William Wei, Business Insider Facebook is buying Oculus VR, a startup that makes virtual reality headsets, in a $2 billion deal. 
 
 Oculus doesn't make a consumer product yet, but its headset called the Oculus Rift for video game developers has completely changed the way many feel about video games. 
 
 The device is nearly impossible to describe. It makes you feel like you're truly immersed in a virtual environment. It's one of those things you have to try to fully understand. And we guarantee it'll blow your mind. 
 
 Console gaming companies have sensed the threat of Oculus, which is why Sony announced a similar headset for its new PlayStation 4 gaming console. However, it's unclear when Sony's headset will launch. 
 
 The question now is: why would Facebook buy a video game hardware company? 
 
 According to a statement from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company plans to expand Oculus beyond gaming: 
 
 After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home. 
 
 Zuckerberg expanded on that in a conference call following the announcement, saying he believes virtual reality will be the next big computing platform after mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. 
 
 "History suggests that there will be more platforms to come," Zuckerberg said on the conference call, adding that the person who controls that major computing platform will be able to shape the entire tech industry. 
 
 "Today's acquisition is a long-term bet on the future of computing," Zuckerberg said. 
 
 Oculus got its start on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, where it raised $2.4 million in 2012. Since then, other VCs have invested in the company. Most recently, Oculus raised $75 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Marc Andreessen, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a Facebook board member, tweeted today that he recused himself from acquisition talks between Facebook and Oculus VR. 
 
 Last summer, Business Insider spoke with Oculus VR's 21-year-old founder Palmer Luckey about how he came up with the device. He got started at a young age, tinkering with all kinds of computerized headsets. You can read the full interview here. 
 
 By the way, this isn't Facebook's only recent major acquisition. Just a few weeks ago, Facebook bought WhatsApp in a $19 billion deal. 
 
 Here's Zuckerberg's full statement on the deal: 
 
 I'm excited to announce that we've agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology. 
 
 Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences. 
 
 This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it's different from anything they've ever experienced in their lives. 
 
 Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences. 
 
 Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this. 
 
 But this is just the start. After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a courtside seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home. 
 
 This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures. 
 
 These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people. 
 
 Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us. 
 
 Here's the press release from Facebook: 
 
 Facebook today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Oculus VR, Inc., the leader in immersive virtual reality technology, for a total of approximately $2 billion. This includes$400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional$300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones. 
 
 Oculus is the leader in immersive virtual reality technology and has already built strong interest among developers, having received more than 75,000 orders for development kits for the company's virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus' existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas. Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform. 
 
 "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." 
 
 Oculus will maintain its headquarters in Irvine, CA, and will continue development of the Oculus Rift, its ground-breaking virtual reality platform. 
 
 The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014. 
 
 Want more? Here's what it's like using the Oculus Rift: 
 
 // OO.ready(function() { OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer', 'NxMTJ4YzrICuo8bz1aYmFMSju3AzkYwN'); }); // <div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div> ||||| Minecraft creator Markus Persson said he’s canceling plans to create a version of the popular block-building video game for Oculus V.R.’s virtual reality headset after hearing the news the company is being acquired by Facebook. 
 
 Persson took to Twitter Tuesday to voice his displeasure with the deal: 
 
 We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out. - Notch (@notch) March 25, 2014 
 
 Persson elaborated in a blog post : 
 
 Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers. People have made games for Facebook platforms before, and while it worked great for a while, they were stuck in a very unfortunate position when Facebook eventually changed the platform… Persson left to door open to continuing the effort to create a virtual reality Minecraft edition with one of Oculus V.R.’s competitors. I have the greatest respect for the talented engineers and developers at Oculus…but this is where we part ways. 
 
 Facebook announced the $2 billion deal earlier Tuesday. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts during a call that the virtual reality technology "has the potential to be the most social platform ever." 
 
 About 35 million copies of Minecraft have been sold worldwide for PCs, Apple iOS devices and other gaming platforms. 
 
