Oculus Rift Raises a Further $75 Million

[Steven Bogos]

Oculus Rift Raises a Further $75 Million

Oculus hopes to use the extra funds to finally start mass-producing a consumer model.

"Virtual reality has been a long standing dream in tech and sci-fi. To me it always felt kind of inevitable but it was one of those things, you never knew quite when it would become a reality," says Chris Dixon, the man who, together with Marc Andreessen and Andreessen Horowitz, are contributing to a massive $75 million investment in the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe hopes to use this money to finally get a consumer model of the headset in the hands of the public.

The last time Oculus sought venture capital, they raised $16 million [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125122-Oculus-Rift-Now-Has-16-Million-Extra-Investment-Capital], an impressive figure in its own right, but is still dwarfed by this latest fundraiser. "We always knew we needed a B round [of fundraising] to get to the consumer market at volume. We didn't know the scale we needed for V1 until recently," Iribe says.

In addition to going into mass production, the company wants to use the cash to help shoulder some of the burden faced by software developers choosing to take the time and money to develop games for the Rift over more traditional platforms.

"They're not just betting that their game will be successful, they're also betting that Oculus will sell enough units to make their game profitable, and that's a really big bet for a developer to make," says Palmer Luckey, Oculus founder. "If a company is going to take out a lot of time from their development schedule to build a game in VR, we don't want them to have to shoulder all of that risk themselves."

Oculus would not say when they planned to ship a retail version of the headset, but did announce that it has now sold 40,000 Oculus Rift developer kits, and expects to sell through 70,000 by the time it gets to the consumer market.

Source: The Verge [http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/12/5205852/oculus-raises-75-million-to-jumpstart-the-virtual-reality-business]

Permalink

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

the mouse and keyboard in the picture raise an interesting point.. how the hell are you meant to use a keyboard if you cant touch type?

I guess the mentality is that if you can't touch type in this day and age, you probably aren't the kind of person who is going to buy an Oculus Rift.

 

[Steven Bogos]

the mouse and keyboard in the picture raise an interesting point.. how the hell are you meant to use a keyboard if you cant touch type?

How often do you look at your hands when you are playing a video game?

 

[oliver.begg]

i see this, i see arma 3, i buy one.

now why is my money not entering the screen?

 

[vun]

I keep seeing people talking about the Oculus Rift, but all I want to know is when, and how much. Quit hyping and let me buy it already.

 

[Yoshi4102]

Yes please! I don't like to use this phrase, and don't use it lightly, but I believe this may be the future of gaming!

Anything that can change the experience to be something new, while not detracting from it is fantastic! I really hope it won't give me motion sickness though.... I'd be sad ;_;

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Yes please! I don't like to use this phrase, and don't use it lightly, but I believe this may be the future of gaming!

Anything that can change the experience to be something new, while not detracting from it is fantastic! I really hope it won't give me motion sickness though.... I'd be sad ;_;

I dunno about the motion sickness but I'm not exactly seeing this as a favourable future of gaming for myself and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on that >.>.

 

[Yoshi4102]

Yes please! I don't like to use this phrase, and don't use it lightly, but I believe this may be the future of gaming!

Anything that can change the experience to be something new, while not detracting from it is fantastic! I really hope it won't give me motion sickness though.... I'd be sad ;_;

I dunno about the motion sickness but I'm not exactly seeing this as a favourable future of gaming for myself and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on that >.>.

Why not? I like the idea of not being stuck to the view of one flat screen and looking around as you please. I'd never expect everyone to be as excited about it as I am, but it's a really cool piece of technology. Having a big ass thing strapped to your head, not so cool but totally worth it.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Yes please! I don't like to use this phrase, and don't use it lightly, but I believe this may be the future of gaming!

Anything that can change the experience to be something new, while not detracting from it is fantastic! I really hope it won't give me motion sickness though.... I'd be sad ;_;

I dunno about the motion sickness but I'm not exactly seeing this as a favourable future of gaming for myself and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone on that >.>.

Why not? I like the idea of not being stuck to the view of one flat screen and looking around as you please. I'd never expect everyone to be as excited about it as I am, but it's a really cool piece of technology. Having a big ass thing strapped to your head, not so cool but totally worth it.

I just don't like the concept or idea of it. compared to say a Holo deck that could be made completely affordable, that right there would be something I'd swoon over or maybe even a holo deck with hard light holograms.

But let's not forget everyone on this planet is different and not everyone is going to like the new special gadget in gaming, I mean look at the Wii and Wii U controls, not exactly favoured on this site at all but they sure as hell will eat up the Rift because it's something they'd obviously like but what they like doesn't mean it has to define the future for everyone else.

 

[Entitled]

I just don't like the concept or idea of it. compared to say a Holo deck that could be made completely affordable, that right there would be something I'd swoon over or maybe even a holo deck with hard light holograms.

If your excitement levels regarding all new technology are based on how close they are to a fictional sci-fi utopian example of the ultimate entertainment system, then I guess you are pretty hard to make swoon.

But let's not forget everyone on this planet is different and not everyone is going to like the new special gadget in gaming, I mean look at the Wii and Wii U controls, not exactly favoured on this site at all but they sure as hell will eat up the Rift because it's something they'd obviously like but what they like doesn't mean it has to define the future for everyone else.

I think you are seriously underselling just how superior 360° 3D visual surround with head traking will be consdered by the general public, compared to looking at a sad little rectangle on your desk.

Sure, it won't be everyone's cup o' tea, but it will be less like hardcore gamers not liking the Wii, and more like tabletop gamers not liking the invention of the computer.

