather eye tracking data using the headsets. Eye tracking is one of the next obvious steps for Oculus to implement in their headsets and it's an extremely valuable prospective source of data for Facebook. Facebook is all about gathering ever more intimate user data. They can already put together a reasonably complete record of all the sites you are visiting anywhere on the net using their +1 button loads. Now they can go beyond clicks to see things you even thought about, actually even things that you weren't even thinking about yet. For example, Facebook could easily detect if you were gay by looking at where your eyes went during a session. Maybe you haven't even admitted it to yourself yet, but Facebook already has that information ready for advertisers or whoever has an interest in 10 years.
• eclipxe 13y ago
  Pissed about this? Just wait until MS buys Valve...
  • mavdi 13y ago
    I'll just shut down my computer and be a goat farmer if that happens.
    • jtokoph 13y ago
      You'll still need steam ;) http://www.goat-simulator.com/ http://www.goat-simulator.com/
• richard_cubano 13y ago
  Welcome to the bubble.
• thom 13y ago
  Gaming is - at its best - a social thing, so this makes _some_ sense. But it only makes sense to me execution-wise if Facebook is lining up an acquisition of someone like Unity, or even (gulp) Valve, to bootstrap an ecosystem.
• jamesjguthrie 13y ago
  Nah, I like the sound of it. It's like, suddenly all the potential that Oculus Rift had is going to be become (virtual) reality.
• letstryagain 13y ago
  Fuck :(
• sandycheeks 13y ago
  Are these types of purchases primarily defensive in order to prevent new social networks from appearing that are simpler, more private or somehow more appealing? I always thought it was inevitable that a solution will eventually evolve that allows individuals to communicate directly with each other and manage their own online social networks without intermediaries like Google or Facebook. Slowing down that evolution seems like a correct strategy for companies that stand to lose from it.
• debacle 13y ago
  You guys need to relax a little bit. Have a little faith in Carmack.
  • MrZongle2 13y ago
    Faith in Carmack isn't the issue. As a gamer, I've always had faith in Carmack when it comes to developing solid software....because that's where his strength lies. Despite that, my skepticism in id Software grew over the years because he was only one member of a team that seemed incapable of doing anything interesting with his work. Same here. I'm confident that John Carmack wants to build a kick-ass, immersive experience. I have no confidence that the higher powers at Facebook will let him realize that goal without weighing him down with a dozen other corporate needs, to justify the cost of acquisition.
  • digitalzombie 13y ago
    I had faith in Will Wright and Spore. You know what happen? EA happened.
    • debacle 13y ago
      No, see, there's you're problem. History has proven that Will Wright always underdelivers on anything he hypes up. The guy that designs The Sims is not going to design a realistic evolution simulator.
• it_learnses 13y ago
  I'm so disappointed...
• NathanKP 13y ago
  Well that's too bad. Deep down I was really hoping that Elon Musk would buy Oculus VR so that one day I could jump into my Tesla, put on an Oculus and enjoy a VR enhanced driving experience on my way to the Space X flight to the Mars colony. But seriously, of all companies that Oculus could have sold to Facebook is the least innovative, and I'm skeptical that they will be able to pull of anything nearly as interesting as other companies that might have wanted to but Oculus VR, such as Google.
• greenpizza13 13y ago
  This is so disappointing.
• rglover 13y ago
  Boo. Hiss. Boo.
• bsaul 13y ago
  Based on all the comments everywhere, i believe the only thing that can save this project now is an official communication from John Carmack to reassure everyone that he received all the guarantees that the project will remain independent from every bad direction FB may want to push it into. He's the only one that can't be suspected of doing that for the money at this point.
• sbt 13y ago
  http://i.imgur.com/OpFcp.jpg http://i.imgur.com/OpFcp.jpg
• Pxtl 13y ago
  That's...odd. There doesn't seem to be much synergy there, unless oculus us going to be used to power a facebook-branded answer to Glass. Maybe remote meeting? I guess if Facebook wants to develop some kind of metaversy thing it would make sense...
• SteroidsLove 13y ago
  Sony won before even fighting a battle.
• simonw 13y ago
  "A few months ago, Mark, Chris, and Cory from the Facebook team came down to visit our office..." Anyone know if that Cory is Cory Ondrejka, previously CTO of Linden Lab (Second Life)?
• cmdr2 13y ago
  I'm trying to calculate the valuation of Oculus VR. Obviously I don't know anything about calculating valuation :) They have 70 employees [1], funding of $91 million [2], headset sales of 50K for DK1 [3] (although claims sales of 75K). Unknown IP, unknown partnership deals, unknown real-estate cost, unknown inventory, molds, and hardware assets. I suspect that the valuation isn't entirely for their assets, but I cannot arrive at the 2 billion number. Do my 'unknowns' listed above complete the 2 billion mark? [1] http://www.oculusvr.com/company/people/ http://www.oculusvr.com/company/people/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_VR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_VR, 2.5m kickstarter + 75 series B + 13.5 m unknown [3] http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-rift-suspends-shipments-due-to-component-shortage/1100-6417916/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/oculus-rift-suspends-shipme...
  • zzleeper 13y ago
    I'm also thinking of the same thing.. I doubt you can get at this number by usual means since everything is about their growth potential By the way, there is an alternative hypothesis, that the valuation is just not there: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7471471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7471471 Do you think it makes sense?
• troymc 13y ago
  What next? "Ebay acquires Skype"?
  • barnabask 13y ago
    Actually, this is the glimmer of hope. eBay bought Skype in 2007 for $2.5 billion hoping for "synergy". It left a lot of people scratching their heads. When they sold Skype to MSFT for $8.5 billion 5 years later then it didn't seem like such a bad idea. It didn't ruin Skype. Hopefully Facebook will hold on to their new plaything for a while, then sell it off. Question is: will we like the next buyer more? Does it even matter?
