Facebook Buys Oculus Rift For $2 Billion

[vcfan]

The future of VR by palmerluckeyin oculus

 [?]palmerluckey[S] -45 points-44 points-43 points

2 hours

ago

|| Just promise me there will be no specific Facebook tech tie-ins.

I promise.

Why would we want to sell to someone like MS or Apple? So they can tear the company apart and use the pieces to build out their own vision of virtual reality, one that fits whatever current strategy they have? Not a chance.

neither MS nor Apple would have paid you a dime.

[Athernar]

So basically, if Valve were to create a VR headset, they would be the only ones with a purely gaming focused agenda, at least you would hope they would.  I do wonder what the realistic chance of them investing the money and time to build such a platform would be.  They seemed to be working a lot with the OR guys up to this point. 

 

They've already done it, and by all the accounts I've read people say their prototype HMD is far superior to the Rift.

[Lord Method Man]

Looking forward to seeing what Valve comes up with.

[DarkyDan]

The news has settled in, and now I'm at peace with it.  The rift will be a better performing, better spec'd device that is in our hands quicker.  All because of this deal.

 

I don't see any reason in the medium term at least that Facebook would interfere with a winning team, they will plump them up for xmas dinner but we will get the consumer version before Facebook start tinkering.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I'm still just as interested in the Oculus Rift as I was before....for me this changes nothing.

[Brendeth]

So yeah, Zuckerberg is already talking about putting ads into the Rift, that whole independent thing lasted long.

Is there more details on this?

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/25/facebook-oculus-vr-2-billion/

That mentions a bit of it, it was said during a conference call I think. I can't find many sources since it just doesn't appear to have been indexed by Google yet.

[HawkMan]

Yeah, not too chuffed about Facebook being involved in this. Probably require a FB account/your personal life to even startup now.

 

 

Ouch. Sony, nab that up pronto.

 

Also,

 

 

lol

... Markus again shows he's just a child.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Because he doesn't want to enter into a contract with a company he doesn't like?

[Doli]

Because he doesn't want to enter into a contract with a company he doesn't like?

 

What contract? He just need to support it by using the SDK in his game.

[HawkMan]

Let's face it, outside of Notch's little temper tantrum(as usual, he was never going to do it anyway, he said as much so it's just one of his let's throw some crap tantrums), no developers are going to abandon the Rift because of this.

 

first if indies, while they are getting more and more on the consoles, their primary hometurf is on the PC. this means the indies will keep developing for the rift. but Indies don't sell the Rift anyway.

 

Triple A games, yeah, if anything, this will mean more supported AAA games. but in reality future VR capable AAA games will be on all VR platforms both OR and Morpheus. 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Well it might not be called the Rift for long

According to a person involved in the deal who was not allowed to speak publicly because he was not authorized by either company, Facebook eventually plans to redesign the Oculus hardware and rebrand it with a Facebook interface and logo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/technology/facebook-to-buy-oculus-vr-maker-of-virtual-reality-headset.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=2

For those saying Notch pretty much has to get over this, will you have the same words for anyone else not happy to work with Facebook? Or is just because Notch is "famous"?

[theyarecomingforyou]

Well it might not be called the Rift for long

That quote to me doesn't suggest a name change, just that they'll add a Facebook logo and design the interface around Facebook. Not that that's not bad enough. :no:

[DarkyDan]

They won't design the interface around Facebook? are you people daft.  They wouldn't limit the usefulness of the device.  It has to work with as many systems as possible.

 

I can see that if Android comes pre installed on Rift, there will probably be a Facebook App on it, that can take advantage of the 3D, head tracking, whatever.. but they won't make the Rift simply a window into Facebook.  that would be a complete waste of time.

 

People are not thinking clearly.

 

...and most of all people are being hypocritical, I bet 98% of you all use Facebook.

[JonnyLH]

What point was that, if there was any.. Instagram fits right in with the market of FB while this does not. Most FB users aren't gamers or solely play Farm Town, there's hardly any market for this and I'm not sure why FB would consider investing in this, they aren't a name I think of when it comes to gaming or more specifically gaming hardware. Now if Microsoft or a big name developer, publisher or manufacturer acquired OR it would've made far more sense. I'm sorry but I believe it's delusional to even think anything good might come from this as there is rarely anything good about Facebook and that's why I'm now staying as far away from FB as I possibly can. Not saying it's completely wrong nothing with instagram has changed but that may not be completely accurate, surely some things have changed. But there is more room for error and screwing up than with instagram, this is much different territory than a social app used to snap pictures, take videos and apply fancy filters.

