Facebook purchases Oculus VR for $2 billion

The social networking site we all know, Facebook, has purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion along with 23.1 million shares of stock valued at $1.6 billion. The deal also includes Oculus receiving $400 million in cash, presumably in one of those nice little briefcase exchanges that we only see in the movies.

Facebook sent out an announcement press release that stated they plan to introduce Oculus into other fields “including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas.” Of course, Oculus will continue to work on video games as well.

“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”

“We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world,” said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. “We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.”

The press release went on to state that Facebook thinks “virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform..” which is evident by the dollar amount they paid for Oculus.

Oculus will keep its headquarters located in Irvine, CA and will continue development on the Oculus Rift.