Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe is leaving Facebook. Citing “a source close to the matter,” a report from TechCrunch indicates his departure is related to the cancellation of a Rift 2 headset, though Facebook has denied that element of the report.

Brendan Iribe (right) with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (left) | Image courtesy Facebook

Brendan Iribe was among the founding members of Oculus, and held the role of CEO from the 2012 inception of the company, through the 2014 Facebook acquisition, until the end of 2016 when he stepped down to head the PC division of Oculus as Hugo Barra took over as head of Oculus.

Now Iribe says he’s departing Facebook entirely. On the surface, it looks like an amicable split, with Iribe saying on Facebook that he was proud of the work Oculus has done and thanking Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for believing in the future of VR:

So much has happened since the day we founded Oculus in July 2012. I never could have imagined how much we would accomplish and how far we would come. And now, after six incredible years, I am moving on.

I’m deeply proud and grateful for all that we’ve done together. We assembled one of the greatest research and engineering teams in history, delivered the first step of true virtual presence with Oculus Rift and Touch, and inspired an entirely new industry. We started a revolution that will change the world in ways we can’t even envision.

Yet, as far as we’ve come, the journey has just begun. Michael Abrash is right: “These are the good old days”. Now is when we get to pioneer the foundation of the next great computing platform and medium – this is our time to be pushing the state-of-the-art onward and upward. Every part of VR and AR needs to improve, especially the hardware and core technology, and Oculus has the best team in the world to do that. Although we’re still far from delivering the magical smart glasses we all dream about, now they are nearly within our reach.

Working alongside so many talented people at Oculus and Facebook has been the most transformative experience of my career. We have a saying when someone compliments or thanks you – “Team effort”. The success of Oculus was only possible because of such an extraordinary team effort. I’d like to sincerely thank everyone that’s been a part of this amazing journey, especially Mark for believing in this team and the future of VR and AR.

As for me, this will be the first real break I’ve taken in over 20 years. It’s time to recharge, reflect and be creative. I’m excited for the next chapter.

Key executives from Facebook’s VR team thanked Iribe for his work, vision, and leadership.

But a report from TechCrunch, citing “a source close to the matter,” suggests that Iribe’s departure was directly related to the (unconfirmed) cancellation of the Rift 2.

Iribe is leaving Facebook following some internal shake-ups in the company’s virtual reality arm last week that saw the cancellation of the company’s next generation “Rift 2” PC-powered virtual reality headset, which he had been leading development of, a source close to the matter told TechCrunch.

Iribe and the Facebook executive team had “fundamentally different views on the future of Oculus that grew deeper over time,” and Iribe wasn’t interested in a “race to the bottom” in terms of performance, we are told.

We’ve gone about this afternoon trying to verify or debunk this information. Speaking to Road to VR, a spokesperson for Oculus denied the TechCrunch report:

[We are confirming that] we are planning a future version of Rift. You may remember Mark saying this at OC5: “… when we release the next version of Rift—which isn’t this year—all of the content that works for Rift will also work on the next version.”

So while we aren’t quite ready to talk about the next version of Rift, PC VR is still a category we are investing in. It’s still a part of our strategy – we’re continuing work across product and content and you’ll see this manifest next year. Additionally, Nate [Mitchell, another Oculus co-founder,] continues to lead the Rift/PC team and there are no changes there.

Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, the VP of AR and VR at Facebook, affirmed a similar denial to Variety on Twitter.

Though it stands to reason that if the Rift 2 has indeed been canceled, Facebook would not want to announce this information as it could have a major impact on existing Rift sales and software ecosystem, including developers whose livelihoods are dependent on its continued existence.

Nate Mitchell, another Oculus co-founder who is still with the company, said that they are “driving forward” with the Rift, but didn’t mention a “Rift 2” specifically:

A lot of questions today about the future of Rift — we’re still driving forward on the Rift/PC platform with new hardware, software, and content.

Lots of great stuff in the works. More to share in the months ahead.

Another source at Oculus also tells us that the TechCrunch report isn’t accurate.

Lucas Matney, the author of the TechCrunch piece, doubled down on the authenticity of his report, suggesting that the official denials are using vagary to obfuscate the underlying claim.

– – — – –

With the Rift launched in 2016 and Oculus not so much as uttering the words “Rift 2” in the time since, rumblings began among Rift enthusiasts that Facebook’s priorities may have shifted away from PC VR. Back in March, Oculus confronted that notion directly, with the company’s Head of Content, Jason Rubin, affirming the continued importance of PC VR to the company.

“I want to be really really clear here: PC is vital to the VR business. We think PC will lead the industry for the next decade or more,” he said. “There’s so much more we’re going to be able to do with VR, and PC is where we figure that out. So Oculus is investing just as much in PC as ever. We’re in all three categories [PC, mobile, and standalone], and plan to stay there.”

