Oculus Rift Now Has $16 Million Extra Investment Capital

[Karloff]

Oculus Rift Now Has $16 Million Extra Investment Capital

Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, Founders Fund and Formation 8 have pumped a lot of cash into the VR helmet company.

The Oculus Rift [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/10422-Oculus-Rift-is-Bringing-Virtual-Reality-to-the-Gaming-Masses] Kickstarter did remarkably well, raising $2.4 million on a $250K ask back in September 2012, but now the VR helmet company has even more cash in its back pocket. Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, Founders Fund and Formation 8 co-led the Series A funding round, pumping $16 million into the Rift. "This level of financial support opens incredible new doors for Oculus," says Palmer Luckey, and comes less than a year after the device's Kickstarter debut, even before a consumer-ready version is available.

Luckey's ecstatic; he knows how much this means to the Oculus Rift. "It helps us hire the best and brightest minds in VR from around the world," he says. "It lets us experiment and prototype with more cutting-edge tech. And it allows us to build a badass, consumer VR gaming platform, the likes of which the world has never seen." He's hoping that VR will become the breakaway new technology of the 21st century, changing the way we communicate and learn, as well as play. It could be the next Facebook, the next Twitter, and his Oculus Rift will be right there in the forefront.

"I want to thank everyone for their support," Luckey's statement concludes. "None of this would be possible without you, the people who supported Oculus when it was nothing but a rough prototype and a dream of changing gaming forever!"

Source: Oculus Rift Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game/posts]


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[hazabaza1]

This announcement coming straight after the one about Rift porn games? Coincidence? Probably. I think not!

 

[synobal]

This announcement coming straight after the one about Rift porn games? Coincidence? Probably. I think not!

Also E3 might of helped, where they showed off stuff like EVR from CCP games and such..

 

[DTWolfwood]

It helps that everyone who have tested it are saying the system works very well.

 

[vrbtny]

"It lets us experiment and prototype with more cutting-edge tech. And it allows us to build a badass, consumer VR gaming platform, the likes of which the world has never seen."

Any company/person that uses the expression "Badass Consumer VR gaming platform" to describe their product has got my support, just want to say

 

[VanQ]

My dreams of playing a game like Sword Art Online are forever coming closer to fruition. I may yet see a real VR world before I die. And then, I can die happy.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I certainly hope it won't become the thing that every company feels the need to integrate into all of their products, just because.

"Now with VR technology you can shake hands with your Facebook friends!"

 

[Scars Unseen]

Hmm... I wonder what this might mean for the price point. In order to repay $16M, they would have to sell over 53,000 units at the hoped for $300 price tag. If the Oculus Rift really does end up being the next big thing in gaming, no problem. But VR has always been pretty niche until now.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

This will be the next kinect. lol. This seems to be a gimmick thing that will be forced on us like the kinect was. 3d has never worked, and never well. Like with 3d movies, it never adds anything to the movie. An even if it did add something, its not worth the extra money for the glasses. Same that 3d movies are not worth the cost of the 3d ticket.

 

[lacktheknack]

This will be the next kinect. lol. This seems to be a gimmick thing that will be forced on us like the kinect was. 3d has never worked, and never well. Like with 3d movies, it never adds anything to the movie. An even if it did add something, its not worth the extra money for the glasses. Same that 3d movies are not worth the cost of the 3d ticket.

Speak for yourself. Avatar was TOTALLY worth four extra bucks for the 3D, and hoooooly crap, did it do 3D well.

Also, this is not even CLOSE to being "forced" on you. Kinect was being pushed by the manufacturer of the console, Oculus Rift sells nothing but the goggles. It's no more "forced" on you than a Soundblaster card.

OT: It's good to see them getting some push and clout. More money = better product.

 

[josemlopes]

I certainly hope it won't become the thing that every company feels the need to integrate into all of their products, just because.

"Now with VR technology you can shake hands with your Facebook friends!"

This will be the next kinect. lol. This seems to be a gimmick thing that will be forced on us like the kinect was. 3d has never worked, and never well. Like with 3d movies, it never adds anything to the movie. An even if it did add something, its not worth the extra money for the glasses. Same that 3d movies are not worth the cost of the 3d ticket.

From what has been said implementing it into a game isnt very hard and it isnt as required as Kinect is. You cant play a Kinect game with a typical controller but you can play a game that uses Oculus Rift with a typical TV/moniter.

All in all I think that it can work as a way to add something to a game instead of just replacing or removing.

EDIT: This is like having just a TV or a home cinema setup; it doesnt take anything away from the original product, it just enchances if you want to use it.

 

[Entitled]

I certainly hope it won't become the thing that every company feels the need to integrate into all of their products, just because.

I hope it does.

VR is the kind of thing that might be most efficient with certain game genres, but it generally adds something for everything else. Even for third person shooters, or strategy/god games, one huge picture covering your field of view is objectively a graphical improvement.

I mean, once VR is accessible and it has a good enough resolution, it would even make more sense to play 2D platformers on a screen simulated inside VR, than on your own crappy monitor with lower FoV and annoying ambient lights around it. It just seems like the kind of thing that could pretty much disrupt monitor technology.

Besides, there is also going to be AR, for the less escapism-based entertainment, and for utility software, that you want to project onto your see-through glasses.

 

[Entitled]

This will be the next kinect. lol. This seems to be a gimmick thing that will be forced on us like the kinect was.

It doesn't have to be forced on us, because people will actually want to use it.

No one asked for Kinect, but people have been writing sci-fi novels and movies about Virtual Reality for decades, and recognized it as the self-evident next step in entertainment.