 Perrson is not alone in his criticism of the Facebook deal. Virtual reality enthusiasts were quick to blast the planned acquisition on Twitter after it was announced, Adweek points out. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 A US court has awarded $500m (£395m) to a firm which sued Facebook and other defendants over the use of its virtual reality technology. 
 
 The jury found Oculus, which Facebook bought in 2014, had breached a contract with video game developer Zenimax when launching its own VR headset. 
 
 Oculus said it was "disappointed" and would appeal against the ruling. 
 
 The case threatened to overshadow Facebook's latest results, which showed it enjoyed a strong end to the year. 
 
 Facebook's net profit more than doubled to $3.6bn in the fourth quarter. 
 
 The social network was helped by 53% growth in advertising revenues, and said it was on course to hit two billion users in the first half of 2017. 
 
 'Trade secrets' 
 
 Shortly before the results came out, the court awarded Zenimax damages from Facebook, Oculus and Oculus executives following a three-week trial. 
 
 Zenimax had argued that its early innovations in virtual reality were unlawfully copied when Oculus built its own headset, the Rift. 
 
 An Oculus spokesperson said the jury rejected this argument, but did find that Oculus breached a contract with Zenimax and infringed some of its copyright. 
 
 "The heart of this case was about whether Oculus stole Zenimax's trade secrets, and the jury found decisively in our favour," the Oculus spokesperson said. 
 
 The firm did not comment on the $500m damages. 
 
 Copyright infringement 
 
 Zenimax chief executive Robert Altman said: "We are pleased that the jury in our case in the US District Court in Dallas has awarded Zenimax $500m for defendants' unlawful infringement of our copyrights and trademarks." 
 
 The co-founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, was found to have broken a non-disclosure agreement with the firm. 
 
 Analysis 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 By Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter 
 
 Few people will have given Mark Zuckerberg as many headaches as Palmer Luckey. 
 
 The 24-year-old founded Oculus VR, and when Facebook stepped in to buy the firm for $2bn, he was rewarded very handsomely indeed. Then it went a bit downhill. 
 
 First, it was revealed he was using some of that money to fund a pro-Donald Trump trolling campaign, which led to Facebook removing him from public view. He didn't even turn up to his own company's developer's conference last year. 
 
 And now, a jury has ruled that he broke a non-disclosure agreement that'll mean $500m in damages (unless Facebook wins on appeal). 
 
 Mark Zuckerberg doesn't display many emotions - but you wonder what he'll be like behind closed doors on this one. 
 
 As it stands, Palmer Luckey is still a Facebook employee, but what he's doing there is anyone's guess - the company won't even tell me his job title. 
 
 Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg testified last month that "the idea that Oculus products are based on someone else's technology is just wrong". 
 
 Zenimax, which owns id Software, a video games developer, was suing Facebook for $2bn. 
 
 Along with the claims against Palmer Luckey, it alleged that John Carmack, co-founder of id, took intellectual property belonging to Zenimax when he left the firm to join Oculus as its full-time chief technology officer. 
 
 'Stellar quarter' 
 
 Virtual reality is only a small part of Facebook's current business, but is seen as important to the firm's strategy over the next 10 years. 
 
 Most of Facebook's fourth-quarter revenue - which jumped 54% to $27.6bn - came from adverts on its social network. 
 
 "Facebook had another stellar quarter, delivering record revenue, user growth and profitability, as it rides the shift of advertising to online," said Martin Garner, a senior analyst at CCS Insight. 
 
 "However it expects advertising growth to slow in 2017, so it expects to be less profitable this year." 
 
 Fake news 
 
 Other challenges that Facebook face this year include a changing approach to privacy in Europe, an uncertain business landscape in the US and challenges in China, Mr Garner said. 
 
 The social network has also been widely criticised after some users complained that fake news on its platform had influenced the US presidential election. 
 
 In a call with analysts on Wednesday, Facebook executives signalled it would tackle the problem through the use of more artificial intelligence. 
 
 They also said many of Facebook's new users were in India, where telecoms operators had offered free data packages for Facebook traffic. 
 