• martin_bech 13y ago
  I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened...
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• 51Cards 13y ago
  IMO Facebook just bought $2 Million of R&D and a whole lot of bad PR for 1000x the going price. Doesn't seem like such a hot deal. Also I'm wondering what the investors do to FB's stock watching them throw cash away like this.
• XorNot 13y ago
  The only sensible interpretation of this is that Facebook is looking at this as a hail-mary diversification. They've got trouble monetizing and they know it. Having an actual hardware wing, in something new that might be on the verge of finally becoming big is a smart move. Though if I had to fathom a plan, if Facebook buys some telepresence/robotics people then I'd say they might be thinking about how you could monetize global telepresence via virtual reality. Gaming is one app for the Oculus, but it's got an unknown market dimension. Whereas something like that - you could sell it to everyone, and they would actually pay for it.
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• midolzzzz 13y ago
  This is a big step in the direction of data collection. Imagine gaming with the goggles on and FB is tracking your eye movement, monitoring your heart rate and how you react to certain visuals. Say you are playing DeadSpace or some other jumpy game and they see that when you get "scared" your heart beat becomes abnormal. They could then use that data to insert an ad for a local heart specialist or some fancy new heart medication. I'm not against new tech but people should always be informed on what data is being collected and most of the time that is not the case.
• froo 13y ago
  It is really astonishing the amount of anti-Facebook hate in this thread. Yes, this isn't part of Facebook's core competency. They still bought it. Could it mean Facebook is attempting to diversify? How about lets wait and see what happens before we vilify the Oculus founders.
  • thearn4 13y ago
    I think it's because FB is basically a modern day white pages, whose core mission is mine user data and deliver ads to people who don't want to see them. I think much of the disdain is in the fact that a company like this can manage to gain so much valuation in the first place. Not saying I necessarily agree with that, but I can at least understand how it does leave one with the impression that priorities in the tech industry and wall street are completely out of whack. Instead of solving 'real' problems (energy, medicine, education, etc.) we disproportionately value some rather inane activities.
• catfoods 13y ago
  Well, not the best news. Valve has a strong prototype, so they're also in the game, and they will take this technology in the right direction if Oculus drops the ball.
• dsrguru 13y ago
  This is the most terrifyingly awesome technology acquisition I've ever seen. Facebook chat in two years: put on a headset and get teleported to a room in a virtual world where you can talk to your friends' avatars. Skype and Google+ Hangouts suddenly seem very 20th century. I've always found Facebook's stock to be a ridiculously risky long-term investment since their entire growth plan is predicated on monetizing an already established customer base, where a single event that causes people to switch en masse to a more private/secure social network would destroy the company. After today's acquisition I no longer think this.
• habosa 13y ago
  i HOPE this just gives Oculus more money, engineering talent, and breathing room to make the great product that Carmack and co. are dreaming of. I fear that something will go wrong and this will change the trajectory for the worse. I don't see the fit here. However there are a lot of smart people on both sides of the deal and I like to assume that they know what they are doing.
• sunseb 13y ago
  Reading the comments, it's truly shocking how FB isn't the cool kid anymore. And I see this trend more and more with my friends (average users who just leave FB or are inactive.) Do you share this feeling regarding FB ?
• otikik 13y ago
  My hopes now rely on the Chinese copycats. I hope they are able to duplicate an Occulus without Facebook when it comes out.
• dsaravel 13y ago
  I wonder what is the development approach from both companies. For example, I remember Steve Jobs saying Apple's approach was to start from what they wanted to provide to the user rather than developing a technology and then figure out how to make a product out of it. From the statement from Oculus VR, they are not clear what experiences they really want to provide. Right now it is very difficult to see what is this same vision that both companies claim to have.
• orware 13y ago
  Whatever brings us closer to the (hopefully not as dangerous) reality from this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Deadliest-Game-Net-Force/dp/0425161749/ http://www.amazon.com/The-Deadliest-Game-Net-Force/dp/042516... I understand the frustration I'm seeing in a lot of the comments here, and I don't know how things will play out (I was definitely surprised when I saw this announcement just now), but let's hope that good things will come out of it because Oculus has a good team and Facebook sees the possibilities such a platform could bring to the world...eventually. In the Matrix, I'm not quite sure if they ever showed whether or not time was 1:1 inside/out of the Matrix. If it was, then it makes me think of all of the things that happen within our dreams and how much we seem to be able to do within those sleeping hours. Maybe in the future we'll figure out a way to go into a virtual world that fully mimics the rules in the "real" world and be able to accomplish the same amount of work in a fraction of the time because time will be slower (or our ability to process information will be faster in this virtual world, however you want to look at it) so we can spend part of the time in there and more time out in the real world :-). Anyhow, I'll try and be positive that Facebook will be able to do the right thing here and be able to earn the trust again of those that currently "creeped" out by the acquisition (plus, I sort of have to be anyway...I still have quite a bit of IPO stock I purchased and been holding onto :-).
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• orky56 13y ago
  My gut reaction is that Facebook wants to create the VR platform and infrastructure that will enable applications like wearables/3d printing/etc. Google Glass takes the existing world and contextualizes it with the necessary info. FB approach might be to take the same approach to the VR world.
• jarjoura 13y ago
  What other acquisitions by Facebook resulted in that product falling apart? Instagram is still doing its own thing, also Parse as well. People need to get over whatever negative emotions they have towards Facebook. It's like they hate Facebook for reminding them of a bad breakup. Congratulations to entire Oculus team, that's an exciting acquisition and I look forward to what this infusion of cash will do to the future of an already incredible product.
