Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has pulled out from the virtual reality film business. This will result in the shutting down of its virtual reality film studio, which operates under the Oculus umbrella. The Story Studio debuted in 2015 with an inclusion of some of the leading entertainment market players including Pixar.
The initial role of the platform was to help in jumpstarting the nascent VR industry. The studio was up to the task of making the technology more engaging beyond video gamers. Nonetheless, to date, VR is yet to capture an all inclusive attention in the market, a situation that has been linked to the pricey headsets required to watch the films.
Shift of focus in support of external production
The social networking giant says that it is taking a different route of focus as a result of dramatic changes in the market. The VP of content at Oculus, Jason Rubin explains that they will no longer support internal content and will instead shift focus to external production. Together with his colleagues, Rubin’s interest is in growing the VR film and creative content ecosystem.
“Now that a large community of filmmakers and developers are committed to the narrative VR art form, we’re going to focus on funding and supporting their content,” says Rubin.
But Facebook’s virtual reality ambitions have been threatened
There are so many unsolved problems in AR and VR hardware and software and perhaps the reason Facebook is becoming more ambitious. However, its efforts may not see the light of day given the lawsuit threat from ZeniMax Media. The video game publisher alleges that the tech giant’s VR unit could be in violation of its copyrighted software code.
It may also have to face competition from its rival tech firms; Sony Corp (ADR)(NYSE:SNE) and Vive, which are also working on VR products. Oculus has not had it easy in the last year with the exit of top leadership Brendan Iribe, who dropped his mandate of a chief executive officer.
In the meantime, Facebook’s stock closed at $150.24 a decline of $0.61 or 0.40%.