Friday, May 5th 2017
Oculus Shuts Down Its VR-driven Story Studio - The Empire Falters
VR is one of the most important buzzwords in tech, not only for current development, but also for what studios and tech insiders deem to be our entertainment future. Oculus, which paved the way for VR with its Rift headset concept (before being snagged by Facebook), is one of the biggest, most recognizable players in this space. Now, after a series of hurdles such as the Oculus-ZeniMax sonata, which saw the former facing payments of $500 million, and Oculus' founder Palmer Luckey abandoning the company, a house of cards is crumbling. Namely, Oculus' VR-driven Story Studio.
The Story Studio was responsible for advancing the world of VR movies, having actually done a critically acclaimed job of it, with movies such as Lost, Emmy Award winning Henry, and Dear Angelica, as well as the Quill tool that the Studio developed to create this kind of experiences. The move is being presented by Jason Rubin in a blog post, as a way to "best allocate our resources to create an impact on the ecosystem," with Oculus having decided to "shift our focus away from internal content creation to support more external production," which, naturally, means "winding down Story Studio." Rubin didn't say whether the Story Studio team members, which includes animators and directors from Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, and others, will remain at the company following the division's "winding down." It also remains to be seen whether this is actually a strategic decision, or just the culmination of a series of setbacks, which arguably include the way Oculus tried to work its content into an exclusivity platform. With the winding down of Oculus' first party work, though, the way may be paved for a more open ecosystem, where the Oculus platform is more open to external development.
Sources:
Oculus Blogs, Tom's Hardware
40 Comments on Oculus Shuts Down Its VR-driven Story Studio - The Empire Falters
www.imdb.com/title/tt6231586/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
And in case people are saying VR is bad and etc. take a look at this:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/ready-player-one-wb-partners-htc-vive-988900Most TPU members are against new technology. I would recommend you ask on reddit/Vive. As a Vive owner I can tell you this is single most exciting technology introduced for a long time. It is a completely new way for human-machine interface.
It's happening. The gimmick value has worn off by now, just like Eye Toy, Wii, 3D TV, and all the other stuff that requires you to be active while enjoying your entertainment. People are lazy, and that will never change.
VR is now in uncanny valley and we have yet to see it get out of there.
They should have waited a few years. Flexible displays can solve the headset issue.
We as a Group generally look forward to new tech
Some of us have been vocal with our concerns about the overall viability of VR usualy this on the Cost and longevity ie support issues
ITS A NICHE PRODUCT at the moment and its cost prevents it from achieving mainstream Viability
Honestly Vive is better anyway.
Here is a good reason why.
www.msn.com/en-my/money/technologyinvesting/htcs-newest-vive-virtual-reality-module-will-follow-your-sight/ar-BBABpMo
Anyway, VR's problem isn't haters, is people that don't care (at current prices).