Even still, he steered clear of “Rift 2.”

Image courtesy Facebook

More recently, back in May, Oculus showed off a brand new prototype PC VR headset (the first since the Rift launched) called Half Dome, which showcased much of the company’s recent R&D work. Half Dome is the clearest picture yet of what a Rift 2 could look like, and the company put it right in the spotlight.

Even more recently, Mark Zuckerberg got up on stage at Oculus Connect last month and clearly stated that the company was focusing on three distinct product categories, PC VR among them.

The TechCrunch report, however, indicates that the cancellation of the Rift 2, which purportedly led to Iribe’s departure, happened just last week.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Nejham Mosquera

    I just hope this is not true. The rift is the best high end VR headset for the average consumers. This would be a massive letdown.

    • Jan Ciger

      I guess the beancounters have finally put the foot down and are starting to chop unprofitable projects – such as the video library for Rift or trying to milk some more profit from the current gen Rift by shifting the next version “sometime into future”.

      I only hope that it won’t be like with the Linux support – “sometime after release of CV1” – and we are still waiting for it.

      • Nejham Mosquera

        Lol, let’s hope it doesn’t happen.

      • G-man

        i dont believe they ever sad “we’ll be releasing a new headset for pc every three yeards” either though. when did people expect a rift 2? its a bit silly to even be talking about it at this point. they’ll maybe show of some new tech next year, and even the year after. then maybe its time to start talking about a new headset.

    • Tommy
  • Ombra Alberto

    It creates a news where there is not.
    The PC remains in the Fb programs.

  • OkinKun

    TechCrunch is just being clickbaity, there was never any real reason for them to say “Rift 2 cancelled”.. And look at that author’s defense.. He just moves the goal post.. “oh well, it’s not the same Rift 2 they were originally planning” which is nonsense, because Rift 2 was still in experimental technologies stages, likely 2-3 years away anyway. There were no plans about what the final product would look like yet, development is just ongoing. So it was a LIE for TC to make that claim. The author probably just doesn’t agree with them going in the direction of Quest for now, instead of coming out with a Rift 2 (which would end up only being a Rift 1.5), but Quest is essential to build the VR market, and the tech that will make Rift 2 great, needs to be developed a bit longer still.

  • Wantafanta

    Glad they are prioritizing mobile for now, I’d rather see mobile/wireless/inside out catch up then computers get better. Its the only way VR will catch on mainstream. It also has more interesting repercussions like democratizing group sessions, ie being able to play with friends at random locations.

    • Kev

      4k televisions over $2,399 sold 18.2 million units last year. 4K Computer monitors over $1,299 sold 1.9M units last year. Video cards over $800 sell in the millions. VR HMD’s compete with all 3 of those yet cannot compete with those numbers. It’s because the *quality of VR HMD’s do not compete with these devices. That is why HMD makers should be rapidly iterating until they CAN compete. Racing to the bottom is just plain silly.

      • silvaring

        But the writing was on the wall when Facebook the software company took over Oculus. I mean it was kind of inevitable, but hindsight is 20-20 I suppose…

  • Billy Wallace

    will be the first real break I’ve taken in over 20 years. No one else will ever work with iribe. His lies and stealing that cost Facebook the zenimax case will haunt him forever. Why does roadtovr trust anything Nate Mitchell says when roadtovr caught him lying to them about Samsung relationships. Nate lies, palmer lies, iribe lies, carmack steals and lies too. All are being destroyed from their lies and thefts. Good riddance to them all, scum.

    • CURTROCK

      Wow…you must be a majority shareholder with Zenimax, right? Am I right? :)

      • Billy Wallace

        I am a large Facebook shareholder and my efforts helped to get iribe shutdown. Nate and carmack are next.

        • CURTROCK

          By “large Facebook shareholder” you mean a fat, comic book guy – type, who trolls VR websites spouting rage & venom, right? Am I right? :)

          • Billy Wallace

            Iribe threatened to sue the riftup upgrade team into oblivion. They were going to provide an HD upgrade to the dk1. He slowed progress allowing the Chinese to catch up. The dk1 was promised by palmer as an “open source” hmd. Iribe set back progress and now is shutdown. He hurt usa national security. I and other shareholders will have Nate gone by the launch of quest and carmack by the end of 2019. Then the rot will be cleared, buy Facebook stock. After we clear away the lying trash like Nate good things will happen.

          • Lukimator

            Are you even still alive? It’s nice that all lies written stay written so that when they are exposed we can go back and laugh at them. Nate did leave and all we’ve seen is Meta stock plummet.

