Facebook to Buy Oculus... Is this real?

[ften]

Call me a skeptic, but Mojang has had Oculus Rifts before almost anyone else and has done little, as far as what has been released to the public, with them. I think this is a kind of convient excuse to cancel the project and as memory serves me this isn't the first time they scrapped a major project.

It's ok to throw stones at me, I expect them.

Full disclosure: I love MineCraft and have lots of respect for Notch for bringing it to life.

[blazespinnaker]

Call me a skeptic, but Mojang has had Oculus Rifts before almost anyone else and has done little, as far as what has been released to the public, with them. I think this is a kind of convient excuse to cancel the project and as memory serves me this isn't the first time they scrapped a major project.

It's ok to throw stones at me, I expect them.

Full disclosure: I love MineCraft and have lots of respect for Notch for bringing it to life.

That's part of it, sure, but it doesn't mean he's wrong or doesn't have insight.

[rrrobot!]

Call me a skeptic, but Mojang has had Oculus Rifts before almost anyone else and has done little, as far as what has been released to the public, with them. I think this is a kind of convient excuse to cancel the project and as memory serves me this isn't the first time they scrapped a major project.

It's ok to throw stones at me, I expect them.

Full disclosure: I love MineCraft and have lots of respect for Notch for bringing it to life.

Exactly the vibe I got from his tweet. Notch, in his financial position, can do what he likes and it's perfect excuse to scrap something that has been dragged out and possibly fruitless. I am going to wait and see what happens, and in the meantime I will continue to develop with DK1 and DK2 and pivot to any other hardware that might come to fruition in 2015.

This news is a bit disappointing from the guerrilla indie dev standpoint, but it's only going to help drive VR forward. You can't have good without the bad. If there is going to be a Metaverse, well a lot of reality's rules apply. Someone is going to have to be footing the bill, and that will probably be through ads and microtransactions.

[MSat]

Does this mean I'll need to have a facebook account again?

[mickman]

It's simple.. Good buy Oculus ... Hello VR.

Think about it.. Palmer literally kickstarted VR again... He's thrown the spotlight back on VR
Suckerberg took the bait...
Shortly we'll all be blown away by the enormous impact VR will have on mainstream society.

Let the game begin .... Ready Player Two

[cybereality]

Yes, it's real. But then again, what is real? How do you define real? [sorry, had to do it. ]

Really guys, it's not the end of the world. Take a chill pill, huff your asthma pump, whatever your gotta do. We're all still alive, and I hope all in one piece.

There's a lot of hate following around (not sure much here luckily but other places) and I can totally understand where people are coming from. But it's not that bad.

Mostly I think people assume that Facebook is going to destroy the good thing we have going at Oculus, but I don't think that's the case. Really I think Mark and the guys at Facebook that were part of this deal do share the same vision for VR as Palmer and I and all the guys at Oculus do. We always wanted to bring VR to the masses, and this facilitates that goal. Sure, maybe we could have done it on our own. There is merit to that argument. But it would have taken longer and with more risk. This deal really accelerates everything we are doing, and gives us a better shot of making VR completely ubiquitous. I truly feel this is a milestone for VR, and people will look back at this day. Sure, selling 75K dev kits in a year and a half was great. But that is nothing compared to something like Sony selling 6 million PS4s in a few months. This acquisition really takes the company to a new level to be able to compete in this marketplace. I think anyone that has a stake in VR being successful should be excited about the news. It really is a great move.

[ss248]

Don't blame FacePalmer. He have no power in Oculus.

Iribe is real bad guy here.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/03/25/ ... -facebook/

[blazespinnaker]

Actually, the one thing you guys have going for you is Cory Ondrejka. He's expat from SecondLife (he designed LSL and was really their man tech guy for the longest time. You can search my posts on SecondLife forums where I'm giving him crap ).

He is a very very super smart guy (I know, because he implemented my suggestions when I emailed him directly )

If he's deeply involved in running the relationship with FB, you guys stand a chance in doing great things.

