Remember when VR was a pipe dream? An idea beset by technical deficiencies and impracticality. Well, one of those problems is on the cusp of being solved and the world is slowly creeping toward its first commercially-viable virtual reality headset. In fact, we’re so close, companies like Facebook, Sony, Valve, and Microsoft are getting their feet wet and exploring the avenues in which the technology would be applicable. It is hard to think the whole thing began as a Kickstarter pitch.
Reaching its goal on September 1st, 2012, the Oculu Rift was successfully funded to the tune of $250,000. It would go on to accrue over $2 million by the end of its campaign. Oculus may have inspired a hefty amount of Kickstarter backing, but there were many who remained skeptical of the project. To alleviate people’s concerns, Oculus began a tour of demos in order to win the heart-and-minds campaign of video game audiences. They quickly found support in Valve and an impressive number of journalists, but over the last year the Oculus has made the most important leap, reaching the hands of the general public. This is where Oculus would live and die, on show floors across the world as people got their first taste of the VR revolution and decided whether or not it is something they could imagine keeping in their home
In two years Oculus went from being a Kickstarter dream, asking for $250,000 of goodwill donations to a company priced at $2 billion. It is the American Dream come true, a small glimmer of an idea given life and bringing unimaginable wealth to its creators. Well, not quite. Oculus’ sale to Facebook is a painful reminder to many how Kickstarter actually works. You may plop your money down early for a “founder badge” or an early version of the product, but you do not own any stake in the company, you do not have any say in its future. You may get early access, first access, you can brag about being there in the beginning, but you are not Oculus and they do not have to answer to you.
The one question Oculus did have to answer was, “Now what?” when Sony showed off Project Morpheus, their own VR headset, last week at GDC. It was a sly move by Sony, who were allowed to play coy about how they envisioned the product working with games. While Sony had figured out the technology, they had little reason to push out their VR headset without a solid plan for distribution, a luxury the Oculus did not have. Oculus was a company without revenue, people invested in the project, but there was no cash flow coming in from a consumer-ready product. Oculus may have said all the right things when Sony showed off Project Morpheus, but there must have been internal fears. With the technology in their camp, Sony could wait for Oculus to test the consumer market, come up with a better idea, and release their own device. Oculus was running out of time and the looming Sony empire was daunting competition. This is why Oculus’ sale makes so much sense.
By selling to Facebook, Oculus has bought themselves time and money. They no longer have to rely on private backing, as they now belong to a powerful corporation. There’s no rush to release as they can work out a future with their new parent company. It may make people angry to see something so near and dear to their hearts “sell-out”, but when you are competing with billion dollar corporations, you need help.
I understand the feelings of betrayal. Oculus was one of the industry’s best feel-good stories. People said VR was impossible, said that it was science fiction, but a swarm of Kickstarter faithful and few brilliant minds overcame nay-sayers. Oculus selling to Facebook feels like the death of the dream, the nasty twist of fate some film director will use in the third act of the Oculus bio-pic, like Zuckerberg screwing Eduardo Saverin in the Social Network. This isn’t a David Fincher film, this is real life. Facebook didn’t buy Oculus to change what so many loved. The sale to Facebook might take away Oculus’ “cool factor” but it doesn’t undo the work so many have enjoyed. The most painful pill to swallow in Facebook’s acquiring of Oculus, is it means Oculus may be wrestled away from its gaming roots and become a piece of technology used by many other industries.
While the Oculus has proven the technology exists to provide a decent VR experience, there are still hurdles to overcome in the gaming industry. Some people still get nauseous when using the Oculus, others find it uncomfortable to wear. The biggest hurdle for VR to overcome is its impracticality. With today’s video game library, from shooters to sports to platformers to puzzlers, VR does not always have practical applications. VR doesn’t help a sports game feel more authentic, it doesn’t help a point-and-click adventure game feel more life-like. If the asking price for an Oculus product or Project Morpheus is going to $300, and it is only going to work on a fraction of games, the Oculus becomes a difficult sell to a mass audience. It also begs the question of use. Sure, single people looking for an elevated PC experience could find use for it in their gaming corner. But could the Oculus find a way to exist in the mainstream console market? Would a new father be able to wear the headset while keeping an eye on his toddler? Would a teenage girl be able to share the experience with her friends during a sleepover? As games become more connected and shared experiences the Oculus was isolating, making its gaming applications all-the-more niche.
Working with Facebook gives Oculus an opportunity to explore avenues and gain connections the company had not previously explored. The uses for VR technology expand far beyond video games, even far beyond general entertainment. VR could be used for training and education in a variety of different ways, it could be used in design, or it could be used to hold personal meetings while being miles apart. The technology probably has more applications in our day-to-day lives than it actually has in our entertainment, including video games. Facebook could help Oculus better explore the applications of VR technology, instead of Oculus being stuck in the games/tech world.
There is no guarantee about Oculus’ future. There iss no assurance the move to Facebook was smart or dumb, wrong or right. There is no certainty Oculus will be a success, though there seems to be a genuine interest from both the world of video games and otherwise. The things we know for sure when it comes to VR technology and the Oculus are small in number. We know they made over $2 million in a Kickstarter campaign. We know they were demoing the technology to the masses. We know a 2nd edition of the developer kit is available for pre-order. Lastly, we know that Oculus was sold to Facebook for $2 billion, 100 times its Kickstarter donations. While there is a pessimistic way to look at Oculus’ sale to Facebook, there are positives as well, light at the end of the tunnel. I am sure many lament the sale, but Oculus is a company free to do what it wants. It is not beholden to anyone, not even its Kickstarter fanbase. VR is a very real technology and its emergence in pop culture feels closer than ever. It is no longer a pipe dream. The feeling of community empowerment, of the gaming community as a whole owning something special in VR technology, may have been the real pipe dream all along.
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