Earlier in the week, Facebook bought out Oculus VR for a couple billion dollars. Internet hilarity ensued.
Many people flipped out…
Some people were catty about it…
Some people were thrilled at the possibilities…
Some people quietly despaired…
Some people tried to bring reason and sanity to the table…
Some developers distanced themselves from the controversy…
Some developers enthusiastically embraced the future…
Others observed the spectacle from the sidelines…
It was incredible. I haven’t been this shocked, entertained, worried, and bemused by a news story in a while.
I have no idea what will ultimately come out of all this. One thing I’m pretty sure of, however, is that a giant entity like Facebook getting behind VR as a platform and medium potentially means that the consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset would have an even better chance to be something more than a mail order novelty item targeted at a niche subset of hardware enthusiasts.
That, in turn, makes it much more likely that competing hardware will come to market successfully, which will only accelerate improvement across the board and drive costs further down. From where I’m sitting, it seems like the people who have an emotional investment in the future of virtual reality probably ought to be be focusing on that particular upside of the arrangement rather than simply being angry at Palmer Luckey for “selling out” or prematurely grieving for Oculus VR on the assumption that the acquisition will somehow destroy the company.
I’m cautiously optimistic, hoping that this acquisition works out positively, and I suspect the next few years are going to be rather interesting.