• ecthiender 13y ago
  I opened HN after a long day today and I see this news. Sigh. Now I wish I open HN tomorrow and see a post, maybe something like - "John Carmack quits Oculus and starts his own VR company".
• eranation 13y ago
  A week too soon. Oh how I wish it was April 1st.
• namuol 13y ago
  "One day I'd go out and buy all the pants in the world -- every pair of pants -- and just... burn them. Fuck everybody. No more pants. Start over with making pants." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO9PwbtlOIU#t=39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO9PwbtlOIU#t=39
• ama729 13y ago
  That acquisition just doesn't make any sense, even when reading facebook's reasons: - Who are going to use the Oculus outside of gamers? Just selling a smartwatch is already a tough sell for anyone but technologists, I just can't imagine my dad or my mom putting on a VR headset or anyone not a hardcore geek. - And even if they would (which is dubious) the move to mobile mean it's just impossible technical wise for a long time (considering they said VR would bring a high end PC to its knee quickly) - On top of that Facebook brings what? Money? They could already get that with investors, having a lot of users doesn't bring that much to the table. No really I don't understand.
• thinkofnothing 13y ago
  I distinctly remember Oculus's hiring page once touting "Help us build the Metaverse!" Then they turn around and blatantly disregard one of Stephenson's most fundamental virtues/warnings from the novel (don't want to spoil it for anyone, but yea, eerily similar to joining L. Bob Rife). Straight PR garbage. And a slap to the face for anyone who actually believed them. I can't remember the last piece of tech news that made me so disappointed.
• thinkofnothing 13y ago
  I distinctly remember Oculus's hiring page once touting "Help us build the Metaverse!" Then they turn around and blatantly disregard one of Stephenson's most fundamental virtues/warnings from the novel (don't want to spoil it for anyone, but yea, eerily similar to joining L. Bob Rife). Straight PR garbage. And a slap to the face for anyone who actually believed them. I can't remember the last piece of tech news that made me so disappointed.
• FD3SA 13y ago
  This is extremely disappointing. This technology had the potential to be much bigger than Facebook. The Occulus was poised to create an entirely new industry. They were pioneering a technology never before seen, with a legend like John Carmack pushing the state of the art. I cannot think of a more colossal mistake to make as a founder. Palmer Luckey has shown he has absolutely no faith in his ability nor that of his team. Occulus had nothing but success in their future. They had investors beating down their doors with money, developers begging for their latest and greatest, and consumers itching to grab hold of their product. Facebook is the antithesis to Occulus. They have never created any technology, they add zero value to the the real world, and have no future potential in the long run. Occulus selling to Facebook would have been like Tesla selling to Proctor and Gamble after they released the Roadster. A company with a technology so radical it can change the industry, succumbing to weakness and cashing out to an old money company that has no expertise in the field, in exchange for killing their product. I am filled with sadness and disappointment. I believe Palmer Luckey will regret this decision.
  • prawn 13y ago
    I'm not excited about this news either, but let's say Oculus doesn't do this. What if, in two years, Valve have a similar product out there, with more convincing immersion and their existing community and game contacts. And Sony have Morpheus pushed to PS4 fans and their existing developer contacts. And for those two years, Oculus have moved along with their existing community and existing funding. Maybe they wanted the certainty (from almost anyone) that they could ramp things up and make sure they were strong and first out there?
    • FD3SA 13y ago
      If Occulus didn't do this deal, they: - Would have had access to unlimited VC money by being one of Kickstarter's hardware darlings, having John Carmack, and putting out an series of critically acclaimed products in the form of dev-kits - Would have been able to grow their open platform, which allows direct access to developers from all markets, not just FB/Sony/Valve or other closed systems - Would have the power and autonomy to guarantee developers that they were all equally important, and that their needs would be the company's top priority - Would have the potential to create an ecosystem leading to an entirely new industry, not unlike Tesla Roadster, the iPod/iPhone/iPad, etc. Now? They've destroyed their reputation with developers by guaranteeing they'll be second class citizens to FB's financial interests, by sacrificing all of their autonomy. They've exchanged all of the future potential of their company for $2B. Look at it this way, Snapchat declined $4B for their trivial messaging app. Yet Occulus, which has so much potential, folded at a measly $2B? It's just a damn shame.
• asadlionpk 13y ago
  This just doesn't sound right. They should have looked good with Valve. Facebook is just trying to not-die and acquiring whatever they are getting there hands on while they have money.
• outside1234 13y ago
  This + the Nest acquisition by Google feel like some sort of weird VC payback scheme. Its the only way I can explain them.
• benmorris 13y ago
  Well I went from bring really excited to own an oculus one day to not being real sure if I'll ever buy one. I just don't think facebook is the right company to be behind the his device. Really interested to hear what Carmack has to say.
• maxden 13y ago
  How much of this is a symptom of VC funding? They stand to make lots of money getting in early and selling to Facebook. Bit of a poisoned chalice from our perspective, but is this something the VC would have been working towards since day 1?
• OWaz 13y ago
  Is there any record of Facebook acquiring and then completely destroying a product?
• trekky1700 13y ago
  Luckily, the tech exists and the market is proven such that if Facebook fucks this up, someone else will come in and replace them. If Facebook stays hands off and just infuses them with billions of dollars and massive resources, we could see something amazing come out of this. I'm still cheering for Oculus, and I trust the team and John Carmack to create an awesome product, regardless.
• maaku 13y ago
  What. the. fuck.