            What a visionary you were, I’m looking forward to more advice so I can do the opposite

        • Foreign Devil

          If you really were a major FB shareholder you would know that investors could not care less about wether FB even has a VR division or not. It is just a money loser division anyways.

    • Jistuce

      Zuckerberg lies, Billy lies, everyone lies.

      • Billy Wallace

        Can you publicly document my theft and lies like zenimax did to Nate (nate broke into zenimax offices and illegally downloaded files) iribe and luckey (both lied to Facebook attorneys about any ndas before zuck foolishly gave them billions after demoing valve prototypes), carmack (too stupid to not get caught bleachbitting his hard drive and perjuring himself in court)
        No you cant document any of your claims about my moral integrity. Iribe, carmack, luckey, Nate hurt the pcvr oculus users, hurt Facebook shareholders, hurt the industry in general, slowed progress. Greedy criminals all of them, destroyed by their human failings and hurting so many others.

        • Jistuce

          All I’m saying is that as a major shareholder of Facebook, Inc., I’m leading a campaign to persuade the board to ignore the petulant whining of certain alleged activist shareholders that post on internet comment sections about their desperate and patently ridiculous witch hunts to drive all usable talent out of, and institute a culture of fear in, the company’s most interesting division.

    • Sandy Wich

      FB didn’t lose the Zenimax case. There wasn’t any actual proof, just clever words from people who are Sue-Happy who spun a web of conspiracy with conjecture and a couple lines of data in VR software which led to what was basically an in-court settlement.

      Take a look at Zenimax’s legal track record. Remember Mojang’s Scrolls?….. That company is very ill.

      • Billy Wallace

        They lost and iribe, Nate, luckey all got caught lying and stealing. What fools. Nate broke into zenimax offices and stole files. Pathetic, what dumb trash he is. They are all ruined forever. Carmack may be able to find work in some aerospace project after this, but perjuring himself at the zenimax trial and too stupid to not get caught bleachbitting his hard drive is truly pathetic, what a desperate fool. So maybe he is ruined forever too. My bible says greed is the root of all evil. Now it seems the zenimax lawsuit is what has hurt all these PC rift users. A lot of what cant be admitted publicly has to do with this trial and recent settlements.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Oh please you’re scum yourself, you also lie…

  • Kev

    That is the most lukewarm denial, ever. Why didn’t Oculus just say CV2 isn’t cancelled and they are excited about PC VR? They specifically avoid saying anything about a future rift (heck it could just be a different color and it would make that denial true).

    • Tommy

      They shouldn’t have to. People shouldn’t be making up stories without any shred of evidence or confirmation.

      • Kev

        Yes they do. Facebook has SHAREHOLDERS they are a public company. We are indeed owed a very specific explanation of any troubling developments. Herds of high level executives leaving damn well qualifies.

        • Billy Wallace

          As a large Facebook shareholder in talks with other shareholders let me give some rumors. Facebook lost the zenimax case because carmack, Nate, luckey, iribe are dumb lying thieves. Too stupid to not get caught. So the PC side of oculus had to do massive changes or face all kinds of court injunctions. Now because carmack, luckey, Nate, iribe were so greedy, many PC rift users are getting hurt. Facebook shareholders getting hurt. If you are a Facebook shareholder I advise advocating for the firing of Nate and carmack to remove all the criminal elements from previous management so oculus has a better future. Dont need failed liars like Nate and carmack steering this titanic anymore.

          • SandmaN

            See my response to Billy Wallace (William Wallace) above, readers.

            Billy – aka martinlandau, aka about 30 other names, it’s would seem as though you could be on Zenimax’s payroll, however doing a tiny bit of research (check pretty much all of his previous Disqus posts) the truth is you just have an unnatural and deep seated hatred towards Luckey and everything related to Oculus. Help is out there for you, friend…..you just have to want to get it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step.

          • Billy Wallace

            Zenimax cant afford me. Are you stalking me dude? So emotional, like palmer told me long ago, it’s only money. Calm down bub. I hate that luckey lied and hurt a lot of people. I hate his lies, but I love most humans. I made this vr180 for u. https://youtu.be/mWeziOysECs

      • Xilence

        Are you serious? They do have to. They have a duty to us and shareholders. We are the customers, we own them.

        And the best part is… They’re not lying. They’re just putting a PR spin on the truth: Oculus is moving away from PCVR.

        But fanboyism blinds that fact.

        • Ellie 187

          I agree.. i called this many moons ago that Facebook would abandon bleeding edge PC VR as they go for the mainstream (which nothing wrong with that strategy for shareholders), but just saying that caused some rabid fan boyism …. people are in denial about Zuckerbergs intentions with VR.

