Facebook Buys Oculus For $2 Billion

Facebook has just made another huge purchase.  This time they have furthered their interest in the fields of virtual reality with the purchase of Oculus for $2 billion.  Oculus is the company behind the virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift.  The headset is coming soon to PC and Android devices.

Oculus has Doom creator John Carmack as one of their employees and the team are working to build a new way of playing games with virtual reality headsets.  The acquisition will close next quarter and when it does the Oculus team will then officially be a division of Facebook instead of an independent company.

In the press release, which announced the acquisition of Oculus, Facebook said the Oculus Rift is not going away; virtual reality gaming is still unquestionably approaching. Obviously nobody is exactly sure when a end user version of the VR headset will be released, though Oculus are currently selling pre-orders for a second developers kit for $350. The long-term plan for Facebook will see the use of Oculus’ headset and Oculus’ software for forms of virtual reality beyond gaming. The headset may be used in all sorts of virtual settings such as sports games, or education classes.  If virtual reality is the future, Facebook would want to be a leader in that area.  The next steps of virtual reality and social networking maybe just the right mix to move forward.

Not everyone is happy about the buyout as the creator of Minecraft, Notch already announced on Twitter that he cancelled a pact to make the popular game for Oculus because, he said, “Facebook creeps me out.”  Is the acquisition of Oculus by Facebook concern you? Or are you thrilled about what the company may do with the virtual reality kit?  As always, if you would like to leave a sensible comment, then please do so in the comments section below.

[Image via knightvision]

SOURCE: http://www.androidauthority.com/facebook-buys-oculus-rift-2-billion-361860/