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Oculus staff and their families have received death threats following the $2bn acquisition of the virtual reality firm by Facebook.
A section of Oculus fans have expressed their anger since Facebook’s purchase believing that VR’s future now lies away from the game industry, despite both firms’ protestations to the contrary and the continued development of a plethora of games for the tech.
Founder Palmer Luckey said on Reddit that while a negative reaction was expected he was not prepared for the amount of abuse directed at employees.
He claimed these threats and harassing phone calls were also being directed at the families of staff members.
"We expected a negative reaction from people in the short term, we did not expect to be getting so many death threats and harassing phone calls that extended to our families," said Luckey.
"We know we will prove ourselves with actions and not words, but that kind of shit is unwarranted, especially since it is impacting people who have nothing to do with Oculus."
He later added that his goal for Oculus was the long term success of VR and suggested many people complaining about the acquisition did not have all the facts.
"We expected a kneejerk from reaction from people who don’t have all the information we do, and will not have it for some time," he said.
"We expected a negative reaction, that does not mean we think the reaction is warranted. My primary goal is the long term success of VR, not short term warm and fuzzy feelings."