• Oculus 13y ago
  Can someone please explain to me how you can just go on a spending spree and spend $21 Billion in under a month with no one going: 'Hey, umm guys, I know we really like the company, but lets have things cool down a bit after spend 19 billion.' In the Whatsapp acquisition thread someone made a comment about FB thinking their stock valuation is overpriced. I'm curious to hear what the split (cash/stock) is. If it's stock heavy, I'm almost certain that person was right.
• deleted 13y ago
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• richliss 13y ago
  I think that people would have been happier if it had been acquired by North Korea. I was seriously excited by OR, but for me personally its now DOA. It says a lot about a company that Sony is now the preferred alternative. Everyone expecting an instant turn to the dark side are naive. This is going only one way: 1. Facebook will say "We're hands off". 2. They'll persuade Carmack to stay and they'll burn cash to make it dominant and in no way corrupted by FB or data capture. 3. Once dominant they'll slowly remove privacy from it and other things geeks and people who care hold important. Carmack will quietly move on to something interesting, and few will notice. 4. The rest of the population will stay with it as they don't know/care, and geeks and everyone else will need to use it even though they really would prefer not to. Classic frog boiling situation.
  • DSingularity 13y ago
    Sony has a pretty good record when it comes to supporting gamers and not trying to get one on them at every chance... cough MS cough
• sgy 13y ago
  According to sources close to the situation, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg started his quest to buy Oculus VR, the maker of the nifty Rift virtual reality headset, several months ago, before wrapping up the deal this past weekend. It was signed this morning. http://recode.net/2014/03/25/in-googles-shadow-facebooks-zuckerberg-pursued-oculus-over-several-months-ending-in-weekend-marathon-of-dealmaking/ http://recode.net/2014/03/25/in-googles-shadow-facebooks-zuc...
• sgy 13y ago
  We're taking virtual vacations soon.
• ps4fanboy 13y ago
  It amazes me how negative people are acting, this is a very logical move by OculusVR with Sony announcing a product competition is going to be fierce in this space. Now they have just as many resources as Sony.
• pirateking 13y ago
  And just like that, my company and I are done with the Oculus platform before we could really get going. New Dev Kit orders cancelled.
• larkinrichards 13y ago
  I think what will be really interesting to see is how Valve will react to this acquisition. Presumably, they've been hoping to make $$$ from selling Oculus VR games via Steam. With Facebook now owning Oculus they have the resources to completely circumvent Steam and create their own game distribution platform and get a cut of the sales-- they've already started down this path with the App Center.
• mhartl 13y ago
  Oof. My gut feeling is... this feels like a punch to the gut. (I hope my gut is wrong, but I wouldn't bet on it.)
• charlesism 13y ago
  The most exciting consumer technology this year... DOA. On the bright side, I hope Facebook continues this cluelessness and burns through the rest of their bank roll buying decent companies. With privacy being a huge issue, thanks to the NSA, and kids not wanting to belong to the same social network as their parents... it's over. I think these companies they're buying won't survive being tainted by their association with FB. I'm aware that 2 billion is a drop in the bucket, but I'm hoping Zuckerberg goes on a buying spree, pisses through enough money purchasing, and eventually trying to bail out, once decent companies, that it quickens the demise of the company.
• lsh 13y ago
  I've just demanded my order for the DK2 cancelled and to be refunded. I cannot, in good conscience, fund Facebook.
• prawn 13y ago
  I wonder if Oculus felt threatened enough by Valve and Sony to jump at any solid opportunity to aggressively ramp up their development, hiring and so on? Sony has the brand name and Valve have a pretty solid community. If either were out there with as-strong or superior technology, Oculus might've been irrelevant within 2-3 years.
  • torbit 13y ago
    agree, especially if none of the technology could be patented. I'm assuming it can't be patented, since there has been previous attempts in VR & Sony is working on their own.
• JoshTriplett 13y ago
  Meanwhile, CastAR is alive and well, and still looking like a better product.
  • DonGateley 13y ago
    The CastAR remains augmented reality, not virtual reality. They've said there is a VR attachment but it has yet to be seen and given their projective technology seems a pretty nasty optical folding trick if it can be done at all.
• joeblau 13y ago
  This is an interesting view from an investment perspective. The Internet basically bootstrapped Oculus VR via Kickstarter and the result is that the founders get a huge payout while the real risk takers in the product get an Oculus VR or whatever their Kickstarter reward was.
  • damian2000 13y ago
    I get what you mean, but individually, someone paying $10 or even $300 isn't really taking a huge risk. Taking all the funders as a single entity though, yes you're right. Could this mean that Kickstarter may now be forced to sell shares in the company, taking the combined funders control to say 51% and the founders the rest? This would prevent something like this from happening again.
• marknutter 13y ago
  Everyone in this thread is being ridiculous. Since Facebook bought Parse the service hasn't been tainted whatsoever. Facebook is just buying promising businesses and startup because - gasp - hitting home runs is hard! You may dislike Facebook the product but hating Facebook the company is short sided.
• StillBored 13y ago
  I'm not sure this is really all that big of a deal. Mostly because I don't really see hard evidence from the oculus guys that they have solved the two main problems with VR headsets. Resolution and latency. Sure, they talk about it a lot. http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/the-latent-power-of-prediction/ http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/the-latent-power-of-prediction/ but the resolution is still low, and the frame rate numbers don't appear any better than what I remember from my days at the university in the 1990's playing around with high end SGI's driving simulation systems. Back then people talked about those problems too, even with systems getting 60FPS @ 640x480. I was a test subject for a number of studies being conducted and overwhelmingly it was an unpleasant experience. It was impossible to suspend disbelief because even tiny (I don't have the figures handy) frame lags, especially during rapid head movements were extremely noticeable, and gag inducing. Mostly, I think people shelved the systems because the technology wasn't ready, the estimates back then IIRC was it would take a 4x resolution and 4x frame rate bump before it was worthwhile. Both are probably possible, but the latency numbers are harder than it seems because of the fact that framerate != frame latency due to pipelining in the sensor and graphics systems. The resolution numbers are probably a matter of cost. LCD's providing 1080p in a couple inches are also probably significantly more expensive than the cost target needed to make these things mainstream.