3d has never worked, and never well.

It worked well enough in real life. Do you like looking at things in real life?

 

[Me55enger]

3d has never worked, and never well.

It worked well enough in real life. Do you like looking at things in real life?

You have won everything, all the time. Have a prize.

They wanted $250k, they got $2.5 million. They were doing well, they got $16 million. Someone wants them to succeed.

Just a shame that this will likely push the release date back into the 22nd century. I was hoping for one for Star Citizen release.

 

[Entitled]

Just a shame that this will likely push the release date back into the 22nd century. I was hoping for one for Star Citizen release.

The only thing really holding them back is software developmment in the first place. They are taking their sweet time adding position tracking and HD screens, because they know that no matter what they do, they can't release until there are enough games for it anyways. But once there are, it will be a matter of 1-2 months to start a new Kickstarter, for a DevKit Mark 2 for fine-tuning games, and then start selling the real deal almost instantly afterwards.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

This will be the next kinect. lol. This seems to be a gimmick thing that will be forced on us like the kinect was.

It doesn't have to be forced on us, because people will actually want to use it.

No one asked for Kinect, but people have been writing sci-fi novels and movies about Virtual Reality for decades, and recognized it as the self-evident next step in entertainment.

3d has never worked, and never well.

It worked well enough in real life. Do you like looking at things in real life?

I guess its my age. I used to play a 3d game in the Trocadero in London years ago. Well when it wan in the huge machines you had to set in. Also used the 3d movie thing, IMax before Imax. Again at Trocadero. It was amazing. It was Trex stomping around but you were more reacting to things than doing the acting. An i dont think 3D can work pro-actively.

I just dont think people will by the glasses to increase their gaming. No one wants it, needs it and nor will gaming companies add it to their games. Its a waste of money. Its a next step, i agree, it is the future, but they will have to bundle it with a console (like kinect) to make companies use it.

 

[Entitled]

I used to play a 3d game in the Trocadero in London years ago. Well when it wan in the huge machines you had to set in. Also used the 3d movie thing, IMax before Imax. Again at Trocadero. It was amazing. It was Trex stomping around but you were more reacting to things than doing the acting. An i dont think 3D can work pro-actively.

Virtual reality is not about 3D. It's about simulating your vision as if you are inside the game, with 100% of your field of view covered, and head-tracking following your looking direction without latency.

3D is just one of the many elements of that, since you already have all the rest of the simulation, not adding 3D would make as little sense as poking out one of your eyeballs just because "3D is a gimmick that doesn't add anything".

People aren't going to put on a VR helmet to watch pictures from Skyrim popping out of some monitor frame like a children's pop-up book, they are going to put it on to BE at the top of a mountain in Skyrim, and gaze down from the clouds.

No one wants it, needs it and nor will gaming companies add it to their games. Its a waste of money. Its a next step, i agree, it is the future, but they will have to bundle it with a console (like kinect) to make companies use it.

Again, public opinion seems to disagree with you.

There is a reason why people are watching shows like Sword Art Online and Lawnmower man, and reading Ready Player One.

When a gimmick like Kinect is released, some press people might try to hype it, and some contrarians might try to justify that it might be useful in CERTAIN situations. What you don't see, is practically everyone who has ever used it, instantly declaring that this is the future of gaming. Because this is what's happening with the Oculus.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I used to play a 3d game in the Trocadero in London years ago. Well when it wan in the huge machines you had to set in. Also used the 3d movie thing, IMax before Imax. Again at Trocadero. It was amazing. It was Trex stomping around but you were more reacting to things than doing the acting. An i dont think 3D can work pro-actively.

Virtual reality is not about 3D. It's about simulating your vision as if you are inside the game, with 100% of your field of view covered, and head-tracking following your looking direction without latency.

3D is just one of the many elements of that, since you already have all the rest of the simulation, not adding 3D would make as little sense as poking out one of your eyeballs just because "3D is a gimmick that doesn't add anything".

People aren't going to put on a VR helmet to watch pictures from Skyrim popping out of some monitor frame like a children's pop-up book, they are going to put it on to BE at the top of a mountain in Skyrim, and gaze down from the clouds.

No one wants it, needs it and nor will gaming companies add it to their games. Its a waste of money. Its a next step, i agree, it is the future, but they will have to bundle it with a console (like kinect) to make companies use it.

Again, public opinion seems to disagree with you.

There is a reason why people are watching shows like Sword Art Online and Lawnmower man, and reading Ready Player One.

When a gimmick like Kinect is released, some press people might try to hype it, and some contrarians might try to justify that it might be useful in CERTAIN situations. What you don't see, is practically everyone who has ever used it, instantly declaring that this is the future of gaming. Because this is what's happening with the Oculus.

Wasnt even a helmet. Had to step into a machine to play a crappy 3d tank game. lol. Now, 3d is the future, i know that. But, i am not interested because these "3d" movies are still sold 2d. Like Cameron "Avatar should be seen as 3d" still sold it 2d to make money. Its used as a gimmick than as immersion. Like i though new 3d would just add depth to the image than jumping out at you. If that makes since. So your looking INTO the screen, than the screen jumping out at you. Anyway i still think its worthless at the moment. An you need a company to include that tech as standard like MS did with the kinect with xbone.

Lawnmower man? As in the movie? 3D is fine if you like it, i dont. But it still doesnt change the quality of the story or gameplay. Films are "stuff flying at your face" where i would prefer depth of vision. That would be better. Now i get younger people accept this stuff more than me. It is the future, when its done right. But for now, im not interested or impressed or think it adds anything. But the future will prove either of us right.