When Facebook acquired Oculus there was a fair amount of cynicism. Some gamers were worried that the device many see as the future of gaming would be co-opted, drowned out by ads and mismanaged to the point where the Rift would no longer deliver what was initially promised. But, according CEO Brendan Iribe it’s the difference between becoming the next Game Boy or becoming the next iPhone. He wants the Oculus Rift to become the next iPhone. He wants to create an MMO with 1 billion users.
“I think Game Boy is an awesome platform,” he explained, “but I think you’ll see handheld gaming largely disrupted by the mobile market… [D]o you want to be building a platform that has a billion people on it, or 10 or 20 or 50 million people… for game developers, they’re going to a have a lot more success shipping their content into… a platform that has a billion users, more than 50 million or 100 million. And consoles and gaming-targeted devices usually only get to a 50 to 100 million total audience.
“This is going to be an MMO where we want to put a billion people in VR.”
It’s obviously a massive, seemingly unattainable goal — and Iribe admits the technology doesn’t currently exist to sustain it — but I find the scale of ambition at Oculus heartening. If the Rift does everything right, it will be more than a gaming device, it will be the key to an all new form of media. I think that’s the thing that excites me most about this technology.
Oculus CEO Says Selling To Facebook Convinced Big Developers To Build For It [TechCrunch]
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25 responses to “Imagine A Billion Player MMO Using The Oculus Rift And Facebook…”
Dayz in 1080p would be good enough, i can’t get it working 100% though.
imagine playing RUST
Now with true to life measurements. *stops playing in shame*
I can’t wait to see naked men with small dongers wielding rocks in 1080p
Seeing what my Facebook feed is filled with, having those people populate my game is something I have no desire to to experience.
Also reading that he’s going to give every Facebook user a free Oculus right?
So.. will people in this MMO be arranged by most recent or most popular?
By those who paid for “more exposure”.
Just expect what’s shown in Futurama http://i.imgur.com/5kRFp.gif
After finishing Sword Art Online, I wouldn’t go anywhere near that with a 10-foot pole.
potential for interaction with 1 billion+ players. first person perspective.
sounds like real life with a subscription fee.
So they’re creating a new market with new technology (like Game Boy and iPhone have done in the past), and the quote here seems to be saying that they want to structure their long term plans towards having the largest possible user base (as opposed to other priorities more directly related to VR).
Seems more like something you’d say to investors / shareholders, and thanks to the buyout, he can throw that hat away and concentrate on what’s best for the tech.
It’s a pity about that part, because there’s some good information in there about how buyouts can help, and should do so here. Although even that sounds like a sales pitch…
*cynical-facebook-themed-joke*
Still very skeptical.
Ok I imagined a VR Facebook MMO……………This is what Obi-wan must have felt when Alderaan was blown up, thanks for that.
Here goes the hype train.
Even if the final oculus product is half the weight, half the size, costs less than $500 *and* is the only VR headset in the marketplace, you just aren’t going to sell a billion of them.
Quick question to existing oculus rift owners, after the first month of owning it and wowing out over it, how many times a week do you pop it on your head and actually use it?
I had a dev-kit for a while but sold it just before the grubby Facebook buyout. I was super-excited for it but realised pretty quickly that it was an intrusive piece of tech that I couldn’t imagine a mass audience putting on their heads. 3D glasses are enough of a pain in the ass.
You really need to be in a particular zone to use it. It’s really unsettling when there’s stuff going on around you that you can’t see. Talking to people who are standing beside you is pretty creepy – it’s like turning to continue your conversation with Batman only to find he’s already disappeared.
The crippling nausea didn’t help but I’m sure they’ll fix that.
Hang on…so gamers were concerned that the Rift would no longer be what it was originally slated to be. Then CEO guy comes in and says. Yeah, that’s right. We want a billion people playing Farmville or Fruitninja. Using VR (whatever for, I don’t know). And the author finds this heartening? Did they threaten to beat you silly with one of those giant Facebook “Like” fingers?
What part of turning the rift into another screen to watch stupid Facebook games on is positive? How is that exciting? They’re going to dump it with so much crap that it’ll sink and VR will be dead for another 15 years. Yay!
Sounds like that anime Summer Wars. Social Network MMO.
The iphone is starved of features and stops you from users from doing countless things that are industry-standard and/or expected capabilities, not something you want to compare your creation too really, unless all you care about is money and shareholders. zap.
What are you on about?
Rust wont get Vr. Garrys broke gmods -vr over a year ago and has given up on it.
Next stop sword art online
I don’t care who makes it, I just want to play Amnesia with one of these one. right now.
Ernest Cline already imagined it. It’s called ‘Ready Player One’ and it’s an amazing book.
well,better contacting china goverment from now
you wont get 1 billion number if it isnt made in china
Ugh, no thanks. You can have that world all to yourself, I’ll stick with my consoles.