• ap22213 13y ago
  It's like Zuckerburg read "Ready Player One"
• izzydata 13y ago
  Worst news I've heard all year. I am extremely disappointed.
• ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
  Has anyone considered that the Oculus team was scared by Sony's Morpheus project and decided to cash out while they were still relevant? I've not experienced either device, but I consider this at least plausible. Maybe Sony had already figured out solutions to problems Oculus was still toying with.
  • damon_c 13y ago
    I was going to say the same thing. At GDC last week, the general feeling was that Sony's tech was more than competitive and seemingly much closer to an actual consumer product than anything from Oculus. Fear makes people do unexpected things.
• Hominem 13y ago
  Despite my dislike of facebook I think this may have been a smart play. Valve's largely vaporous VR tech was gaining mindshare and Sony has cash, manufacturing, retail presence, the list goes on and on. Without a huge bankroll Oculus may have ended just another piece of tech trivia.
• lispython 13y ago
  Here is John Carmack's response from twitter: > For the record, I am coding right now, just like I was last week.I expect the FB deal will avoid several embarrassing scaling crisis for VR. > I can't follow the volume of tweets today, so if you want a real answer to something, try in a couple days after things die down. > I have a deep respect for the technical scale that FB operates at. The cyberspace we want for VR will be at this scale. > I suppose I will get a FB account now, so that may lead to some writing a little longer than tweet length...
  • khnd 13y ago
    I just saw his twitter account as well- the HN/reddit reaction is awesome.
  • mcv 13y ago
    Surely the fact that he didn't have a Facebook account yet says something.
• kimonos 13y ago
  Don't like!
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• hoopism 13y ago
  I am pretty sure Jeri Ellsworth (AWESOME) had worked with Valve and is now working on a somewhat competing platform to Oculus. Perhaps they could use some attention in light of this? http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/02/technical-illusions-aims-for-low-cost-augmented-reality-glasses-with-castar-interview/ http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/02/technical-illusions-aims-f...
  • obsurveyor 13y ago
    Jeri Ellsworth ‏@jeriellsworth 41m We're doing the VC roadshow in the next few weeks. So happy for all the excitement around VR/AR these days. https://twitter.com/jeriellsworth/status/448665150568951808 https://twitter.com/jeriellsworth/status/448665150568951808
• JabavuAdams 13y ago
  For fuck's sake will you FB hating fanboys stop crying for a moment and realize that this is what makes VR legit. This. Is. An. Enormous. Opportunity. It's like the moment when I was teaching a game design course and I realized that all the students already used Dropbox. I though I was the only one who knew about Dropbox. If you want VR, then you should be happy. This just made VR real.
  • angularly 13y ago
    So only now that FB is on board it is real? Sony, Valve, Microsoft and god knows what other big companies, who were working hard on VR, wasn't real? I think everyone are pissed off, because they were rooting for the first mover and underdog that Oculus was.
    • JabavuAdams 13y ago
      >So only now that FB is on board it is real? Sony, Valve, Microsoft and god knows what other big companies, who were working hard on VR, wasn't real? In a word, yes. Why? Because tech innovation is different from social change. As of GDC 2013, it was obvious to early adopters that VR was closer than had been believed, and that there was a realistic road-map to getting there thanks to Oculus and Valve. However, there was no way to know whether mass market adoption would happen because the Rift DK1 still made lots of people nauseous, and non VR-o-philes could legitimately claim that it was just a bunch of dorks with ugly boxes on their heads. I mean, how pathetic is that? It could be mocked in the same way that the Segway was mocked, but that the Z-Board is not. Segway == loser dork. Z-Board == cool(ish). To be fair, I have a Rift DK1, and it's a great first step -- much better than any consumer level VR device I've seen in the last 15 years. I didn't go to GDC 2014 last week, but this was also a huge tipping point. Two of my co-workers who had been debilitated by DK1 nausea just bought DK2's on the spot. That points to Oculus having removed a big obstacle to adoption. People aren't going to adopt something that makes them barf. Sony has been working on headsets for over a decade, but has failed to deliver on the promise of VR until just now -- after being goaded by Oculus. So, yeah, competition's good, but these guys failed and failed in part because the world still wasn't ready for VR and they didn't want to commit the resources to this. This move by Facebook signals that the world is or will soon be ready for VR. People who don't "get" VR will be like people who don't see the benefit in texting. Entitled to their opinion, but a diminishing fringe. VR is poised to cross the chasm.
• nighthawk24 13y ago
  :(
• practicalpants 13y ago
  Yup, no way I'm buying Oculus Rift now, or developing for it.
• tjmc 13y ago
  Gutted. Oculus just turned into Orwell's telescreen. Hope the board enjoy their 30 pieces of silver.
• igl 13y ago
  Lobby carmack to push open source on this one.
• grannyg00se 13y ago
  Holy shit, John Carmack works for Facebook. I can't believe this.
• Ryel 13y ago
  Let FB pump all the money into VR they want. In 5 years we'll have the company that Oculus was supposed to be, and FB will have already cleared the land and paved the roads.
  • sharpneli 13y ago
    Except it's going to be patented to kingdom come. No small company can enter the scene for several decades. So in the end we are going to have just Facebook Rift with forced social media integration and a gimmick for only PS4 games.
• clef 13y ago
  Has anyone seen the movie "surrogates" with Bruce Willis?
