Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Facebook Completes Oculus Acquisition
The $2 billion deal that rocketed virtual reality into the mainstream conversation closed today. Facebook now officially owns Oculus VR.
Facebook and Oculus issued a joint statement today following the completion of the deal. “We’re looking forward to an exciting future together, building the next computing platform and reimagining the way people communicate,” the companies said in a prepared statement.
Since the deal was announced right after the annual Game Developers Conference in March, Oculus has been on a hiring spree. The company has brought on a number of notable individuals, including former THQ president Jason Rubin to handle first-party content development, former Steam boss Jason Holtman to lead business development, and a number of the foremost names in VR development.
The road since the merger was announced has not been entirely smooth. Oculus is now on the receiving end of a lawsuit from John Carmack’s former employer, Zenimax (owner of id Software), over allegedly misappropriated technology.
Oculus will be holding its first virtual reality summit in September. The company also recently acquired RakNet, a now open source, cross-platform networking engine.
Our Take
Though it was never in question that the deal would close, Facebook and Oculus can now face toward the future. With the new hires and upcoming summit, there are big things coming for virtual reality. The lingering question (and it’s a big one): When will consumers be able to bring a retail model home?
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
