Facebook to Acquire Oculus

W

WorldExclusive

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
11,548
MENLO PARK, Calif., March 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.

Oculus is the leader in immersive virtual reality technology and has already built strong interest among developers, having received more than 75,000 orders for development kits for the company's virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus' existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas. Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform.
Click to expand...

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140325-912577.html

Facebook will rebrand Oculus: (Update: They will not rebrand....for now.)
http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/26/5549186/facebook-rebrand-oculus-rift-headset
 
Last edited:
That, is fucking horrible news. I can't see anything but bad happening here - instead of a gaming focus, we'll get shit for existing media. Which isn't really what I want from this product.
 
I can't wait until everywhere I turn my head, there is a status update or a game request.
 
Terrible terrible news. C'mon even Google would've been better than Facebook.

My lord I can picture it now..."You must first sign into Facebook to use your Oculus Rift to play online".
 
can't wait to internet-stalk ex girlfriends in stunning VR.
 
I can't wait until this is proved to be an April fools joke.
 
Vittra said:
Well.. Carmack joined the project some time ago when the announcement broke that he left ID... but I'm not sure what the relevance is either.
Click to expand...
I am aware that Carmack is Oculus VR's chief technology officer, but I do not see what he has to do with this.
 
Oh well that's just fucking swell.

Fucking borg. Facebook, EA and Google. They will absorb and repurpose everything.
 
_PixelNinja said:
To the best of my knowledge Valve is more or less involved with Oculus VR; they have been toying around with the implementation of TF2 in the Rift environment.
Click to expand...

Basically Valve has some people internally interested in VR. Valve decided to invest money into researching the tech and doing test devices. The partnered up with Oculus to do some research (what specs are "required" for a great consumer experience). Valve announced they were not interested in making VR hardware, but they are interested in making their games VR ready.
 
Last edited:
asda73sym.gif
 
PcZac said:
Basically Valve has some people internally interested in VR. Valve decided to invest money intor researching the tech and doing test devices. The partnered up with Oculus to do some research (what specs are "required" for a great consumer experience). Valve announced they were not interested in making VR hardware, but they are interested in making their games VR ready.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clarifying.
 
well the people who got screwed over most are the kickstarter backers
what a kick in the head eh ?

but honestly if you got rich without even releasing a product would you care about the costumers ?

i would cry bitter tears drinking martinis at some beach in the Bahamas

and Cormack working for Facebook ? i would never...:D
 
Sony has a great year it seams and the only thing thy need to do is to sit idle while their competition is destroying itself
 
I'm happy about this actually. This should speed up development and allow for a higher quality experience than what a company can do just by itself. Plus with Facebook's expertise in big data / storage / bandwidth management I can totally see this going next level and being in the mainstream for lots of people to use for all sorts of thing.
 
Well I can see facebook chat turning into the worlds first 3d sex cam site.. Just make sure you aren't accidentally posting the video feed to your wall :eek:
 
I don't understand why Facebook would be interested in something like the Oculus.
What do they have to gain? Weird.
 
I had a feeling this would happen, in fact, I think this is what they wanted to happen. Create hype on a relatively simple concept, sell-out, retire.

Quite frankly an LCD display strapped to your head plus some rudimentary algorithm doesn't a revolution make.
 
Better FB than Sony. Oculus will now have the deep pockets to combat the big name competitors that will inevitably come when the Rift is a commercial success. FB will probably have a more hands off approach compared to Sony. They would've made it just go away to sell what they think we need. Lucky and Jon are still at the wheel. They can now develop custom technology instead of parts from the leftover bin of the cellphone industry. FB paid 400M and 1.6B in stock. Pittance for them compared to Whats App. Palmer also said that because economics of scale they can now bring the Rift in at a lower price point with better tech. Don't be surprised if they come out with a for the Rift developed higher resolution screen.


Maybe next time we fund a kickstarter we need to ask for future stock options based on the amount you fund. This went from a 2.5m kickstarter to a 2B company in less than 24 months. Would've been a nice groundfloor opportunity.
 
Bigc208 said:
Better FB than Sony. Oculus will now have the deep pockets to combat the big name competitors that will inevitably come when the Rift is a commercial success. FB will probably have a more hands off approach compared to Sony. They would've made it just go away to sell what they think we need. Lucky and Jon are still at the wheel. They can now develop custom technology instead of parts from the leftover bin of the cellphone industry. FB paid 400M and 1.6B in stock. Pittance for them compared to Whats App. Palmer also said that because economics of scale they can now bring the Rift in at a lower price point with better tech. Don't be surprised if they come out with a for the Rift developed higher resolution screen.


Maybe next time we fund a kickstarter we need to ask for future stock options based on the amount you fund. This went from a 2.5m kickstarter to a 2B company in less than 24 months. Would've been a nice groundfloor opportunity.
Click to expand...

Or alternatively...more realistically....FB will fuck the project up and the kickstarter suckers are SOL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top