 

The issue is FB pursuing something with very little relation to their business and service. From a management perspective since they lack experience with software, hardware development and manufacturing and there is a lot of uncertainty how well they are going to be able to handle this and if it will be successful under management of a non hardware/software company. Facebook likely is going to want to integrate their service into this and the possibility it will be locked to Facebook specific apps. Most of us are trying to escape Facebook hell, it's bad enough we now have it shoved down our throats on most websites and when using some software, now we have to worry about it when making hardware related purchases. This is like the story of King Midas except this will turn not to gold but to ####. i've never had desire to use instagram but I doubt it's anything special and from what I've read and observed it isn't all that great but it fits the market Facebook captures with their service. I realize Instagram and everything else may be alright after their Facebook acquisition but this is not something Facebook should be pursuing, makes less sense than Apple TV did back when that was originally announced and garnered a less than impressed reaction.

 

I would refute this better as to why it's not a good idea but I am exhausted and not in a proper state of mind right now. II doubt that'll change by tomorrow since I have no choice but to try sleeping with a generator running outside. Thanks electric company for cutting electricity  to some homes and removing the meters.. all because some electrical work wasn't inspected. So yeah feel free to say how ridiculous what I am typing sounds, perhaps I'll feel differently once I can get a decent proper nights rest.

You obviously don't understand business. I myself, work for a company who got bought out by a massive organisation who compete directly in the same market space as us. We never got absorbed, we use the same internal services, but that's about it. We have business independence and the ability to think without having the approval of the parent organisation and that's in the same direct marketplace. The same can be applied for this.

 

You keep on saying that Instagram relates directly to Facebook, which it does, but that would mean that Facebook would be more inclined to absorb the business so that Instagram was no more and it fit under the Facebook logo. You never see that. Heck, I even forgot FB bought out instagram until the other day. It's clear that Instagram have complete independence all in the while have financial and resources help from Facebook to make their product better which in-turn, creates Facebook more money.

 

You keep saying that Oculus Rift isn't relating to Facebook at all, which is true. Yet, Mark isn't a dummy, he can clearly see the potential in the product and what a massive impact this sort of technology can make to the marketplace. You're probably thinking that Oculus would move to FB headquarters and be under the Mark leadership but you're wrong. As Oculus have said, their day to day operations won't change, they will turn up at the same office doing the same job but now they have the relaxation to know that they're financially secure and they can employ more people to make the Oculus a product which isn't struggling with materials, production or resource. As I said before, Facebook will simply be the parent company which gets most of the slices pie from the Oculus bakery. Why would they want to buy out and absorb a company which has no direct relation to facebook in usage or application? They'll simply provide, money, resource to help them in whatever they need to earn Facebook more money.

 

Regarding the news around the Facebook logo and UI, I sincerely doubt this. Even if so, I also very much doubt that it will become a walled garden because of that. It would still be able to be used for PC gaming, applications and whatever the community want to use it for. That's the product and facebook know that.

[HawkMan]

Well it might not be called the Rift for long

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/technology/facebook-to-buy-oculus-vr-maker-of-virtual-reality-headset.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=2

For those saying Notch pretty much has to get over this, will you have the same words for anyone else not happy to work with Facebook? Or is just because Notch is "famous"?

 

Pretty much the same words for anyone who acts and talks as childishly as Notch. Especially since he had no intention of supporting the rift in the first place.

 

as for the redesign... uh yeah... if you paid attention tot he news, OR hadn't even started on the final design yet, that's what they where going to do now after the DK2 release, they already announced the design and other things would change radically for the final hardware. So nothing really changed that. The only difference is that they will include a tiny embossed Facebook logo on the final hardware, and maybe change the name... so what...

They won't design the interface around Facebook? are you people daft.  They wouldn't limit the usefulness of the device.  It has to work with as many systems as possible.