 For the full year, Facebook grew its net profit by 177% to $10.2bn. ||||| By now, we know that the reaction to a major Facebook acquisition among the chattering technorati follows a pretty simple script. It happened with Instagram in 2012, it happened again last month with WhatsApp, and it happened yet again Tuesday with the $2 billion deal for the virtual reality gurus at Oculus VR. 
 
 First comes the stage where we all have a good laugh. Facebook bought what now? For how much? No. Seriously? What are they smoking in Menlo Park? The memes and jokes fly thick and fast. We comb our cultural history for anything that matches the pattern of an accurate prediction. The Oatmeal called it. The Simpsons called it. 
 
 Then Zuckerberg will get on the phone with analysts and journalists, and explain very matter-of-factly why the purchase is worth whatever he paid for it — not now, but many years in Facebook's future. He makes an awful lot of sense: yes, virtual reality probably is the next big platform after mobile. There are murmurs of unease. Crap, Zuck was right about Instagram, he's probable right about this. 
 
 See also: Mark Zuckerberg Casually Conquers the World 
 
 A few hours later later, after the value of the technology or app in question has had time to sink in, comes the full-blown freakout. Zuckerberg is no longer a dolt; Zuckerberg must be stopped. Facebook is going to turn us into drooling zombies. You're going to be full-time immersed into a Matrix-style virtual-reality "Planet Facebook" filled with manipulative corporate sponsors while keeping your body alive by sucking on a "QuenchTube" through a "small nipple in your mouth," suggested Verge editor Josh Topolsky. 
 
 Hey, I'm as much of a sucker for a good sci-fi scenario as the next futurist, but let's get real about this one. That's just not how the future happens. If you want to talk about technologies that were supposed to turn us into drooling idiots, try television. Try games consoles. If you look at them objectively, as numerous studies have done, it turns out those technologies are actually pretty good at informing us and improving our reactions. (See: Everything Bad is Good For You.) 
 
 Yeah, but Facebook's going to ruin Oculus Rift, right? They're going to plaster it with ads and make it focus on gaudy, commercial apps that help its bottom line? Well, no. Facebook has a history of funding its big purchases well and letting them run themselves independently, like the world's luckiest startups. Look at Instagram: Kevin Systrom is firmly in charge, user numbers are skyrocketing, and the service has barely begun to introduce sponsored photos, which it may well have had to do by now anyway. (See: every app that wanted to make money ever.) 
 
 Look at WhatsApp: founder Jan Koum staked his word on the fact that Facebook will not touch WhatsApp user data, ever. You know why that's guaranteed? Because if it doesn't happen, Zuckerberg won't be able to convince the next hot startup that he wants to buy that he isn't just blowing smoke when he says they'll be independent. 
 
 Zuck is playing a wider game here, and the stakes are high. If Facebook ever got a reputation among the Silicon Valley community for being a rapacious corporate monster that goes back on its word and forces you to do so as well — well, there would be a few more giant companies around here that they'd much rather sell to. 
 
 Okay, you say, but surely there's some pressure that will be applied, pressure to put friend requests here, or targeted ads there — subtle backroom pressure that Oculus VR's leadership won't be able to withstand. To which I say: have you met John Carmack, Oculus' CTO? I interviewed Carmack half a dozen times over the last decade and a half, back to when he was the mastermind behind Quake and Doom. The two words I invariably used to describe him are "evil" and "genius." 
 
 Carmack never does anything by half-measures. He built his own space startup, for crying out loud. He's in the Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos realm of influence. If it ever came down to corporate politics, he'd give that young whippersnapper Zuck a run for his money. Come to think of it, I'd even put a small wager on Carmack taking over Facebook from within. 
 
 Facebook could buy an awful lot of goodwill for the cost of 3 engineers by refunding the 9500 Oculus Kickstarter backers their $2.5 million. — Anil Dash (@anildash) March 26, 2014 
 
 I do agree with entrepreneur and blogger Anil Dash, above, that Facebook would do well to address the fact that Oculus VR began as a Kickstarter company. The payout would be an elegant solution, so long as it isn't seen as a crass bribe, and who knows — it may convince the creator of Minecraft to stop freaking out about Facebook. 
 
