Facebook steps into virtual reality for $2 billion

Photo: ROBYN BECK/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Facebook announced March 25 that it acquired Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift gaming headset in a cash and stock deal valued at $2 billion. The terms of the deal include $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock, according to Mashable. 

The Oculus Rift project gained prominence on Kickstarter, raising over $2 million in the summer of 2012. The company went on to raise more than $91 million in venture funding in 2013. With this exit, the Oculus Rift is easily the most successful Kickstarter project of all time.

"Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.

Although the Oculus team was never committed to bringing a consumer version of its virtual reality headset to the market, more than 75,000 developers had already ordered developer kits for the technology.

Facebook says that Oculus will remain headquartered in Irvine and will continue developing the Oculus Rift platform.

This is Facebook's second major acquisition in 2014. Last month, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for a staggering $16 billion.

You can read the rest of this story on Mashable.com.