Palmer Luckey a no-show at Oculus Connect keynote as Facebook takes the lead

Oculus took the stage for the keynote presentation at its annual Connect developer conference today, and founder Palmer Luckey did not make an appearance.

Instead of Luckey, Oculus trotted out chief executive Brendan Iribe, vice president of product Nate Mitchell, and chief science officer Michael Abrash to give attendees a glimpse at the future. Along with those staples of Oculus events, the company also had people like diversity project manager Ebony Peay Ramirez and creative producer Yelena Rachitsky take the spotlight to discuss their areas of expertise. But the most notable stage presence at Oculus Connect was Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He spoke at length about VR and its social implications, and it seems clear that Facebook is taking a larger role in the leadership of the VR brand it acquired for $2 billion in 2014.