BackFacebook’s Oculus buy faces video gamers’ ire
Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey's deal with Mark Zuckerberg has resulted in scathing remarks from video game players and developers
Premium
San Francisco: Virtual reality firm Oculus VR Inc. co-founder Palmer Luckey called Facebook Inc.’s $2 billion purchase of his virtual-reality headset company a move that will help transform industries. Some fans weren’t so upbeat. Across Twitter, video-game websites and Oculus’s own blog, players and developers panned the company’s decision to sell for least $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook. One was an investor in the company’s Kickstarter fundraising campaign and said he was betrayed.
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg and Luckey on Tuesday said that joining forces will push virtual reality into the mainstream. The feedback suggests they’ll have to convince game developers that Oculus will still be a great place for their titles after the deal is done, particularly among those counting on working with a smaller, start-up stage company.
“Good job pulling one over on us Oculus," wrote Caleb Benningfield, who identified himself as a software developer at the healthcare company IMS Health/Appature, in comments on the Oculus blog where the deal was announced.
Swedish game programmer Markus Persson, who created the popular block-building and busting title Minecraft for personal computers and mobile devices, voiced his displeasure in a post on his Twitter feed. “We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus," Persson said. “I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out."
A spokeswoman for Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, didn’t return a call seeking comment.
First headset
Oculus, based in Irvine, California, unveiled its first headset in June 2012. The stridency of some comments may be tied to the $2.44 million the company raised from gamers and virtual-reality enthusiasts on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter in August of that year. In all, the company has attracted more than $91 million.
“I did not chip in 10 grands to see a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition," said Persson, who calls himself Notch, in a later posting. “I definitely want to be part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook."
The company recently began selling an updated version of the Oculus Rift headset to developers for $350 and demonstrated the technology last week at the Game Developers Conference.
After years of discussion about the merits of virtual reality, the topic has moved to the fore with the development of small, inexpensive sensors that track a user’s movements.
No nausea
The gear also has enough processing power to place a viewer or player in a virtual situation with little of the lag that has caused widespread nausea in earlier attempts.
“Oculus just seemed like an escape from monster corporation crap and Facebook ‘likes’ and ‘Candy Crushes’," Jared Cate, a game developer at San Francisco-based TinyCo, said in an interview.
The negative commentary, if it turns into something more, could help Sony Corp. in its efforts to develop a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 console. The Tokyo-based company last week began demonstrating games for its Project Morpheus gear.
Sony declined to comment on the Oculus acquisition, according to a spokeswoman.
The video game industry stalwarts could change their minds if the deal advances virtual reality technology, according to Bertrand Schmitt, chief executive officer of game industry tracking company App Annie Ltd.
“Gaming technology pushed the boundaries of where things are going, and a game-focused company like Oculus represents a stepping stone towards a broader application of virtual reality," Schmitt said by e-mail. Bloomberg
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