• secondhandvape 13y ago
  In a world where WhatsApp costs more than a small country, $2B seems kinda low for the potential next hottest thing in virtual reality.
• kudu 13y ago
  I don't understand all the hate towards Facebook. If this was Google, we would all be bending down to thank the Holy Non-Evil Tech Company for its gracious acquisition.
  • EpicEng 13y ago
    You sure about that? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7053239 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7053239
• RoboTeddy 13y ago
  I suspect Facebook's acquisition will cause VR to happen sooner. Other companies will build or double down on VR tech, if they haven't already.
• BoppreH 13y ago
  > consulting with a doctor face-to-face Isn't that physically impossible with current technology? To use the set you have to cover the upper part of your face with the screens, so there's no way to record your whole facial expression. It feels like this is going to be a disappointment to all involved.
• option_greek 13y ago
  I suppose Facebook can now be officially declared as a hedge fund in the disguise of a tech company.
• option_greek 13y ago
  I suppose Facebook can now be officially declared as a hedge fund in the disguise of a tech company.
• notastartup 13y ago
  Nooooooooooooooooooooo! I wanted Oculus VR to stay independent. Now all our VR habits and our minds will be read by the NSA. "I'm gonna make him an offer he won't refuse" - Don Corleone
• swalsh 13y ago
  Yahoo turned down a deal with Google when the company was still young. But if you imagine, what would happen if the deal went through? Would self driving cars, and glass be a thing today? I think a world of possibilities just got thrown away.
• prawn 13y ago
  From mid-2013 after Series A investment: 'Also, the plan is still to stay an independent company... not sell to a big fish like Sony, the way Iribe's former employer Gaikai did last June. "We want to stay independent and get to the consumer market, realizing VR the way we really think it needs to be done, and we don't need to take any shortcuts to get there," declares Iribe, adding that his new venture capital bosses are on board with that.'
  • chad_c 13y ago
    I'm not sure what your source is, but I did find a similar statement from Iribe: http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/17/4439608/oculus-series-a-funding-15-million http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/17/4439608/oculus-series-a-fu...
• 83457 13y ago
  April Fools?
• joeevans 13y ago
  I am so very glad I didn't buy the dev kit, which I was just about to do last month. The kit would have gone from being a shiny cool thing on my desk to a shiny turd in my room.
• jtms 13y ago
  uggghhh i am so sad right now... facebook is absolutely the wrong place for this to have gone!!!!
• lcasela 13y ago
  RIP
• sriram_sun 13y ago
  One week too early!
• farinasa 13y ago
  Oculus has had several competitors coming to prototype recently. Now they have lost their following. I personally think facebook just bought a dud. Oculus just dug their own grave. Additionally, this is a gaming device. Having utopian visions for a device that hasn't even hit the market for its intended use is not a good PR strategy.
• teemo_cute 13y ago
  Disregarding whether you like Facebook or not. What we should watch out for is the it decline. Friendster --> Myspace --> Facebook --> ??? What would happen happen to Oculus then? By then I hope it gets bought by Microsoft or Valve.
• zzleeper 13y ago
  A quick question about the valuation: Six days ago [1] we got an article where the most popular comment was this: "I'm amused by it. It's a transfer of wealth from shareholders of those companies to founders and VCs. These are also the companies with dual class shares designed to keep control in the founders' hands. They all say it's to be able to focus on the long-term, but really it has bred empire building and poor stewardship of the shareholder's capital." Since is Andreessen is in the board of both companies [2], do you think we are seeing an example of this problem? (In finance-ish words, the problem would be that Facebook is doing "empire building". Usually the board is the defense against this, but if the directors own large interests in the potential targets, that may not happen) [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7430152 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7430152 [2] http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/03/25/marc-andreessen-got-us-all-excited-about-oculus-hours-before-facebook-deal/ http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/03/25/marc-andrees...
• zenbowman 13y ago
  I think a lot of people who are filled with negativity just don't understand how hard it is to make VR happen. I was part of a USC/ISI spinoff (www.alelo.com) that built educational mixed reality systems, and the reality is that to make it happen you need a ton of money, way more than we could ever acquire. Seems like they've passed that hurdle, I wish them the best of luck!
• jv22222 13y ago
  Wish it was anyone but Facebook. I can't rationally explain why, it's just a feeling.
• exodust 13y ago
  I'm surprised people even think Oculus Rift will catch on beyond the early adopters. It's just another 3D TV technology - sounds cool, is cool, but not in a long term way. Nobody cares much about 3D TV anymore because in practice it wasn't all it cracked up to be. It was hype. When you strap a display to your head and replace your mouse with your own neck muscles, suddenly you are more limited than before. You can't rapidly spin 90 degrees to face an opponent in a fast-paced action game for example, without hurting your neck. When you're sitting at a normal computer screen, you can look away for a second, out the window, to think or pause. Can't do that when the monitor is strapped to your head. When you're typing on a keyboard, sometimes it's helpful to quickly glance down to target a specific key. That too, is gone with a monitor strapped to your head. There's a bunch of other limitations that will render any VR tech, no matter how advanced from what we played with back in the 90s, as just a cool gimmick... like the steering wheel controller with pedals. After awhile you sell it on ebay because it's not a long term thing.
  • fmax30 13y ago
    Hmm , they could have added two frontal camera to it , so that when you paused a game or just wanted to think or have time for your self. you could just press a button and the on screen display would start displaying what ever was in front of you.
