Facebook buys Oculus $2B

[ZenOps]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/fa...r-2b-1.2586318

1000 inch TV aint got nothing on Oculus.

[mobius]

Damn it. Ruined before it has even hit the market.....

[n1zm0]

^+1 Now that they have control of it, I personally would want it even less as well.

The amount of publicity the Rift was getting (and potential I guess), whether it be Valve/Google or FB, it's almost like it was bound to happen.

Marcus Persson immediately dropped all deal with Oculus, direct quotes :

Minecraft creator Markus Persson has revealed that an Oculus Rift version of the game was potentially in the works, but following the sudden news that Facebook has acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion, that's no longer the case. "I just cancelled that deal," Persson tweeted. "Facebook creeps me out." He later expanded on his reasoning in a blog post, citing in particular Facebook's constantly changing platform, which has proved a challenge for game developers.

"There's nothing about their history that makes me trust them."

"I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook," wrote Persson. "Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven't historically been a stable platform. There's nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me."

While gaming has been the biggest selling point for the Rift to date, following Facebook's acquisition it appears that the virtual reality platform will be moving in other directions, as well. "We're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/25/55...s-vr-cancelled

I going to guess for Zuckerberg he means something like video conferencing or something, but hopefully funds its original intent first and foremost... Doubtful.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak

I think that Facebook, Twitter and Google are going to be toxic stocks soon... that is my prediction.

Are going to be? or always were?

Actually, I would not lump Google in with that statement.

I think Google is one of the best managed companies in the world, that is actually making smart purchases, and are quick to adopt new technologies into their offerings. I think Google is a smart investment.

As for Twitter and Facebook, I can't believe they actually got approval to be a publicly traded company, and that people actually buy their stock.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[AudiPWR]

Originally posted by spikers


Are going to be? or always were?

Actually, I would not lump Google in with that statement.

I think Google is one of the best managed companies in the world, that is actually making smart purchases, and are quick to adopt new technologies into their offerings. I think Google is a smart investment.

As for Twitter and Facebook, I can't believe they actually got approval to be a publicly traded company, and that people actually buy their stock.

Why wouldn't you of bought Twitter when it first became public?

I got in around $41 and jumped ship at about $67.

Do I think it was a good stock? Fuck no, but it was obvious every hipster was going to buy the damn thing and send it up and away.

[DeleriousZ]

Bye bye pure gaming platform, hello bloatware

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak


I generally agree with you on Google... but the market doesn't discriminate, it operates on hype, feat and panic. So I think if things go awry, Google is going to get dragged into it.

Speculation runs the market.

Google got real asset and solid revenue. The other 2 I won't say they are on solid ground. In the case of Twitter, they can't even seem find way to monetize the business yet.

Facebook has peaked and not hip anymore. Advertising doesn't want parents and grandparents as demographics. Oculus purchase is just a shotgun approach to grab on to what's next while Facebook is still somewhat relevant.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Anybody starting to feel like this new tech craze of buying other companies for huge sums of money is EXACTLY like the Dot-Com atmosphere before the market crash?

It's funny to look back at some of these older acquisitions.

ICQ - $407m (sold for $187m)
MySpace - $580m (sold to Justin Timberlake for $35m)
MapQuest - $1.1b
Paypal - $1.5b
AskJeeves - $1.9b
Youtube - $1.7b
Geocities - $3.6b WTMF???
Netscape - $4.2b LOL!

My favorite dot-com acquisition was Skype, bought at $2.6b by eBay, got called out by every analyst saying it's a terrible deal, and somehow was able to flip it for $8.5b to Microsoft haha.

Looks like eBay is the biggest winner in dot-com acquisitions with Paypal and Skype.

[supe]

I agree that facebook has peaked. My 14 year old cousin from Texas says nobody uses facebook. Thats a big problem.

Further as far as business outlook goes this is an excellent video:


The gist is youtube rewards content providers while facebook charges content providers.

[corsvette]

^^What these companies are selling for is just

The only "deal" was YouTube imo, the rest are way overvalued.

[sputnik]

All that really matters...

- John Carmack thinks the deal is good
- OculusRift now has almost unlimited money to develop their VR platform

All of the Facebook conspiracy theories are unnecessary. Who knows? Perhaps Facebook just bought them to invest and refine the product and then flip it later.

[DeleriousZ]

I use facebook every day and quite enjoy it. It's all about how you use it.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ
I use facebook every day and quite enjoy it. It's all about how you use it.

Everyone is on facebook, the people who say facebook is dieing are a joke.

Maybe for the "hip" kids it is dieing, but its now (IMO) growing into a more modern, useful tool. Super easy for planning events (this is huge in the racing community), easy, instantaneous info access for everyone.