[braddas]

I think it depends who's behind the wheel really. Palmer's open letter suggests they're still in control, so I'm hopeful. With Facebook's backing, VR could become mainstream a lot faster than it would have before. It may also attract a lot more devs to the platform, which is (probably?) a good thing. So much is uncertain though.

[BoZo]

Abandon ship, screw you Palmer.

[FR3D]

While using the „Facerift“ – it will post everything to Zuckerberg and to the NSA .
And we have to watch advertising while using the “Facerift”.
The oculus rift sold its soul.
Not for me – I will switch to playstation ….

best regards FR3D

[jeremyc9]

There's a lot of hate following around (not sure much here luckily but other places) and I can totally understand where people are coming from. But it's not that bad.

This is why I still come here for my Oculus news, it seems to be a more mature forum with only a few exceptions. I do have to admit though, the overreactions over at the oculusvr forum have been pretty entertaining.

[therage79]

Granted, im not a developer, nor have I had any professional relationship with FB, but all this hysteria strikes be as somewhat over the top. I'm not especially a FB user (the concept is fine, the content however is primarily pointless IMO - or maybe its a reflection of my 'friends' lol), but surely if the deal is as publicised (and we can only assume it is until proven otherwise) then this is similar to other recent venture investments and as such will only accelerate Palmer's vision.

Maybe I'm an optimist (sucker?) but anything that moves this forward has to be a good thing.

I think in general society (the internet?) likes to have a bad guy....generally people/entities that are successful (the overdog?)...and as such they become a target for the keyboard warriors who are "outraged"...but strangely can't elaborate on why!!

For the record I'm not informed enough to have a reasoned opinion on where this specific deal is going to take VR...but I just think some of the vitriol and negativity (not specifically on here...but in general) I have read this morning is both disgusting and small minded.

[V8Griff]

Abandon ship, screw you Palmer.

Appropriate user name.....

For the record I'm not informed enough to have a reasoned opinion on where this specific deal is going to take VR...but I just think some of the vitriol and negativity (not specifically on here...but in general) I have read this morning is both disgusting and small minded.

I don't think anyone outside the management of Facebook or Oculus have enough information at the moment but I completely agree with you about the 'over the top' reaction of folk.

[fader]

There's a lot of hate following around (not sure much here luckily but other places) and I can totally understand where people are coming from. But it's not that bad.

This is why I still come here for my Oculus news, it seems to be a more mature forum with only a few exceptions. I do have to admit though, the overreactions over at the oculusvr forum have been pretty entertaining.

Admittedly I haven't been back here for a while.. but I hoped for some more rational discussion, and thankfully found it. The overreaction 'out there' is pretty ridiculous.. I only hope that Palmer, in particular, is the kind of guy that can brush off the negativity and hate. I came across the original thread for the kickstarter launch here in early 2012.. and from then I have followed Oculus' news everyday.. its been such a great thing to spectate.

Congratulations Palmer, and thank you.

[JonR]

That's part of it, sure, but it doesn't mean he's wrong or doesn't have insight.

Notch has made one notable, heavily derivative game in his carrier, Minecraft. And he's not even developing that anymore. Why you'd care too much about what he has to say is beyond me.

[Leahy]

So how much was Oculus VR's 'worth' before the 75mil investment? Selling for 2bil is not something anyone would ever say no to. At least they got their 'independence' clause in the contract for what that's worth. Worst case scenario I can imagine is VR as an industry explodes and in the slightest chance that my Rift version 3.0 asks me to sign in to anything or starts sending information out an open source competitor will step in that won't let me use my Facerift apps. The worst I can say is that now I will be a bit suspicious of the Rift asking for firewall privileges.

[jaybug]

I for one, welcome our new facebook overlords.

Oh, you're gonna take your minecraft ball and go home Notch? That minecraft ball that you left in the middle of the court ages ago and barely poked ever since?

Seriously, tho, can't wait until this "outrage" passes.

[V8Griff]

I for one, welcome our new facebook overlords.

