Facebook is buying Beat Games, the game development company behind Beat Saber, one of the most famous VR gaming titles today
Facebook made a recent announcement regarding its plans to purchase Beat Games, the studio responsible for developing the popular virtual reality (VR) game Beat Saber. The rhythmic game with lightsabers can be described as a combination of Guitar Hero and Fruit Ninja.
The details of the deal were not disclosed and no information exists about the price. Beat Games will become a part of Oculus Studios, but run independent operations from their Prague HQ.
The new deal signals an intriguing shift for Oculus who has been focused on fine-tuning the process of generating VR headset content.
Oculus created some in-house content at the start whilst spending millions to acquire many exclusive titles from several independent studios that dabbled in the VR space. The last few years have indicated a major shift in strategy for Oculus, as newer investments began being directed to more prominent studios with more renowned game titles.
The purchase of Beat Games and its introduction to the Oculus Studios domain is an interesting move and one that indicates Facebook being inclined towards the strategies of Sony and Microsoft. Both these competitors have helped smaller studios expand and financed new gaming titles. But, Facebook has remarked that it is not chasing platform exclusivity. It means that Beat Games will be able to support all its existing gaming platforms.
Facebook does stand to gain significantly from its purchase of the company. Beat Games was among the most successful VR game development studios and had revealed information regarding the sale of more than 1 million Beat Saber units. A big part of the studio’s success stems from the fact that it had a minimal operation, with a workforce of 8 employees. Beat Games has also decided against going for any VC funding to date.
Facebook is looking at considerable gains from the ongoing success of the most popular VR game. The technology company focused on the gaming studio’s success at the virtual reality conference and had also introduced a free version of the game for its Oculus Quest VR headsets. On buying the studio, Facebook can now enjoy creative and business freedom without caring about profitability.
Beat Games had started an expansion drive recently through its partnerships with musicians. As part of these deals, songs from these artistes could be unlocked by users as game levels. Notable partnerships include those with Panic at the Disco and Imagine Dragon, in the form of paid Beat Saber level packs. Facebook can do even better in terms of approaching leading pop artists.
The Facebook acquisition of Beat Games will have some impact on user mods of the Beat Saber game. Some user content may be removed by Facebook under its policies. The mods and content that will exist will be the ones complying with the company’s set of policies.
Beat Games will continue to develop its VR offerings with Facebook leading the charge.