It is no replacement for a website/forum, but it fills the need for quick, easy info access and for the personal experience, I don't know how it can get any better. Ability to share your personal events, life experiences, photos, and videos all in one easy packaged

[Sugarphreak]

...

[BigShow]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Not on Facebook... gave it up about 2 years ago

quit that shit 5yrs ago, like Markus Persson it creeps me out.

[n1zm0]

Oculus VR Owner talks about the future of the product, it's hard to believe with some statements imo, but in terms of more funding for resources and parts he's got it right with the FB deal:

21-year-old Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has responded to the wave of criticism over the sale of his company, Oculus VR, to social networking behemoth Facebook.

The $2 billion deal was announced yesterday and Luckey has been busy responding to questions on Reddit. Below are some key points Luckey made in his extensive Reddit feedback thread regarding the blockbuster acquisition.

Luckey doesn't think you'll still be mad a year from now:

"I won't change, and any change at Oculus will be for the better. We have even more freedom than we had under our investment partners because Facebook is making a long term play on the success of VR, not short-term returns. A lot of people are upset, and I get that. If you feel the same way a year from now, I would be very surprised."

You won't need to log into Facebook to use Oculus Rift:

"I guarantee that you won't need to log into your Facebook account every time you wanna use the Oculus Rift."

On how the Facebook acquisition will affect the freedom Oculus Rift developers will have:

"Oculus continues to operate independently! We are going to remain as indie/developer/enthusiast friendly as we have always been, if not more so. This deal lets us dedicate a lot of resources to developer relations, technical help, engine optimizations, and our content investment/publishing/sales platform. We are not going to track you, flash ads at you, or do anything invasive. I am 100% certain that most people will see why this is good in the long term."

Oculus Rift will actually become more open:

"We promise we won't change. If anything, our hardware and software will get even more open, and Facebook is onboard with that."

"Huge investments" for Oculus Rift content could be coming:

"We have not gotten into all the details yet, but a lot of the news is coming. The key points:

1) We can make custom hardware, not rely on the scraps of the mobile phone industry. That is insanely expensive, think hundreds of millions of dollars. More news soon.

2) We can afford to hire everyone we need, the best people that fit into our culture of excellence in all aspects.

3) We can make huge investments in content. More news soon."

Support for indie devs on Oculus Rift is going to increase:

"This deal will definitely make things better. You are right, we have struggled to properly support indie devs because we had to focus our limited resources on our closest partners, that has been a failing that I want to fix. Indie developers are the ones driving this VR revolution more than anyone else, and one of my personal goals has been to support them in a much stronger way. Our developer relations/publishing team is really small right now, just a few guys. That is one of the reasons Oculus Share applications have taken so long, they get backed up behind the hundreds of developers we talk to every day. We now have the resources to put a lot of money into indie VR content, you will be seeing some good news on that very soon."

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ocu.../1100-6418562/

The underlying FB rage is not only just because it's FB though, imo it's moreso because 2 years ago it was born as a Kickstarter idea , it was successfully funded by a little less than 10k people in less than a month and exceeded almost 2 million $ over its requested pledge, now i'm sure they feel cheated, dreams of this company that started something new 'for the master race' that would always walk down that unique path like Valve has been doing, suddenly crushed by a $2billion deal from a social media corporate giant not many people are fond of.

[Unknown303]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
Not on Facebook... gave it up about 2 years ago

when I realized that I don't give two shits about what people are doing at all times.

[UndrgroundRider]

I was one of the original supporters. Have my first batch dev kit right beside me.

I don't really understand the comments from the other supporters. Oculus did a better job of delivering on their promises than any kickstarter in the history of kickstarter. It's not like we're shareholders, and everyone knew that getting into it. In fact, Oculus does have real share holders that invested $90 million in the company. Palmer has an obligation to act in their best interests. And let me tell you, taking an obscene $2 billion from Facebook is certainly acting in their best interests. Oculus isn't worth half of that, maybe not even a quarter of that. What a lot of people don't realize is that Oculus wasn't ground-breaking or a leader in the VR industry. They were simply the most visible. The advancement they've made in the new version of the Rift is basically all of Valve's R&D work, who had figured this stuff out before Oculus was even a thing.

The biggest thing that confuses me is why Facebook, or anyone for that matter, would pay $2 billion for Oculus. All of the good-will for the brand is certainly gone at this point, and as far as I know Oculus holds very little meaningful IP. With big competitors with real resources entering the market, a la Sony's Project Morpheus, I don't see the wisdom behind the move. Obviously Facebook has a plan, a $2 billion acquisition does not come about on a whim, but I don't see how this is a good fit for anyone. I guess we don't have all the information.