Facebook's Oculus Buys Maker of Hit VR Game 'Beat Saber'

Facebook's Oculus VR division is buying Beat Games, the developer behind hit virtual reality game Beat Saber, an acquisition that will give the developer the cash necessary to churn out VR gaming experiences.

Beat Saber is probably best known as the virtual reality rhythm game where the player carries two lightsaber-like swords. In February, the game reached 1 million copies sold on all platforms, including on the Oculus Store, at a time when VR gaming is a still a relatively niche market.

"Beat Games' accomplishments are already impressive, but Facebook and the Beat Games team know that there is so much more that can be done across VR, games, and music," Oculus Director of Content Mike Verdu wrote in the announcement. "They have only scratched the surface with Beat Saber in terms of social features, new modes, music, and more."

But wait, will this result in drastic changes for Beat Saber? Facebook is telling fans not to worry. "Most importantly, what the community has come to love about Beat Saber will remain intact," Verdu added. "Beat Games will continue to ship content and updates for Beat Saber across all currently supported platforms, now with even more support from Facebook."

Nevertheless, the thought of Facebook buying a company may make some observers cringe. The social network bought Oculus, Instagram, and WhatsApp only for the founders at all three properties to eventually exit.

The gaming industry is also full of examples of big companies taking over smaller independent studios, and then introducing controversial changes to their games that infuriated consumers. Verdu is well aware of the history, but said the Beat Games acquisition will be different. "The story we aim to prove over time is this: An indie studio joins forces with some like-minded allies, and together they find a way to push VR to new heights," he wrote.

Beat Games, which is based in Prague, will technically run under Facebook's Oculus Studio group, which has been funding development of third-party VR games. However, Facebook stresses that Beat Games will continue to operate as an independent studio.

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"We've huge plans for the future and with the great support from our long-time friends at Facebook and Oculus, we can shoot for the stars!" Beat Saber wrote on its official Facebook page.

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