Facebook’s buyout of promising virtual reality company Oculus (makers of the Oculus Rift headset) has split the gaming community right down the middle. And it’s alienated at least one high profile developer — Markus Persson, creator of Minecraft.
While some see the social network’s war-chest as exactly what Oculus needs to fast-track the protracted development of the headset, Persson is among those sceptical of Facebook’s influence over the virtual reality company. So sceptical in fact that a planned Oculus Rift-compatible version of Minecraft has now been scrapped.
“We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out,” wrote Persson.
“Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven’t historically been a stable platform. There’s nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.
“I want to work with games. I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook.”
While Facebook has promised that the £1.2 billion buyout will not affect Oculus’s games tech development, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that he sees a social future for the company as part of a communications platform. Though its resources will be bolstered, Oculus’s previous gaming focus will likely be diminished somewhat. [TechRadar]