Facebook Acquires Oculus, a Virtual Reality Gaming Company, for $2 Billion

Facebook is acquiring Oculus VR, a startup that creates virtual-reality gaming gear, for about $2 billion. Their goal is to start going beyond mobile applications and position themselves to help the world be more connected on platforms of the future.

“Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes in his announcement today.

Oculus will help him lead the way to achieve this vision.

“They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset,” Zuckerberg explains. “When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away.”

For Oculus, their vision is to enable us to experience the impossible.

“The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people.”

Virtual reality gaming has been a priority for Oculus, and Zuckerberg says in his announcement that Facebook will not change that. Oculus will continue to operate independently within Facebook to carry out their revolutionary gaming products.

However, Facebook reportedly plans on rebranding Oculus products in the future. “Facebook eventually plans to redesign the Oculus hardware and rebrand it with a Facebook interface and logo,” an anonymous source involved with the deal told The New York Times.

And gaming will be just the beginning. “After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences,” Zuckerberg says in a statement. “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?”

The leaders of Oculus acknowledge that this decision may come at a surprise to many folks. The Oculus Team wrote the following in a company blog post:

“At first glance, it might not seem obvious why Oculus is partnering with Facebook, a company focused on connecting people, investing in internet access for the world and pushing an open computing platform. But when you consider it more carefully, we’re culturally aligned with a focus on innovating and hiring the best and brightest; we believe communication drives new platforms; we want to contribute to a more open, connected world; and we both see virtual reality as the next step.”

…

“Over the next 10 years, virtual reality will become ubiquitous, affordable, and transformative, and it begins with a truly next-generation gaming experience. This partnership ensures that the Oculus platform is coming, and that it’s going to change gaming forever.”

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