    • exodust 13y ago
      Hah... yes good idea. But the screens should instead or in addition, flip up or fold out of the way for normal sight, while still keeping the headset on. It will be a special occasion thing for mainstream Facebookers, and people in general. People like their "secondary things" too much I think. Those things we miss if they're not within reach - - sipping a beer - patting your cat - talking to someone in the room - Seeing with your own eyes - glancing at TV in corner of room - people watching/ people in your house watching - checking phone messages - looking at different distances to give your eyes a break. - multi-tasking - heaps of other things we do while using normal screens. VR makes it hard to continue doing those things in parallel. Basically, these VR toys need to be flickable with very little effort, to get them off your face real quick! 2 billion. Funny.
• Illniyar 13y ago
  Maybe it's just me, but if someone had told me that a VR company is bought by facebook, I'd say it was an acquhire for an augmented reality appliance to compete with google-glass . I don't buy into PR announcements.
• rando289 13y ago
  They should send back the 50k in $10 donations from kickstarter.
• fmax30 13y ago
  NOOO. It makes me genuinely sad. Oculus has the potential to be a giant. Now it will be limited by what facebook has to offer. Also i am not a really a fan of acquisitions because the parent/acquiring company has a habit of shutting down these smaller companies :(.
• tonycoco 13y ago
  Ready Player One.
• Faryar 13y ago
  As a backer (investor) of Oculus VR, I am looking forward to my share of the pie. Oh wait... my stake is 0%! No pie for me!
• pavanky 13y ago
  I don't understand facebook hate. While it is a bad platform in its current state (for me) because of all the noise, it is also a great platform for many people to stay connected. Their engineering team also seems to deliver some great solutions and plays well with OSS community. As for this deal, I do not understand how they are going to integrate it into their platform or even what they are going to do with Oculus. I would like to think it is a long term diversification strategy because they feel they have great technology.
• stesch 13y ago
  "Camera in the living room? Nice idea. We should buy this company!" – Facebook
• jsilence 13y ago
  Sucks.
• sytelus 13y ago
  Why Oculus had to sell out? I can't imagine them running out of capital. In current bubble market they should have VCs lined up outside their office if they wanted. I'm unable to think any other reason then plain old cashing out. Did FB used some backdoor to snap them or they actually willingly submitted themselves to cash out?
• shultays 13y ago
  I don't know how this kickstarter works, I know I should accept it as a charity but people donate money to this project and then they just sell it without even delivering a project?
• teemo_cute 13y ago
  Guys I know this ain't a troll or fun site, but you should see this (related to post): http://9gag.com/gag/a75AdZA?ref=fbp http://9gag.com/gag/a75AdZA?ref=fbp
• mixedbit 13y ago
  Today Oculus is just a display and a controller (sending head movements to the computer). I really, really hope it will stay this way. It would be so unfortunate if Oculus became sophisticated, stand alone device with Facebook controlling software stack on it. Display + controller is a way to go!
• buro9 13y ago
  Once you build the immersive virtual reality where we can live, think of the opportunity for the outdoor and indoor advertising that follows. An infinite landscape, where every advert is 100% tailored to the person viewing it. Yeah, I hate it too.
• sheldor 13y ago
  Carmack tweeted : "I suppose I will get a FB account now, so that may lead to some writing a little longer than tweet length..." I guess he wasn't a great fan of facebook either.
• Springtime 13y ago
  HN needs a better system to deal with a flood of comments for such articles. Currently it's pretty borked for so many comments. Simply having the most upvoted comment in the short-term leads to the effect of other, possibly more relevant and current comments being lost beneath the ever upvote-collecting top comments. It works well for up to 150 comments, but at close to 700 comments in such a system the conversation and HN user input becomes vastly less effective (and navigable).
• z3phyr 13y ago
  Carmack, don't go to facebook. You are more suitable outside!
• 72deluxe 13y ago
  Farmville in 3D! Real horses! Real poop! In 3D!
• ulam2 13y ago
  I think i'd pass on this one... Nothing to do here anymore.
• ulam2 13y ago
  So i guess i'll have to learn to play farmville now...
• martijn_himself 13y ago
  Whilst I'm exciting by the technology I can't help being cynical and wonder if this is going to further 'devalue' the traditional meaning of the word 'social', i.e. engaging with actual people. It's hard enough trying to meet with someone who is constantly distracted by their smart phone; does this mean in order to interact with someone I need to meet with their virtual persona?
• orng 13y ago
  Sad news. I guess facebook is going to take the Oculus "store" (or "share" or whatever they call it) and try and get the facebook App Center to be the new Steam for VR games or something. Whatever they do I just know I want no part in it.
• LeicaLatte 13y ago
  It is amazing how Sony has turned things around in the last 18 months. Mostly because their competition (xbox, nintendo, oculus) is simply clueless about treating a community well. As for Oculus itself, I doubt they would have been funded in kickstarter if they used any of these words in their original pitch - social, communicate, Facebook, etc. Now it feels sad to see them speak a very different language. Imagine if the iPhone, after being sold for 600$ to early adopters, sold out to Microsoft in 2007. That's how bad this feels for some of us backers and developers.
• andy_ppp 13y ago
  Never has a tech company been so hated and untrusted so early in it's existence. Could we not create a human readable social network using email as the protocol. That way everyone's email client slowly starts to integrate social features and everyone not interested in these gets summary mails that they can just bin. Just a thought.
• xsquare 13y ago
  Clearly, Facebook starts diversification of it's capital.
• w_t_payne 13y ago
  Damn, and I was just getting myself psyched to put an order in for the new dev. kit ... Well, I think I'm gonna hold off on that for a little while and see where this story leads. I don't really want an advertising company inserting itself as an intermediary in the data-stream an inch in front of my eyes. (Yeah yeah, Android mutter mutter mutter ... but at least that's a somewhat more open platform). If FB make Oculus a hardware-only device, or, even better, an open platform, then I'm probably gonna be cool with it. If, on the other hand, they lock it down so that they can monitor and/or influence and/or control what appears in front of my eyes, then I'm gonna be tempted to stay away from that particular party.