Oh, you're gonna take your minecraft ball and go home Notch? That minecraft ball that you left in the middle of the court ages ago and barely poked ever since?

Seriously, tho, can't wait until this "outrage" passes.

^^^^ This.

Well said.

[sevenalvan]

Some of the comments and reactions to this news are pathetic (Bozo.....what an appropriate name).

This is not some vege burger cafe that has just sold out to McDonalds!

This is an emerging tech business that has just hit the jackpot.

Good luck to Palmer and his colleagues.

This is how the world works and Palmers amazing success should be an inspiration, not subject to such small minded condemnation.

[3trip]

The more I think about it, the more I think it's good, Facebook won't screw the pooch until it's a proven success. Which means VR in general just got a huge boost!

The worst case scenario I think is, If facebook wants to further monetize the rift in some annoying fashion, they could do it. However by then we should have decent VR from competitors to choose from.

[mayaman]

I literally feel like I've been sucker punched. How in the mother loving F does Facebook end up with this tech? Of all the companies on earth, including Microsoft, Facebook? FACEBOOK?!

Just fantastic. Rift is pretty much done, people will say lets see, but you know they're going to use it for some BS purposes and advertising and what not.

I feel so ripped off, after waiting for 25 years, finally my VR gaming was almost here.

RIP Oculus.

[GeraldT]

given your predictions your nickname seems like a wise choice

[colocolo]

After calming down.... i thought about it again.....
The problem isnt really the investor..... 2 billions... cool! Cant wait for the bad ass CV1.
But please keep the Facebook App out of the Rift Menu! Please... I dont want to have this garbage in my precious future Tech product. PLEASE...OVR.

[mayaman]

Really wonderful company to partner with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag

[J. h4t3d]

I, for one, just contacted OVR to cancel my DK2 preorder.

It has not sense now. Either the Rift is going to a shitty place where I dont want to be, or the CV1 is going to be x1000 times better than the DK2.
Or both.

In any case, my projects are going to be in pause for the next few months. We'll see.

[drifter]

The worst case scenario I think is, If facebook wants to further monetize the rift in some annoying fashion, they could do it.

It's already on the way.

Zuckerberg :
"We're clearly not a hardware company. We're not gonna try to make a profit off of the devices long term. We view this as a software and services thing, where if we can make it so that this becomes a network where people can be communicating and buying things and virtual goods, and there might be advertising in the world, but we need to figure that out down the line."
http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/eve ... iauserid=0

You see why the "overreacting" ?

[Mystify]

The worst case scenario I think is, If facebook wants to further monetize the rift in some annoying fashion, they could do it.

It's already on the way.

Zuckerberg :
"We're clearly not a hardware company. We're not gonna try to make a profit off of the devices long term. We view this as a software and services thing, where if we can make it so that this becomes a network where people can be communicating and buying things and virtual goods, and there might be advertising in the world, but we need to figure that out down the line."
http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/eve ... iauserid=0

You see why the "overreacting" ?

No, I don't. They are describing making their own VR environment that provides services. and *gasp* they might put ads into that service. That is a far cry from "This is the only thing you can use the rift for" or "Everything we do with the rift will be covered in ads now". I think this is more analogous to playstation home. It doesn't preclude getting other games for the playstation, nor does it define how you use it, but it creates another option for what to do with it.

[GeraldT]

I, for one, just contacted OVR to cancel my DK2 preorder.
... or the CV1 is going to be x1000 times better than the DK2.

best reason I have read so far for cancelling

In any case, my projects are going to be in pause for the next few months. We'll see.

you can't be very invested in them then. I mean why pause - do you think VR will fail? Have you lost your love for VR? Is your DK1 broken?
what is your reason for stoping?

[V8Griff]

The worst case scenario I think is, If facebook wants to further monetize the rift in some annoying fashion, they could do it.

It's already on the way.

Zuckerberg :
"We're clearly not a hardware company. We're not gonna try to make a profit off of the devices long term. We view this as a software and services thing, where if we can make it so that this becomes a network where people can be communicating and buying things and virtual goods, and there might be advertising in the world, but we need to figure that out down the line."
http://www.shareholder.com/visitors/eve ... iauserid=0

You see why the "overreacting" ?