        • Tommy

          Not only did Zuck specifically talk about Rift 2 but he also specifically said PCVR.

  • Lucidfeuer

    “Iribe and the Facebook executive team had “fundamentally different views on the future of Oculus that grew deeper over time,” and Iribe wasn’t interested in a “race to the bottom” in terms of performance, we are told.”

    The problem, Iribe, is that the VR domain is full of hypocrite kool-aid drinkers who would support a HMD made of literal shit if they were told to, and irrationally led companies that believe they can sustain a market on these stooges. And that, is the true sign that a platform or market is going nowhere unfortunately. But I, will remember your name and talent, hopefully to good use…

  • Andrew McEvoy

    fuck

  • Graham J ⭐️

    I don’t doubt the cancellation claim. Why would Facebook continue on with PC VR? They’re a social network. What they need is headsets on heads running their software and it’s clear as day that standalone will have more volume.

    I love my PC VR setup but it’s a niche. Bean counters don’t do niche.

  • Les Vega

    seems like typical techcrunch click baiting and vive trolls circling even at the slightest drop of blood in the water Mobile Vr might Be the big Gateway drug for VR but PC VR is the true final Destination, having Quest to drive interest in the newcomer but no high end pc solution to retain them is like letting money slip through their fingers Rift2 or whatever they call it will arrive at its proper time.

    • Ellie 187

      Or… call me crazy, Facebook sees bleeding edge PC VR as a losing proposition … sure it might create more fanbois, but not many shareholders are impressed with choosing to be a cult classic over being a profitable money printing machine.

      • sebrk

        Thats not how development works. Even if they would cancel high-end PC stuff the R&D would still use the very latest tech and then scale down. Also, by now I would think that the headset is profitable or at least break even. It is the R&D that costs anyway.

  • This is great news actually. FB will play around with mobile VR while other companies can complete with high-end PC VR.

    • Tommy

      It’s not great. It’s a rumor with no backing evidence

    • Mei Ling

      Facebook have the resources to do as they wish but one thing is certain they will not be going back to PC VR only headsets; that ended with the Oculus Rift.

      • Tommy

        Oculus just countered your statement.

        • Mei Ling

          Sure they mentioned the Rift 2 but they haven’t mentioned the specifics so nothing is “countered”. It’s highly unlikely the device will only work via a tethered connection to the PC. It will however very likely be standalone, like the Quest, with a possible option to stream from the PC through wireless transmission or tethered.

  • Aeroflux

    My money goes to PC VR first. If Oculus isn’t going to vigorously pursue the envelope of sustainable high end PC-oriented hardware, I’ll be supporting whoever does.

    • Gonzalo Novoa

      Yeah, same here. All those denials sound like typical PR bullshit to me, just a way to comfort people with a ‘future’ that might never come.

      • Billy Wallace

        George jetson said my flying car was just around the corner. Lol… zuck did say at the Facebook shareholders meeting it could be 10 or even 20 years before vr is mainstream. It was rumored zenimax was going to get an injunction against oculus for all the theft by carmack, luckey, Nate, iribe, etc. The PC users of oculus got harmed by the greed and lies of a few perhaps.

        • Ellie 187

          Don’t absolve Zuckerberg here.. he’s the reason why there will be no PC Rift 2…. sounds like the co-founder quit specifically because Zuckerberg abandoned bleeding edge PC VR.

      • Ellie 187

        I’ve been saying for at least 2 years now there won’t be a beefed up Rift for PC…. Zuckerberg is fixated on providing the lowest common denominator for VR to the masses… which its great and all, I want more people in VR, but i’m going to remain a die hard bleeding edge VR enthusiast for my personal enjoyment, and looks like my next PC headset will not be a beefed up Rift, which is not by choice…. hopefully something comes out that’s better than any announced headset in the next 2 years, because vive pro and pimax just isn’t what i want.

    • Bob

      Pimax is knocking at your door…

      • Engineer_92

        Pimax would be perfect. If only the knuckles controllers would actually enter the market of consumers!

      • Ellon Musk

        unfortunately pimax will not be the game changer since it still has LCD display tech and the fresnel lens.

        • Bob

          Perhaps not but those components can easily be implemented into their next design.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          But then again, those displays themselves are easily replaced with OLED versions.. But ofcourse that will propably increase the price of the headset even more..

          • Sven Viking

            They actually have an OLED version already — the more expensive “Business Edition”.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            ah thanx, didn’t know that. knew of the 5k version (which at this point seems to be sharper than the 8k version according to reviews), but didn’t know they had an 5k BE version.

            Funny how the price for the regular 4K changes when I switch from dollars to euro’s, $399 vs 1,999 euro’s, even though 399 is around 349 euro at current exchangerates.. LOL..