 

I can see that if Android comes pre installed on Rift, there will probably be a Facebook App on it, that can take advantage of the 3D, head tracking, whatever.. but they won't make the Rift simply a window into Facebook.  that would be a complete waste of time.

 

People are not thinking clearly.

 

...and most of all people are being hypocritical, I bet 98% of you all use Facebook.

 

And on top of that, what interface ? in a game OR doesn't have an interface other than the normal HUD the game designers make.

 

the only interface is that they would redesign an app for showing and advertising OR compatible games with demo's or free downloads for free stuff. Kind of like how that silly gesture controller for PC has an "app store". 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Pretty much the same words for anyone who acts and talks as childishly as Notch. Especially since he had no intention of supporting the rift in the first place.

as for the redesign... uh yeah... if you paid attention tot he news, OR hadn't even started on the final design yet, that's what they where going to do now after the DK2 release, they already announced the design and other things would change radically for the final hardware. So nothing really changed that. The only difference is that they will include a tiny embossed Facebook logo on the final hardware, and maybe change the name... so what...

And on top of that, what interface ? in a game OR doesn't have an interface other than the normal HUD the game designers make.

the only interface is that they would redesign an app for showing and advertising OR compatible games with demo's or free downloads for free stuff. Kind of like how that silly gesture controller for PC has an "app store".

?

He WAS supporting the Rift in the first place....

[trooper11]

They've already done it, and by all the accounts I've read people say their prototype HMD is far superior to the Rift.

Has Valve said that they are going to produce a VR headset for retail?

I knew about the prototype and that is was rumored to be better than OR, but I didn't see them say they were pushing that prototype towards a release.

[HawkMan]

?

He WAS supporting the Rift in the first place....

 

No he wasn't. he paid for a dev kit, but he never planned to make Minecraft for Rift.

Has Valve said that they are going to produce a VR headset for retail?

I knew about the prototype and that is was rumored to be better than OR, but I didn't see them say they were pushing that prototype towards a release.

 

No they haven't. and even if they do make one, if we base it on how far away based on previous rumors at this stage. you're looking at another 5 years or so at least.

 

And even then it would have been compared to a Rift DK1, not the DK2 with full HD display and better optics and sensors, much less the final hardware. which is where the sony comparisons fail to, since the DK2 came out at about the same time, so all the comparisons where the morpheus was "better" was based on the original OR DK1.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

Has Valve said that they are going to produce a VR headset for retail?

I knew about the prototype and that is was rumored to be better than OR, but I didn't see them say they were pushing that prototype towards a release.

I vaguely recall an article saying that they WEREN'T going to create a retail version of their VR headset, and that it was for internal use only to test Source2 for VR headsets in general. The Valve model is better than the OR, but also much more expensive. It's probably not a market they want to get into at this time either. They're not looking to move into the hardware business AFAIK.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

No he wasn't. he paid for a dev kit, but he never planned to make Minecraft for Rift.

 

No they haven't. and even if they do make one, if we base it on how far away based on previous rumors at this stage. you're looking at another 5 years or so at least.

 

And even then it would have been compared to a Rift DK1, not the DK2 with full HD display and better optics and sensors, much less the final hardware. which is where the sony comparisons fail to, since the DK2 came out at about the same time, so all the comparisons where the morpheus was "better" was based on the original OR DK1.

 

Of course, they wanted Minecraft. I said that it doesn?t really fit the platform, since it?s very motion based, runs on java (that has a hard time delivering rock solid 90 fps, especially since the players build their own potentially hugely complex levels), and relies a lot on GUI. But perhaps it would be cool to do a slimmed down version of Minecraft for the Oculus. Something free, similar to the Minecraft PI Edition, perhaps? So I suggested that, and our people started talking to their people to see if something could be done.

 

 

http://notch.net/

[Crisp]

[HawkMan]

http://notch.net/

 

yeah ? he was going to have one or two guys port a stripped down version of the game... maybe.... that translates to, not he wasn't going to make minecraft for OR. 

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

yeah ? he was going to have one or two guys port a stripped down version of the game... maybe.... that translates to, not he wasn't going to make minecraft for OR. 

 

You gave him a call and found this out?

 

and our people started talking to their people to see if something could be done.

