An unlikely combination, but it happened, the social network giant will now buy Oculus VR Inc, the team behind the Virtual Reality headset Oculus Rift.
Facebook has just announced that they are purchasing Ocukus VR for $2 billion, which include $400 million in cash and 23.1 million Facebook shares and an additional $300 million in chase and stock when the acquisition reached a certain milestone. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained on his official statement that ” Our mission is to make the world more open and connected… Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow, Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate. ” , he also explained that Oculus will still continue to focus on games and will operate independently.
Facebook has been on a buying spree since 2010, some of the companies that were acquired include WhatsApp and Instagram.
The Oculus VR team has also posted their official statement regarding to the purchase which explained the benefits, “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.”
There are over 75,000 Oculus Rift development kits distributed to game developers worldwide.
The sudden announcement of the purchase sparked mixed reactions in the internet, such as Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson cancelling their plans on bringing Minecraft to Oculus Rift.
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