        • Hivemind9000

          It’s already a game changer with its wide FOV and the lenses have less glare and a bigger sweet spot that any of the current generation of headsets. Perfect? No. But still they are helping push the industry forward, where I think Oculus are playing a safer “middle market” game.

          • Ellon Musk

            I do applaud Pimax for delaying their product to tweak as many bugs as they can instead of releasing a beta product

      • Andrew Jakobs

        Well, let Pimax first get their current headset fully working and out the door to backers. and then get the consumer version out the door (which still hasn’t got a price)..

        • Icebeat

          actually it does

        • David Herrington

          Yesterday it didn’t but today Pimax consumer version has a price!

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Yep, but still no shipping date, and I already saw people bitching about the ‘high’ price.. haha..

      • NooYawker

        Pimax is an upgrade but it’s not even close to being Gen2. And that’s just going by what Pimax says on paper.

    • Billy Wallace

      Dont forget, carmack said he settled with zenimax. Perhaps zuck had to tame the PC side of the company based on the zenimax lawsuit. If luckey, Nate, carmack, and iribe had not stolen and lied maybe the PC side of oculus would not be in this sorry state. Nate went into zenimax offices and downloaded files, illegally. How are they not in jail for these criminal actions? Carmack was so dumb he got caught bleachbitting his hard drive and perjuring himself at the zenimax trial. What a desperate fool. Luckey and iribe had to go, so does Nate and carmack. All criminal thieves too dumb to not get caught. All these PC rift users being punished for carmack, Nate, iribe, luckey greed.

      • SandmaN

        You really need to get your facts straight, bub.

        This is from Wikipedia, but you can find this info everywhere if you’re curious to learn more. Here is the truth, folks:

        “The jury trial completed on February 2, 2017, with the jury finding that Luckey had violated the NDA he had with ZeniMax, and awarding $500 million to ZeniMax.

        *However*, the jury found that Oculus, Facebook, Luckey, Iribe, and Carmack *did not* misappropriate or steal trade secrets, though ZeniMax continued to publicly assert otherwise.

        In June 2018, the judge overseeing the case agreed to cut the damages owed by Oculus in half to US$250 million, while denying Zenimax their request to halt Oculus sales.”

        The $250 million decision is being appealed by Facebook/Oculus and we may see yet another reduction or even see the decision being completely overturned with Facebook/Oculus owing absolutely nothing.

        I would absolutely recommend that you, the reader, do some digging and research on Zenimax and you’ll find out what kind of company they really are. Spoiler alert – not good.

        • Billy Wallace

          As an accredited investor, major shareholder, who sat on the board of immersion vrelia (Manuel novelo had the first hd hmd in 2006) with bolas (luckeys professor at usc) and first investor into wearality with Lockheed Martin fellow david Smith (f35 hmd fame) I probably have better inside contacts than you and publicly biased info at wiki. Here is another nugget for u, alex howlett (son of Eric howlett of leep vr fame) told me it would be disgraceful for the wikis to not remember it was his dad that luckey originally credited for the idea of the rift (care of my help with young palmer in 2009 when I took him under my wing while I was doing usaf simulator work). That luckey and crew tried to rewrite history. How evil it was to give luckey wiki mod power at reddit so he could distort more history. Just recently there was a wired article about anduril, which said luckeys Hmd convinced Zuckerberg to invest in oculus. It’s a total lie, zuck saw the valve prototype, not luckeys hmd. Regardless, luckey and iribe both lied to Facebook attorneys about an NDA, I was present during all this and you weren’t. Fake news aside, iribe hurt my investment, like Nate still does.

          • silvaring

            Can you maybe provide a link or group of links to the claims you are making? If they are available, no worries if you don’t have been onthem on hand, it’s interesting to read regardless.

          • Mei Ling

            Not sure what his beef is with the group of people he just named but he sounds like they all just fucked his wife.

          • SandmaN

            No kidding, right? It sounds like he believes he singlehandedly came up with the idea for the first VR headset and he thinks that everyone stole his idea, hence he is hateful and bitter towards the universe. Whatever the case, I agree with silvaring – please send us links to these stories to back up your claims, Billy bub. I seriously doubt we’ll see anything from him though.

          • br0da

            All I’ve been able to gather about Billy Wallace is that he’s completely delusional.

        • Billy Wallace

          As to the appeal, Facebook best be careful, zenimax has obviously done some settlements behind the scenes with carmack, but on appeal things may go against Facebook and instead of 500 million or 250 million it could be injunctions and 1 billion, there is no sure way for you or I to know

      • Jistuce

        Carmack settled with Zenimax for what THEY OWED HIM, since they apparently decided not to pay him for his work at iD Software after he made the mistake of selling it to them.