No.

That's assuming you're using their version of the 'Oasis' or 'metaverse' or whatever, when you'd expect advertising and branding.

Even if you go through some sort of hub or launcher which is branded in the same way as the iTunes store, you'll still be able to play games or develop environments that aren't Facebook related it wouldn't make sense to do it any other way. People don't object to the splash-screens at the beginning of games so I really don't see what the issue is likely to be.

But then I don't do conspiracy theories so maybe I'm missing that element of the thinking here.

[colocolo]

To all the 'proFacebook' speakers:

Why should Facebook give OVR 2 billion dollars if they could distribute Facebook apps and advertissements anyway by one APP. Therefore they dont have to give OVR 2 billion dollars. They could do it anyway.
Or am i wrong?

There must be somewhere a drawback. You'll see.

I really hope what Palmer said is true, that they are going to keep things seperated.
future will tell us more.....

[Mystify]

To all the 'proFacebook' speakers:

Why should Facebook give OVR 2 billion dollars if they could distribute Facebook apps and advertissements anyway by one APP. Therefore they dont have to give OVR 2 billion dollars. They could do it anyway.
Or am i wrong?

There must be somewhere a drawback. You'll see.

I really hope what Palmer said is true, that they are going to keep things seperated.
future will tell us more.....

A. they get to benefit from all future profits of occulus.
B. their weight behind it can help ensure it will be successful, so they can start developing for it without relying on a emergent technolgy they don't control

acquiring up and coming companies to add their profits to your own is a very common strategy by large companies.

[GeraldT]

To all the 'proFacebook' speakers:

Why should Facebook give OVR 2 billion dollars if they could distribute Facebook apps and advertissements anyway by one APP. Therefore they dont have to give OVR 2 billion dollars.

For the same reasons people keep asking to buy shares in Oculus - it is a great investment. Facebook is not expected to grow that much in the coming years, but Oculus is. So exchanging Facebook shares for Oculus shares and injecting the company with enough cash to make their growth even more likely is a good move.
On top of it there are benefits from having the company that combines the best VR knowhow under your roof.

[bobv5]

A. they get to benefit from all future profits of occulus.

Thats the problem for me. I hate facebook. I want them to go out of business, and giving them my money makes them stronger. I'm not going to say that I would never buy anything from them, but now a Rift would be my absolute last resort. Before it would have been my preferred option.

[Mystify]

A. they get to benefit from all future profits of occulus.

Thats the problem for me. I hate facebook. I want them to go out of business, and giving them my money makes them stronger. I'm not going to say that I would never buy anything from them, but now a Rift would be my absolute last resort. Before it would have been my preferred option.

That is a fair objection.

[colocolo]

ok.ok i see...... hopefully OVR doesnt get drowned at some point.
However i find it strange that the biggest VR future company will lay in the hands of a company that sells only webspace and has not really sth to do with VR.
I have a bad feeling about it...
Facebook will anyway have a bad time in future with VR appearing....i dont see them surviving , even with VR apps....Maybe thats the reason they bought in....haha...because Mork Zuckerberg sees his glorious popularity shrinking.

[GeraldT]

A. they get to benefit from all future profits of occulus.

Thats the problem for me. I hate facebook. I want them to go out of business, and giving them my money makes them stronger. I'm not going to say that I would never buy anything from them, but now a Rift would be my absolute last resort. Before it would have been my preferred option.

That is a fair objection.

agreed - that is pretty much the notch argument and it is valid, a personal decision.

[colocolo]

Oculus ........... i thought you were someone special.

[Fractalys]

Here's a poll, wonder how many will stick to their guns.

http://strawpoll.me/1381827/r

[colocolo]

Here's a poll, wonder how many will stick to their guns.

http://strawpoll.me/1381827/r

Yeah... people dont want FB anylonger..... its only a pain for them to leave the social mafia.