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Facebook has acquired Beat Games, the studio behind the popular virtual reality (VR) title Beat Saber. This move comes as part of Facebook’s strategy to grow their VR portfolio under Oculus Studios, who was acquired by them in 2014.
Retaining creative power
Beat Games will remain an independently operated studio, maintaining a sense of creative freedom in future production. However, this doesn’t mean the studio is moving on from their biggest game just yet.
“Beat Games will continue to ship content and updates for Beat Saber across all currently supported platforms, now with even more support from Facebook,” said Oculus director of content Mike Verdu in a company statement.
One reason for the acquisition is to boost resources to the studio, as the company believes that there are more ideas to roll out in Beat Saber.
“They have only scratched the surface with Beat Saber in terms of social features, new modes, music, and more,” said Verdu.
The big picture
Oculus and Facebook are looking to bolster VR gaming as a whole, and they see this move as a significant first step.
“VR reimagines old genres and invents new ones,” said Verdu. “The team at Beat Games made a leap forward in innovation and design with the stellar blend of game mechanics and music in Beat Saber, and yet we know that they, along with so many other devs, are just getting started”
The broader implications played a notable role in the decision to purchase Beat Games. Facebook and Oculus want to push the VR platform forward, especially alongside next year’s big releases.
“We’re exploring many ways to accelerate VR, and we think next year is going to be an incredible one of VR game launches and announcements,” said Verdu. We are thrilled to have Beat Games join our team.”