      • Sven Viking

        Martin?

        “Don’t forget, carmack said he settled with zenimax.”

        Zenimax settled with Carmack in his lawsuit against them, not the other way around. Carmack was already free and clear from the Oculus lawsuit, having been ordered by the court to pay zero dollars to Zenimax.

    • brubble

      Ditto. I wont be wasting what little time I do have on the plethora of mediocre “VR for the masses” hardware either now or in the future. Its the highest end available or nothing.

    • NooYawker

      I got my money on Valve. Not HTC, but Valve, I don’t know how long HTC can survive hemorrhaging money.

      • G-man

        valve have to actualy get their thumbs out their arse though and actualy make a headset, since no other companies are pikcing up steam tracking. vr isnt going anywhere when it takes them two years to finish a set of controllers.

  • Tommy

    Tech Crunch is losing just about all credibility. Sounds like the author is just too stubborn to admit he is wrong.

  • iThinkMyCatIsAFlea

    Brendan Iribe shouldn’t’ve backed Palmer when the news broke about Luckey financing an alt-right group.

    Google Oculus Trump.

    • Kev

      Why do you need “backing” for personal beliefs as no doubt each employee has some sort of political beliefs and are FREE to donate to who ever they wish provided the donation is legal. Countries of the past had your attitude about this subject. Didn’t work for them.

    • Born’N’BredSheridan

      You should really let it go. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Trump or the current administration, not in the slightest, but people have the RIGHT to express themselves, be it artistically, religiously, politically, etc. Besides, Luckey hasn’t been with Oculus/Facebook in well over a year.

      Get over it.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      oh go away with your BS.. And no I’m not a Trump fan, the man is an idiot.

  • Santa maria

    This could spell disaster for the VR ecosystem. Duopoly is a million times better than a monopoly. It doesn’t matter if they were recently showing off prototypes of the Rift 2, or if they already poured millions into R&D. If there is a call from the higher ups, come hell or high water it gets canned. Look what happened at Instagram. Facebook is changing it’s strategy and it’s affecting every major branch of theirs. I know this from working in the industry and closely with Facebook. Grain of sand, etc.

  • Santa maria

    When you are managing a multi billion dollar company, you can’t just
    be 100% transparent because investors are always ready to jump ship.
    Timing is key with anything and humongous announcements like “Rift 2
    cancelled guys” is like dropping an atomic bomb on Wall Street.

    • Billy Wallace

      As a Facebook shareholder. Zuck should have done better vetting of luckey and iribe. He did the 3 billion dollar purchase over a weekend after seeing the valve prototypes and being lied to by luckey and iribe. Luckey is a used car salesman son and even lied to Facebook attorneys about the NDA issue with zenimax. Zuck was really made to look foolish by lying luckey, Nate, iribe, etc.

    • Foreign Devil

      For FB investors the VR division is very very minor. It was not profitable anyways.

  • visual

    Facebook is cleaning shop over time. First was Luckey, now Iribe. Next will be Carmack. Oculus is now officially Facebook.

    • brandon9271

      I hope they didn’t sign a non compete clause so maybe they can start a new VR company :)

    • Billy Wallace

      Next will be Nate, then carmack. Agreed, these lying thieving crooks lost Facebook the zenimax lawsuit and need to be fired and jailed. Its hurting all us Facebook shareholders to let these losers continue to steer the titanic.

    • Mei Ling

      Actually and technically Luckey “cleaned” himself out if you did a bit of research. Iribe is the first from the original management team to actually depart voluntarily. Everyone else has stayed put.

  • jfeeney

    Can we all say Google Cardboard. It’s hard to beat that.

  • Meow Smith

    Jeeze i hope its not true.

    Kind of reminds me of the demise of Amiga, at the end of it once their outdated repackaged hw doesn’t sell that well they’ll probably self reassuringly pat themselves on the back for not taking the investment risk of trying to get Rift 2.0 etc out.

    • Tommy

      It’s not true :)

  • Redrori

    PC VR isn’t dead because consoles aren’t dead. Console VR is selling on the PS4 & consoles are becoming more like PCs every generation.

    • brandon9271

      You said they once already ;)

  • Redrori

    PC VR isn’t dead because console VR is very much alive (thanks to the PS VR). And consoles are becoming more and more like PCs every generation. I will not be surprised if Oculus becomes a MS company at some point. Which is what should have happened to begin with.

    • Gary

      MS company? What’s that suppose to mean?

      • silvaring

        It means that Oculus are going to become the modern day Logitech… At least that’s how ‘I’ would interpret this speculation.

  • Kenji Fujimori

    FUCK FACEBOOK

  • Sandy Wich

    I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s just drama.

