Yesterday, massive social media king Facebook bought Kickstarter-success story, Oculus Rift. That statement alone is difficult to wrap your mind around, but with $2 billion is on the table, it’s tough to blame the hardware company for making the move. However, this out-of-the-blue acquisition wasn’t just about the money. According to founder Palmer Luckey and vice president of product Nate Mitchell, this pairing is going to help make the Rift a more mainstream, viable product.
“There’s a lot of things we’re going to be able to do not just in the long-term, but in the short-term, that will make the consumer rift cheaper and higher performance without any kind of delay,” Luckey said in an interview with Game Informer. “It lets us make the right tradeoffs. It allows us to make for the long-term future of virtual reality and not the current financial reality.”
“If we can sell hardware at almost no cost, that allows you to pack more quality and components into it,” Mitchell added. “The Oculus Rift just became the ‘zero compromises’ product. It’s the best possible thing that can happen.”
A cheaper headset with greater reach sounds like the VR future we’ve all been hoping for, so hopefully, Facebook can get the Oculus team there.
