Facebook has shocked almost everyone in the technology industry by announcing that they have bought up the creators of the Oculus Rift. The company hasn’t paid the bonkers sum of $16 billion that they shelled out for WhatsApp but they have still dropped a respectable $2 billion on the fledgling virtual reality tech.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg that the initial focus of the project will remain gaming, saying “Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won’t be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there’s a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We’re going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.”
But Facebook has more in mind for the VR tech. Zuckerberg gave a few examples of what the company has in store.
“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.”
Not everyone is pleased with the deal however. Online reaction has been largely negative, though commentary by gaming developers, critics and Oculus Rift’s own John Carmack – the creator of Doom – are of the opinion that Facebook’s acquisition will lead to a better, cheaper, more widely available product.
Source: The Verge