    Either way though it’s obvious FB hasn’t cared about PC-VR since the Touch launch anyways, so If this news was true, what actually changes?..

    All they do is talk about Verifocal Displays and Foveated Rendering instead of actually releasing a new PC-VR product while even a Chinese Kickstarter has done it. Well.. That, and pay 3rd party Devs to not release games on other VR platforms instead of actually developing their own games.

    …

    What I’m saying is If in the end it’s true? Nothing changes. They’ll focus on trying to create mainstream Mobile VR, “like they have for some time now”, Valve will continue to support the PC-VR market and Sony will continue to support Console-VR.

    In the end it may be better for VR as a technology anyways.

  • Greylock3491

    I’ll be upgrading from my Rift in 2019. While I’d prefer to buy a Rift 2, if they don’t release one I’ll buy someone else’s headset. Odyssey+ maybe if Pimax remains twice the price.
    I will say if Oculus doesn’t release a new PC HMD in 2019, WMR will likely be the benefactor as Vive Pro is so much more expensive.

    • Ellie 187

      Vive Pro will drop in price over time… another year or two and it might be an acceptable upgrade.

  • Engineer_92

    I really hope this means they’re doing something like Microsoft has done with their hololens. Microsoft is skipping ‘hololens’ gen 2 and going straight to gen 3. Don’t ask me how that works exactly, but I am assuming it just means its that big of a step up.

  • Ellon Musk

    still too early to push VR. Maybe another decade will change that. Still, VR progressed much farther than it has in the 2000s.

    • Lucidfeuer

      Could have, but won’t indeed. Another decade with other players who actually have vision, prospect and rationales and maybe it’ll go mainstream.

  • MosBen

    Boy, so many people talking about things that they don’t actually have much/any evidence for.

    As for the news story, it’s too bad that he’s leaving, but it will be interesting to see what he does next, and if it’s at all involved with VR. As for the cancelling of the Rift 2, that would be a bummer for sure, but we should wait for some kind of confirmation before jumping to conclusions.

  • Mateusz Pawluczuk

    Now only Nate remains from original trio. I hope Iribe stays in VR business in one form or another.

  • LowRezSkyline

    This just confirms what I’ve already known; VR is not doing well enough to support more investment. At least not PC based VR.

    BookFace is betting on non-PC based VR and my hunch is it’s a soft bet. Meaning, if the Quest doesn’t do exceedingly well that’ll be it.

    Keep in mind we are not the target market, PC gaming folks, early adopters, etc… that’s not the market, that’s a niche. Something (like VR) needs to grow beyond niche but that’s not happened and doesn’t look likely to happen.

    This is obvious if you step back and really look at the VR landscape. No triple-a studio is developing anything noteworthy (Cyberpunk 2077 an obvious example – they’ve even said they won’t be doing VR specifically – not a good sign!).

    In 2 or 3 years when Hololens has evolved and/or Apple’s AR offering is ready, maybe things will get back on track but right now it’s loads silly ‘experiences’ (mosh pit sim anyone? how lame), or how about another fortnight clone?

    I went from playing my VIVE daily the past 2 years, for at least an hour to zero in the past 2 months; there simply isn’t anything compelling to play and nothing coming.

    Upvote the guy that loves PC based VR all you want but it doesn’t change the reality of the market. VR is not mainstream and there is no compelling reason for most non-PC gaming nerds to consider it.

    The VIVE and Rift are basically proof-of-concepts; with enough money you can do neat things, but for most people the cost or requirement for a PC gaming rig, is simply too high.

    And where is the Zelda/Mario or Gran Tursimo or Halo for VR? There isn’t one. There isn’t a single game that will make someone go out and buy a Vive or Rift the way those games sell systems.

    • Adam Broadhurst

      100% agree,unfortunately :(
      VR has given me incredible experiences,the likes of which cannot be achieved in regular 2D gaming but it’s just not moving on is it?
      The standard of games is not improving.
      Initially Oculus pumped a lot of money into exclusives(much to the ire of Vive users) but where’s the next wave of exclusives?

      VR will not die,it such a giant leap in gaming it will always be there but perhaps for the time being it will just be a niche thing.
      Maybe in 10 years time they’ll be a second wave of headsets that aren’t so expensive,that don’t require ninja PC’s to run then and maybe someone will have finally solved the locomotion sickness problem(You cannot sell a product to the mass market that makes 50% of the users want to throw up)

      For now,i will continue to use VR for cockpit games,the one genre i can never go back to playing in 2D

    • Tommy

      Except none of it was true and Oculus has debunked the rumor already :)

      https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/10/oculus-reconfirms-future-version-of-rift-amid-pc-cancellation-rumors/

  • WyrdestGeek

    Reading between the lines, my take is: some kind of headset that could be *called* A “Rift 2” might come out in 2019, but if it does, it probably won’t be anything like what Iribe would have wanted.

