Oculus VR has had a whirlwind year. It’s the kind of epic startup story that every struggling entrepreneur can identify with. The story of this company shows how you can start with an impossible dream, cross a chasm of skepticism, and then find an army of welcoming fans on the other side that can give your idea the momentum it needs.
The Irvine, Calif.-based game startup resuscitated the virtual-reality market when founder Palmer Luckey gave a prototype of his Oculus Rift virtual-reality goggles to gaming legend John Carmack, who sang its praises at the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show in June 2012.
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Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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