Friday the 13th isn’t unlucky for everyone!
The folks at Oculus VR have earned what amounts to a big ole green light for their virtual reality goggles, the Oculus Rift. Why? Thanks to Netscape founder Marc Andreessen’s venture capital firm (Andreessen Horowitz), they’ve just raised $75 million in funding.
Those are a lot of reasons to be happy!
Also, yes… that Netscape (the long dead – and original – web browser). Look it up you whippersnappers.
A lot has happened at Oculus VR in the last 16 months. In September of 2012, they earned a total of $2.4 million on Kickstarter after reaching their initial goal of $250,000 in 24 hours. Earlier this year (June), they secured an additional $16 million during their first round of funding. John Carmack left id Software to become the Chief Technical Officer at Oculus a few weeks ago.
Busy guys who mean business. I’ve been saying this for a while now: if you haven’t been paying attention to what Oculus is trying to do with virtual reality, you better. Andreessen’s investment speaks volumes to the credibility they’ve gained in the industry.
“We believe Oculus will not only alter the gaming landscape but will redefine fundamental human experiences in areas like film, education, architecture, and design. Oculus is at the tip of the iceberg of its potential, and we’re incredibly excited to help them change the world.” – Marc Andreessen
If you don’t know what the Oculus Rift is, it’s a virtual reality headset that provides a fully immersive, stereoscopic 3D experience with a 110 degrees field of view.
They might as well take my money now. Oh, and if you’re interested in working on the cutting edge of gaming tech, Oculus is hiring engineers.
While the company has been selling developer systems for $300 for a some time now, there is no set date for the launch of its commercial version… yet.
Carmack rockin’ the Oculus.
Stay tuned to GameSkinny for all your Oculus Rift news!