    Put another way: Oculus will continue to service the PC VR sector, but it isn’t going to try to be innovative there, in fact it might be intentionally conservative choosing to *not* release a potentially ground breaking hmd in the high-end of the VR market unless it needs to, to keep pace with HTC.

    None of that really bothers me personally just as long as the Quest comes out on schedule and “Doesn’t suck”.

  • sfmike

    I’m surprised FB isn’t dropping VR altogether as the investors and money people have already said goodbye to the tech. Even developers are pulling back because they are not pulling the profits they thought would miraculously materialize. They all listened to optimistic tech gurus that said this would be a billion dollar industry by this point and it has developed as only a niche market. If the current iteration of Oculus 2 has been cancelled I predict it’s because the Pimax has shown it needs to be rethought regarding FOV or the money folks have just said that this is failed tech from a financial point and time to pull the plug. I see them pulling the plug as this is Murica and huge quick profits are ALL that matters in a corporation like FB. We might see VR coming the way of 3D TV.

  • fuyou2

    VR is bigger than Oculus.. The cat’s out of the bag, no way going back to Retarded 2D screens. Wait and see..

  • IF true i think it is the right decision. The future belongs to standalone VR not wired or even wireless VR

  • Tommy

    Oculus is going to have 3 skus going forward. They will be the Go, Quest, and Rift.
    None of them are built to replace the other.
    Go and Rift will remain mobile based and the Rift 2 will be PC based.

    • Lukimator

      This aged well

      LMAO

      • Tommy

        Lol. right!?
        Zuck is about as fickle as asking my wife where she wants to eat dinner

        • Lukimator

          In fairness, I thought the same thing back then. I didn’t believe Zuckerberg and co were so clueless but now we know TechCrunch nailed it

  • Konchu

    I could see them stepping back a bit on PC VR to focus on Quest etc.

    That is not to say they are scrapping PC VR but with StarVR and PiMax closing in I could see the focus changing thus breaking validity of what they have made. They had the 1/2 dome tech but it sounded like had some moving parts in there that could increase cost and it was 130 FOV which is awesome and if it was coming out now it would sell like crazy to the enthusiast. But if it is projected a few years out it might be suicide for the product if large FOV start emerging more in more in 2019.

  • Rlee

    If Vive beats them to the next generation headsets. You know we’re all dumping Oculus.

    • RockstarRepublic

      Forget Vive as well. HTC is an incompetent company. Expect to see some new steam vr brands hit the market, such as the one by LG. HTC thankfully does not have exclusive rights to make steam vr headsets.

  • G-man

    clickbait title, junk article.

    • RockstarRepublic

      Hardly, they gave quotes from the relevant people. Rift 2 is a marking term, it signifies a direct sequel, rather than a new line of product that may or may not hit the same target market.

      • G-man

        No. They span nothing into a bs story for clicks.

  • RockstarRepublic

    “Iribe and the Facebook executive team had “fundamentally different views on the future of Oculus that grew deeper over time,”

    Well no ****! We saw this the moment Facebook was allowed to acquire Oculus. It was one of the dumbest moves Palmer Lucky could make as far as the company goes… hes sure got a nice check from it though.

    Facebook has different goals and a different target audience, their mindset is not in line with the kind that drove PC hardware innovation.

  • SchoolHomeVR Technology Assist

    Geez,. Did they start taking advice from Alex Kurtzman on how to destroy momentum and start going backwards instead? IF THE RIFT S, HAS LESS THAN 140° FOV, I WILL HAPPILY KEEP MY CV1 BUT BUY SOMETHING ELSE AND MOVE ON TO STEAM/WMR PLATFORM. Less and less developers will create for ‘Oculus store’ if Oculus isn’t the cool kid on the block anymore (AHEM.. STEAM, COUGH COUGH KNUCKLES,., AHEM PIMAX 5K,.) Or making a TOOL FOR DEVELOPERS DUH,. That right there would have been worth the investment.

  • SchoolHomeVR Technology Assist

    Mobile VR has mindless games with low replayability (except those who like mindless repetition!) Only in PC can you Explore a Beautuful, Vast new world. True complexity. This is like Nvidia 3D Vision all over again. (I have that too! LOL ;”) Perfect 3840×1080 stereoscipic movies in 120hz playback. HEY, I’m watching Ready Player One again,. and .. oh never mind,.. I’m too depressed,. Zuck… is a cuck! (whatever the heck that is,..)

  • Paul

    Waiting for the movie to come out on DVD.