Facebook Buys Oculus VR. U Mad?

 By 
Chelsea Stark
 on 
Facebook Buys Oculus VR. U Mad?
Credit: Greg Borenstein

Facebook is buying virtual-reality company Oculus VR for $2 billion -- and the Internet has exploded in response.

Originally introduced on Kickstarter in 2012, Oculus VR's gaming headset Oculus Rift is the biggest development in the virtual-reality space since it was just a dystopian dream. Since Oculus development kits went on sale in March 2013, 75,000 units have been sold -- even though the product is not yet available in retail stores.

The news tore through Twitter, with gamers, press, developers and tech enthusiasts all chiming in. We rounded up some of the best responses, below.

Facebook bought Oculus, Sony reveals Morpheus. Neither shows me how anyone can release these products at a reasonable price for mass appeal.— Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) March 25, 2014

I would just like to point out that John Carmack now works at Facebook.— Jonathan Blow (@Jonathan_Blow) March 25, 2014

Facebook is diversifying its investment portfolio with non-User Acquisitions stuff and Oculus now has huge $$$ backing. How is that bad?— Alex Rubens (@alexrubens) March 25, 2014

$2 billion for Oculus is a potentially better investment than the $19 billion Facebook is paying 4 WhatsApp, esp if Rift goes beyond gaming.— harold goldberg (@haroldgoldberg) March 25, 2014

you haven't ignored a high school acquaintance you barely remember until you've ignored a high school acquaintance you barely remember IN VR— Kirk Hamilton (@kirkhamilton) March 25, 2014

Do you guys remember that time at PAX when the oculus booth was by the men's room and a bunch of people got pink eye?— Max Temkin (@MaxTemkin) March 25, 2014

We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.— Markus Persson (@notch) March 25, 2014

IT SURE IS NICE A NICE DAY OUTSIDE TO BROWSE MY NEWSFEED pic.twitter.com/X7pCbsN0Xr— Owen Williams (@ow) March 25, 2014

Wouldn't it be more efficient if Facebook just bought the planet and then sold off the pieces it doesn't need?— Harry McCracken (@harrymccracken) March 25, 2014

Facebook use to be cool. Not they are the big establishment spending billions to buy cool things hoping it will make them look cool again.— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) March 25, 2014

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