Facebook has taken a big gamble by acquiring Oculus many moons ago. Despite not seeing much growth in the VR industry, the social media giant is not giving up on VR just yet.
Facebook Buys Sanzaru Games
It is interesting to see how Facebook is not giving up on a potentially failed venture. Virtual reality has failed to captivate audiences over the world. This is primarily due to the necessary hardware remaining expensive, as well as the content simply not being up to par.
Whereas Facebook expected to leverage a first-mover advantage, it has not paid off. Acquiring Oculus and its hardware division hasn’t yielded any notable change. Despite this lackluster development, the social media giant is not giving up on virtual reality.
Earlier this week, the company confirmed that it acquired another VR game studio. Known as Sanzaru Games, their portfolio consists of many different games. It’s most popular game receives a lot of positivity from enthusiasts and critics alike.
By acquiring such a prominent developer, Facebook looks to move forward. Most of the 100 employees working for Sanzaru Games will make the jump to the Oculus gaming group. Sanzaru will operate independently from their existing officers, thus no physical move is involved.
It is the second major acquisition for Facebook’s VR division in a few months. Late last year, the company confirmed it has bought out Beat Games. Their most popular offering, called Beat Saber, highlights the true potential of VR gaming.
Whether any of these acquisitions will accelerate VR adoption, is difficult to predict. Consumers are not too excited about buying a VR headset costing hundreds of dollars.
Until the cost of proper VR headsets comes down significantly, this industry will remain niche for quite some time to come. Having content developed outside of Oculus and Facebook is an interesting approach to making this happen.
