Facebook has recently announced that it has acquired Beat Games Studios, the studio behind the popular virtual reality (VR) game, Beat Saber. The announcement was tweeted by Oculus Studios, which is also owned by Facebook.
For those unaware of the game, Beat Saber is a VR action rhythm game where you strike floating cubes with dual “light sabers” in pre-determined directions while matching to the beat of certain songs. The game features original, as well as licensed songs from various artists. Even more so thanks to its expansion packs, which includes hit songs from Imagine Dragons, and Monstercat.
Oculus explained that the move is to provide the Beat Games Studios with more development resources, and Beat Saber will continue to roll out more content including the upcoming 360-degree levels update. The company also mentioned that the game will not be made as an Oculus Rift exclusive, and will still be available on other supported platforms.
Great news: @BeatGamesStudio is joining Oculus Studios! @BeatSaber is the first VR-only platinum hit + one of the best ways to show people the magic of VR. We’re excited to welcome this awesome team. Director of Content Mike Verdu shares more on the blog: https://t.co/jKF98nkQ4h pic.twitter.com/oEWS5aGJJk
— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) November 26, 2019
As for Beat Saber’s modding community, Oculus stated in their blog post that modding does bring added value to the game in terms of positive values, but will be monitoring mod submissions in order to avoid issues such as piracy or copyright infringement from third parties. The company will also ensure that mods will adhere to Oculus’ policy, as well as keeping check for any mods that may contain malicious codes or malware.
Oculus says that the acquisition of Beat Games Studios is just the beginning, and is looking into more ways of expanding the VR industry. On a side note, there is no mention of how much was involved in the studio’s acquisition by Facebook and Oculus.
(Source: Oculus[1][2] via The Verge, TechCrunch // Image: Beat Saber)
