VR can be a form of escapism, but even there, you can’t escape ads.
Especially when Zucky McVirtual is at the wheel.
Facebook announced that it will test VR ads with the goal of making its VR headset, Oculus, “a self-sustaining platform” where developers can earn revenue.
It won’t use data stored on Oculus headsets to target ads
But it will receive info about which ads people interact with and how. And just like on Facebook, users can hide specific ads or advertisers or access more info about what they are seeing.
Ads will first roll out in “Blaston” — a combat game — before hitting other games and apps in following weeks.
Facebook is going all in on VR
According to The Verge’s Alex Heath, Facebook is building a “near monopoly in VR software.” This includes recent acquisitions of 2 gaming studios:
- Unit 2 Games, which is like Roblox for VR
- Big Box VR, which is like “Fortnite” for VR
VR is still small… but could be the next big platform
Tech analyst Casey Newton notes that Facebook has less than 10m Oculus headsets, which pales in comparison to Sony’s lifetime sale of 100m+ PlayStations.
If FB keeps locking up VR talent, we could see an anti-competitive replay like how the social network took over photo sharing and messaging with acquisitions of Instagram (2012) and WhatsApp (2014).
The company has hired more than 10k people to work in its Facebook Reality Labs hardware division, Newton says.
But, seriously, this 2016 photo is all you need about how serious Zuck’s VR ambitions are:
