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Oculus Studios acquires Onward developer Downpour Interactive

Another brick in the wall of Facebook's first-party Oculus Studios.

What you need to know

  • Facebook continues to bolster its first-party VR development repertoire with another top-tier VR developer.
  • As with other VR developer acquisitions, Oculus has pledged to continue to support the game on all available platforms.
  • The news follows a record-setting earnings quarter for Facebook's AR and VR division.

Facebook is officially announcing its acquisition of Downpour Interactive, the developer behind the massively popular multiplayer military simulator Onward. While Facebook isn't disclosing the terms of the deal, they did specify that Downpour Interactive will remain an independently operated studio despite joining the umbrella of Oculus Studios. Onward has remained one of the best Quest 2 games since its launch and, indeed, one of the best multiplayer shooters on any VR platform where it's available. Facebook says that Onward will continue to receive updates and support on all platforms where it's available, which includes Rift, Quest, and SteamVR.

Downpour Interactive joins Oculus Studios alongside several other VR developers, including Beat Saber developer Beat Games, Asgard's Wrath developer Sanzaru Games, Lone Echo and Echo VR developer Ready at Dawn, to name a few. Downpour Interactive Founder and CEO, Dante Buckley, says that Downpour Interactive will be receiving the full support of Oculus Studios resources for Onward, as well as future projects that can now be pursued thanks to the additional resource availability.

The news comes after Facebook's Q1 2021 earnings report showed that the Quest 2 has sold up to 5 million units in the 6 months it's been available on the market, making the Oculus Quest 2 the fastest-selling VR headset ever launched, by far, keeping up with analysts' estimates of the Xbox Series X|S sales. Additional first-party development studios solidify Facebook's position in the VR market which, as of this most recent earnings report, shows the company investing even more into the VR industry than ever before. Estimates show that one-fifth of the company's employees — or roughly 10,000 people — are now working on some form of AR or VR project within Facebook Reality Labs.


by Nicholas Sutrich