Facebook is buying Oculus for $2B to ‘get ready for the platform of tomorrow’

“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in a brief explanation of why his company is buying Oculus.

Oculus makes Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headseat (pictured above) for immersive, 3D gaming.

The deal includes $400 million in cash, 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock, and a potential $300 million earn-out for good behavior. The transaction should be complete by June 2014 at the latest.

Oculus will stay in its Irvine, Calif., headquarters and will continue to produce the Oculus Rift headset.

“Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate,” Zuckerberg continued.

“We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world,” said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR, in the same joint statement.

“We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.”