Facebook has announced the acquisition of Oculus VR, the maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, in a deal worth $2 billion. The details are expected to be finalized by early summer.
The deal includes $400 million in cash, as well as 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock, which Facebook notes is worth $1.6 billion. The deal also has incentives built into it, which provides for an additional $300 million “earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones.”
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
We reached out to Oculus VR for comment, and were directed to the VR maker’s official blog post discussing the purchase.
“At first glance, it might not seem obvious why Oculus is partnering with Facebook, a company focused on connecting people, investing in internet access for the world and pushing an open computing platform,” the blog, credited to “Palmer, Brendan, John and the Oculus team” stated. “But when you consider it more carefully, we’re culturally aligned with a focus on innovating and hiring the best and brightest; we believe communication drives new platforms; we want to contribute to a more open, connected world; and we both see virtual reality as the next step.”
The news comes just days after Oculus unveiled the second generation of its Oculus Rift headset. The new model is still targeted at developers, just like the last one, and pre-orders are currently open. The unit costs $350 and is expected to begin shipping in July. Sony also announced its own virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 last week, called Project Morpheus. Neither company has an official release date set for their retail models.
More on this story as it develops.