 It would also encourage more Kickstarter campaigns, annointing the crowdfunding service as a legitimate form of venture capital, which would be a rising tide that lifts all Silicon Valleys boats (except for its established VCs, who may freak out themselves). 
 
 But it's not something Facebook needs to do, legally or even ethically. Oculus fulfilled its obligations to its backers long ago. If its backers thought it would never do any of the things a for-profit company does, perhaps they missed the part where it became a for-profit company. Perhaps they missed the hiring, last year, of the evil genius. Besides, again, they're missing the point. 
 
 Weep not, for the Oculus you know is not dead. Dry your eyes, because you ain't seen nothing yet through them. The number one reason why Oculus "sold out" to Facebook: because this way, it can remain independent and improve exponentially — first and foremost, in bringing down the cost and the size of those clunky headsets, and encouraging way more developers to join the platform. 
 
 I've tried Oculus a number of times, and really like the demo app where you zoom around the solar system. But even that felt a bit too low-res; all I could think was it'll be nice when it's finished. But Oculus was stuck paying way too much money for way too little gadgetry; now it has purchasing power, and how. What happened Tuesday was one giant leap into Oculus' future. 
 
 Not convinced? Read the Reddit threads where Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is taking on all-comers. "I am not going to close off, I am 100% certain that most people will see why this is good in the long term," he writes. "Any change at Oculus will be for the better." He lists three short-term reasons why, in as much detail as he can: 
 
 1) We can make custom hardware, not rely on the scraps of the mobile phone industry. That is insanely expensive, think hundreds of millions of dollars. More news soon. 
 
 2) We can afford to hire everyone we need, the best people that fit into our culture of excellence in all aspects. 
 
 3) We can make huge investments in content. More news soon. 
 
 Where will this end? Not in Topolsky's dystopian vision, but where all technology ends up — in the casual mundanity of everyday life as you pretty much know it, just one step removed. It ends with "honey, have you seen my Oculus glasses?" 
 
 It ends with you using them the same way you'd use Skype — zipping in and out of the virtual world for meetings, making it much easier to work from home or catch up with far-flung family. 
 
 It ends with you donning your Oculus glasses about as frequently as you'd use your Xbox or PlayStation. Games nerds will be addicted; the rest of us will use it every now and then, for fun. 
 
 That's not a very sexy story to tell, granted; fearful future freakouts are so much wilder. If you simply don't trust Facebook because it's had a hard time communicating its privacy settings, if you don't trust Oculus to stand firm in the unlikely scenario that they're strong-armed, if you think the combination of the two is the beginnings of The Matrix, then knock yourself out. 
 
 Just be aware that the sci-fi reality you're spinning with that story is as unreal and unlikely as anything you'd see in VR.
– Facebook has bought pioneering virtual-reality headset maker Oculus for $2 billion, and Mark Zuckerberg is pretty excited about it. The startup's immersive headset for video game developers has been a big hit, but Facebook appears ready to take virtual reality beyond gaming, Business Insider finds. "After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences," Zuckerberg writes in a Facebook post. "Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face—just by putting on goggles in your home. " The headset is "different from anything I've ever experienced in my life," Zuckerberg said during a conference call following the announcement. "Today's acquisition is a long-term bet on the future of computing." But while Facebook is enthusiastic about the buy, game makers are less than thrilled about the company's move into virtual reality, Time and AdWeek report. Soon after the announcement, Minecraft creator Markus Persson said he had canceled plans for an Oculus version of the game because Facebook "creeps him out." Facebook is "not a game tech company," he explained in a blog post. It cares "about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers." But over at Mashable, Chris Taylor urges everyone to put their freakout on hold: "Facebook has a history of funding its big purchases well and letting them run themselves independently." So any Matrix-esque scenario "is as unreal and unlikely as anything you'd see in VR."