Facebook Acquires Oculus VR for $2 Billion

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Image: Oculus

By Christina Warren2014-03-25 21:53:13 UTC

Facebook announced Tuesday that it acquired Oculus VR, the company behind the amazing Oculus Rift gaming headset in a cash and stock deal valued at $2 billion.

The terms of the deal include $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock.

See also: Playtime Is Over: Oculus Rift Lets You Live Video Games

The Oculus Rift project gained prominence on Kickstarter, raising over $2 million in the summer of 2012. The company went on to raise more than $91 million in venture funding in 2013.

In a statement, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."

Although the Oculus team was never committed to bringing a consumer version of its VR headset to the market, more than 75,000 developers had already ordered developer kits for the technology — and the early prototypes we've seen look amazing.

It's unclear what Facebook's acquisition will mean for the future of the company or its plans. Facebook says that Oculus will remain headquartered in Irvine and will continue developing the Oculus Rift platform.

A conference call later this evening will hopefully expand more light on this purchase.

Topics: Apps and Software, Dev & Design, Facebook, Gadgets, Oculus Rift, oculus VR, Tech