Virtual reality company Oculus' decision to sell to Facebook for $2 billion split the gaming community, but regardless of your position the deal is becoming official. According to Reuters, the FTC has approved Facebook's purchase, giving the deal full license to move forward.
The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset had the majority of the gaming community buzzing, converting any doubters who tried the device to the wonders of VR gaming. The Rift was funded on Kickstarters, the crowd-funding site that helped get the technology off the ground and into a real product.
The sale to Facebook angered both segments of the general gaming community and those who had supported it on Kickstarter. Gamers are concerned that Facebook will not see gaming as the main focus for the Rift, and will instead use it to support myriad other ventures with game functionality on the side.
Oculus Rift does have plenty of other important uses, some of which are outlined in this post by game designer Cliff Bleszinski defending the sale, but that does not mean game developers will be excluded from using the device. Facebook can help bring the product to market and flush the venture with capital, something it needs to really make an impact in the open market.
Kickstarter funders are upset with the move because they feel they were used as first-round investors to raise the value of the company without receiving any benefits from the sale. While this may technically be true, nothing in the Kickstarter program promised any stake in Oculus, nor any entitlement to future success. It was meant to help the product get created and promised a development kit to those who donated enough money--both of which happened.
The sale looks like it will indeed be going forward following the FTC approval (despite what some people were hoping I'm sure), and I still think gamers should be plenty excited about the device's future.