  • w_t_payne 13y ago
    As a rule, I don't much like the Fascists from Cupertino, but right now "iGoggles" seem like a rather better prospect...
• nercury 13y ago
  I don't usually swear, but fuck this shit. I was following Oculus VR development and now it goes to my ignore list. It is no longer cool. Yes, just because it has "Facebook" name attached to it. It is now Facebook VR, which sounds like a nightmare.
• keepsmiling 13y ago
  boycott oculus vrfor joining facebook.
• kkarakk 13y ago
  Device comes into market. Gets played around with by devs and early adopters creating hype. Device dies from lack of support/apps that do anything useful. Device comes into market. Gets played around with by devs and early adopters creating hype. Device gets bought by a company with a proven track record of stable up-time with immense amounts of data(that is constantly being updated and replicated) about real-world objects and the cash to implement interesting use cases. Not saying it's gonna happen but i'm cautiously optimistic. A connected social experience is the future. I'm just hoping for AR instead of VR.
• kreeben 13y ago
  The question of why. Well, Facebook lost their teens and they need them back. Zuck might have looked into the future were he envisioned millions of gamers using oculus rift and what he actually bought were those future (facebook) users, who will whine because the facebook account is mandatory but who will still use it because there is nothing like it.
• axx 13y ago
  I'm so disappointed, and it feels a little like Oculus sold their early investors (including Kickstarter folks) to Facebook. I mean, in the end it's theis (Oculus) decision what to do with their company, but i don't think Facebook is a good fit.
• thinkersilver 13y ago
  Aaargh!
• thinkersilver 13y ago
  I commented on impusle. I'm going to be echoing the sentiment here. I was seconds away from buying the development kit when I heard the news. It's with a heavy sigh that I contemplate this news. I may just buy the devkit, get comfortable with the platform and then switch once the market has caught up.
• ebbv 13y ago
  I share the general feeling of disappointment about this. I was previously planning on ordering one of the new Oculus dev kits and excited about its possibilities. Now I want to avoid Oculus. The good news for Sony is this makes their VR suddenly the best hope for gaming.
• achy 13y ago
  Facebook could make this a promotional win by refunding anyone who funded the dev kit a certain amount of money (down to the material cost for ex.)
• mbrzuzy 13y ago
  I'm worried this will turn from a gaming oriented device to a general device. A device with a library of apps that require a facebook account to login and use and if you don't pay for some sort of paid version of an app have to deal with ads. As soon as sony released information about their VR headset I was looking forward more to that one since it will be oriented around gaming.
• saltyknuckles 13y ago
  FUCKING FACEBOOK. WHY THE FUCK?
• gcb0 13y ago
  I loath valve because it made drm and always online cool. But this is worse. Will we have farmvilleVR only now? Either way, they're now in position to make further drm on oculus games, such as Facebook login only. But seeing that Sony added a share button on their controller this is probably the inevitable future anyway...
• erikpukinskis 13y ago
  I guess I'm in the minority, but I think Facebook is a fascinating parent for Oculus. Oculus has a technology head start, but that only gives them maybe a couple years on the cheap duplicators. In order to gain a strategic foothold their real competition is in their "app store"/content portal aspirations. They're in a race to see whose virtual space you start in when you put on your VR headset. But in that realm they are competing with Sony, Microsoft, and Valve, all of whom have large user bases already using their portals. On that battle Oculus is at a severe disadvantage. By joining Facebook they have a network of users they can plug into, and a much bigger one than their competitors at that. Second, Oculus is run by hardware and software engineers. They have an extraordinary team in that regard, which has allowed them to hire and expand in those areas very fast and still keep the talent bar high. In order to build a compelling portal in a totally unmapped design language, they need world class UX and social designers. Because they are so engineering heavy, I don't think they would have an easy time identifying and integrating those people as an independent company, even with Andreesen/Horowitz pulling strings for them. Facebook already has some great, productive, battle hardened UX teams, and I suspect they have many of the best social designers in the world. By selling to Facebook, Oculus is taking that huge question mark off the table. In exchange they've taken on the question mark of possibly fading into obscurity in an indifferent parent organization. That's a roll of the dice. But the worst care scenario for them is they quit and start over with a LOT of cash, a rockstar reputation, and a knowledge of exactly what their acquired ghost company is organzationally incapable of doing. And lastly, I don't think Palmer cares if HE wins. He wants to pull as much resources into the VR project as he can. Full stop. He'd happily sacrifice his company to do that. If Valve wins and he quits Facebook having failed to make it work there, he'll boot into Steam VR with a huge smile on his face knowing that he won.
• btbuildem 13y ago
  Well, here comes the Matrix..
• hockeybias 13y ago
  B.O.O.
• mark12 13y ago
  http://thegamingpc.webs.com/apps/blog/show/42000077-3-blunders-facebook-has-committed- http://thegamingpc.webs.com/apps/blog/show/42000077-3-blunde...
• microjesus 13y ago
  I've heard so much hypocritical anti-facebook on this ... from people ... using facebook. I don't use facebook, and I despise it; and it's takeover, so I agree. But please, only bash facebook if you aren't using it.
• goombastic 13y ago
  I think kickstarter pitches will now need a "I will not sell this off to facebook" clause.
• MisterMashable 13y ago
  the Oculus Facebook song... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRL1yb9nAko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRL1yb9nAko
• tsbardella2 13y ago
  my son said it sounds more like a drug than a piece of technology I think this is for "whales" people who have lots of money and time to spend on games.
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]