Facebook purchases Oculus Virtual Reality for $2 Billion

Since its IPO, Facebook has spent a fair amount of its expansive wad in acquiring companies. After purchasing WhatsApp for the sum of $19 billion just last month, the social network has just forked out a comparatively meager $2 billion to snap up Oculus VR.

The deal to acquire the company, which specializes in researching and making virtual reality headsets, is similar to WhatsApp agreement, with $400 million being paid in cash, and the rest being made up of 23.1 million shares in Facebook stock.

Its not really clear what Facebook plans to achieve with the purchase of Oculus. The idea of Oculus being bought out by a larger company has been expected for some time now, particularly with the advanced capabilities it has shown off with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. It would have actually made more sense if a company like Microsoft or Sony had made the investment, in order to integrate Oculus' technology into their respective consoles.

In any case, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seems happy with his company's new subsidiary, stating that it "opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences," and adding that "immersive gaming will be the first," and that he hopes Facebook’s influence can help to "accelerate" Oculus’ pre-existing plans in this field.

Zuckerberg also noted his intention to  "make Oculus a platform for many other experiences." So it looks like gaming maybe something that the social network plans to invest in.

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of Facebook's acquisition of Oculus