Facebook acquires Oculus for $2bn

Who saw this coming? Social media giant Facebook has made a massive move into gaming with the acquisition of VR specialist Oculus.

The deal is worth $2bn – that’s $400m in cash and 23.1m Facebook shares. There’s another $300m in the offing too should Oculus hit its goals.

Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”

Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe added: We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world.

We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.”

Michael Pachter said today that VR wasn’t a good option for big business.