 

 

Because "our people" definitely doesn't mean one or two guys in my vocabulary. Especially not for a studio with 39 people.

 

Minecraft for OR is Minecraft for OR. Are you going to now say the console versions of Minecraft aren't really Minecraft because the PC version is superior? Sure they're different versions but it's still Minecraft.

 

Interested to see what else you throw at this argument to somehow say Notch is lying and Minecraft was never planned for Occulus.

[Xtreme2damax]

I'm still not entirely sure why people are supporting this, most with the "Oh nothing will change" or "Look at Instagram" attitude are either delusional or unrealistically optimistic until the not so virtual reality finally sets in. Even the success of Instagram since acquisition by FB is debatable. There is no reason for FB become involved in this and there's not the market on social media for enthusiast tech as there is with established gaming platforms which was going to make up most of the market share for this product. Facebook is not known as a gaming, software and hardware platform and bottom barrel casual games such as Farmtow, Candy Crush are a joke to real gamers or are a simple time waster when there's nothing better to do.  Their support for open source is just a ploy like other companies to say "Oh look, we're not so evil after all" to gain user trust. Facebook is riddled with privacy issues, is user unfriendly and when even the founder himself basically said that anyone who trusts him is a dumb####, I can't fathom how anyone could support this weasel and trust Facebook. If Valve or Microsoft bought them you wouldn't see the outcry there is now and Valve would have been a better choice simply because of their excellent working environment and freedom they give employees. Valve is also an established company with an established platform and works in progress such as Steambox, SteamOS and their controller to revolutionize PC gaming and this would have sweetened the pot just so they didn't have to start from scratch.

 

Apparently they were paid 2Bn but most are in stocks which are laughable by the majority, no one has ever taken Facebook stock seriously. The company has very little revenue stream compared to other choices that would have been a wiser investment and undoubtedly secured the success of the project while giving OR more real world money for R&D as well as the freedom they delusionally proclaim FB is going to give them. Let's face it, this is a much different type of acquisition that acquiring something like Instagram and sooner or later their so called freedom is going to dwindle until the heads and shareholders at FB are calling all the shots.

 

Guys.. stop drinking the kool aid and believing the PR babble. Hate to come back down the road for an obligatory "told you so" or likewise depending on which direction this goes. Who knows, maybe this will be an unsurpassed success and turn out to be a good choice down the road but for most of us it leaves a sour taste in our mouth and we'll stay clear until we know for sure what this means for OR and if it spells Doom.

 

A slightly differently worded and perhaps better response regarding my thoughts from elsewhere..

 

 

Let's forget the fact that there is a miniscule market for this through social media i.e. the average Facebook user isn't going to be interested in this. Mostly those that would be interested in OR are trying to give up Facebook or steer clear of FB.

 

I've given up FB, deactivated my account and made every effort not to log in again. It's bad enough I have Facebook shoved down my throat on literally every website nowadays and when using certain software, heck Steam now has social media integrated.

 

I don't need Facebook shoved down my throat when making purchases for gaming related hardware. Not only is Facebook riddled with privacy issues, lacks market for this type of device there is also the off chance it could be locked to Facebook specific apps and require a Facebook login which is enough to make it be shunned by the majority of tech enthusiasts who aren't mindless social media zombies.

 

My hope and faith rests with Valve's solution, at least they are a gaming company who has a rather decent platform already widely used i.e. Steam and are working on other projects to revolutionize PC gaming such as Steambox and SteamOS.

 

In fact a Valve buyout would have made much more sense and would have been wiser in the long run. I'm surprised Valve didn't offer to buy them out just so they could improve on an existing iteration of OR rather than start from scratch.

 

Good luck trying to market to grannies, grandpas and middle age folks that don't game outside of bottom barrel casual games such as Farmtown. There are also many young kids and adults who aren't gamers just like the older generation and aren't tech enthusiasts who would consider purchasing this type of hardware. Most of those that are interested usually don't have any desire to use Facebook let alone anything churned out by Facebook or have any dealing with any kind of social media.

 

Who knows what will happen down the road, maybe it will be an astounding success or be a complete failure. Facebook's track record for user friendliness and privacy isn't great and the success of prior FB acquired companies is debatable since acquisition which has a lot of people worried.