Facebook Buys the Oculus Rift for $2,000,000,000

“Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play, and communicate,” says Mark Zuckerberg. But honestly, do you really need to see your friends baby pictures in virtual reality? It was announced yesterday that Facebook would be purchasing the technology company of Oculus VR, the creators of the Oculus Rift. In total, Facebook would be paying by way of $400 million in cash and 23.1 million Facebook shares which comes down to about $1.6 billion.

Oculus Rift has been the talk of the gaming industry since gamers were finally able to start getting their hands on it over the past year, putting to bed the speculation that VR was dead or that it might go the way of the Virtual Boy and be a huge flop. Top creators had begun trying to figure out if the platform was right for their games and early testers were raving about the potential they already got a taste of.

Not everyone yesterday was happy to hear about Zuckerberg’s acquisition however as Notch, creator of Minecraft, stated his utter distaste for Facebook over Twitter. “We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.” While the loss of Minecraft is a big deal, it doesn’t sound like the Facebook crew has only gaming in mind for the hardware.

As you’ll read in Zuckerberg’s full statement below, the Rift isn’t going to end at gaming in their eyes. It also looks like Facebook may have found that new gimmick to revive their relevance for the next decade since it is going to be the youthful adopters going for the Oculus Rift at first, not grandma who won’t stop sending you those Farmville invites.

Take a read below at Mark Zuckerberg’s full statement regarding the Oculus Rift and while you’re at it, share with us your thoughts on the Oculus Rift, Facebook and what you think could be done with the powerhouse social media company using this groundbreaking tech.

“I’m excited to announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we’re in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you’re actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it’s different from anything they’ve ever experienced in their lives.

Oculus’s mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won’t be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there’s a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We’re going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can’t wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.”