Unlikely that they can still keep moving a large section of the main market after this, more like a niche of traditionalists.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

If your excitement levels regarding all new technology are based on how close they are to a fictional sci-fi utopian example of the ultimate entertainment system, then I guess you are pretty hard to make swoon.

I would say I am in most cases where some technology can swoon a large crowd but not always myself, some close friends can be the same at times.

I think you are seriously underselling just how superior 360° 3D visual surround with head *traking will be *consdered by the general public, compared to looking at a sad little rectangle on your desk.

Underselling?, superiority?, That doesn't sound like that matters to me when I can use mouse,keyboard,gamepad and joystick, I said before that I wasn't much interested in what the Rift had to offer (I'd assume I'd be allowed to not like something) and claiming something new (This happens everytime the PC sector when they get something new) is superior to what you already play with sends the direct message of "get with the times gramps, play with the rift or suck".

Last time i checked the mouse and keyboard combo was supposed to be "superior" to the controller, so does this mean we're playing a game of who can top the peripherals the most competition?.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

the mouse and keyboard in the picture raise an interesting point.. how the hell are you meant to use a keyboard if you cant touch type?

I'm sure it's going to be confusing if someone tries to play with an Oculus Rift and a keyboard he is not familiar.
Personally I'm familiar enough to type without seeing the keyboard after I press the first key right,but there are people who aren't.
What I've noticed though on Youtube videos is that most beta testers / indie developers who got a devkit of the Oculus, usually combine it with motion controls,namely Razer Hydra.
The whole thing with having two sticks that you can move and have them catch your movement,is getting to another dimension when combined with a machine such as Oculus.

It feels far more 'organic' as they say when motion controls are combined with Oculus,than when you use these sticks on other games.Because Oculus is essentially a motion controller dedicated for head movement, with a screen combined in one piece.So the next thing if the way you move your real head is translated to in-game head movement,is to have something that translates the movement of another part of your body to a game environment. And that's what motion controllers are all about actually.

Just think of it like this: Instead of getting 2 sticks to move someone else in some screen in a 'casual' game like sports or fitness exercise,you will be able to use them AND a headgear that does kind of the same thing for your head on the 'hardcore' kind of games like FPS,racing,spaceship simulators,RPGs,etc...

 

[Pinky's Brain]

That's a retarded amount of money for a niche product ... I'm not sure this will end well.

 

[Lightknight]

I just want to buy this product. I understand that development cycles take time and all that, but all I've wanted to do is buy one that is intended for consumers. The moment this comes out, the money will come out of my account and that's that. *sigh* It has been a very long wait.

 

[Zelgon]

Erm, er, Oculus Rift isn't *new*. Even then why are you comparing digital technology with logistics?

It's just an enhancement of old technology (an upgrade). While yes it does enhance the experience but it requires specialised equipment, it requires you to be totally immersed and it also it requires too much graphical processing power.

The real next "logical step" of visual media doesn't require goggles or any other additional equipment/gear to experience it. Advancement isn't only about improving effusiveness but also by keeping it's usability very simple. Like like any other *new* technology, stop falsely hyping on how good it is.

Why do you have to hate on him so hard? I don't get it.

I didn't think the OR was anything special. I thought it was going to be an improved Virtual Boy so to speak. But then I put one on my head, realized it wasn't heavy and easy to keep on. I loaded up the Roller Coaster Simulator (It was a demo at a Fan Expo) and my mind was sufficiently blown.

To add I have a buddy who is a hardcore horror fan. Nothing has been able to sufficiently scare him in his 35+ years on this earth. He's also a Tech guy so he bought the OR and booted up "Alone". Needless to say he lasted a good 10 minutes before he had to turn it off, terrified.

I was skepitcal, but with my own personal experience and the experience of a friend I've become a believer. Is this the "future of Gaming as we know it"? Probably not. Is it awesome, and would I recommend it to every gamer out there beside our casual cousins? Hell yes I would.

Then again, this is just one persons experienced opinion.

 

[RandV80]

I just don't like the concept or idea of it. compared to say a Holo deck that could be made completely affordable, that right there would be something I'd swoon over or maybe even a holo deck with hard light holograms.

But let's not forget everyone on this planet is different and not everyone is going to like the new special gadget in gaming, I mean look at the Wii and Wii U controls, not exactly favoured on this site at all but they sure as hell will eat up the Rift because it's something they'd obviously like but what they like doesn't mean it has to define the future for everyone else.

Honestly people need to get over the holodeck thing. Just think about it for a minute. The holodeck was envisioned by Star Trek: TNG in the 80's. The Enterprise has a crew of what, 500? And the ship has 1, maybe 2 holodecks? So basically if you lived on the Enterprise you put you're request in, and you maybe get to use it 1 hour every month. How is that a good 'gaming' system?

Should some new technology come up to allow it, any feasible implementation is going to require a massive amount of power and space. It's not something you could fit into every home like a game console or PC. At best, it may be a an attraction at the amusement park that you could spend $100+ to use for an hour. At worse, and probably more realistically, it would be a toy for billionaires.

Even if you were a billionaire though, yes it would be an awesome thing but you're own body is the 'controller', and many of the video games we play put us in control of characters capable of performing inhuman feats with the press of a button. That won't work with a holodeck.

Now a true feasible breakthrough in video game technology would be a direct neural interface. There will be far more moral/social implications of hooking software up directly to your brain, but in terms of physical hardware and energy it scales to a personal consumption level. The Occulus Rift is a primitive step in this direction, as it can give you a comparable visual experience.