It started with a hugely successful Kickstarter bid. From there it went on to secure plenty of venture capital, but today Oculus VR went from an interesting outsider to a serious player in the gaming space. Their virtual reality bid has attracted Facebook who paid $400 million in cash and an approximate $1.6 billion in Facebook stocks for Oculus VR. Clearly Mark Zuckerberg is betting on a bright future for Virtual Reality.
While Facebook has been making money off games for years, this acquisition marks the first time they move into hardcore gaming and gaming hardware. One thing is for sure. They have the funds to make Oculus Rift a major factor in gaming.
"Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."
"We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world," said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. "We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of the year. It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of synergies there will be between the two, but one thing is for certain - Oculus VR have all the money and backing they need to make their device a success at retail.