Us Blocks Facebook From Buying Virtual Reality Company

Us Blocks Facebook From Buying Virtual Reality Company by Adam Rosen last updated on January 24, 2023

Facebook Stopped From Buying VR Company

US Trade Commission blocked Facebook's attempt to buy a VR company known as 'Within Unlimited'. The said company was involved in the content making for VR devices and headsets.

The FTC filed for a restraining order (temporary) so that the company could be stopped from buying the VR content maker. The company is already a giant global technology company which owns various apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.

According to the FTC, this attempt is the company's campaign to conquer the VR industry. After the company's acquisition of Oculus in 2014, the company has been investing heavily in VR and metaverse.

Buying Price of VR Company Not Disclosed

In 2021, Meta agreed to buy the VR company but didn't disclose the buying price. Earlier year, an antitrust lawsuit was filed by the FTC against Facebook.

According to Meta Platforms, they do not share the same views and analysis as the FTC. They believe that the FTC case is not based on evidence but on speculation and ideology at best. The company said that its acquisition of the VR firm would not affect the competitiveness and growth in the VR industry.

In fact, they believe that this takeover will be good for the developers, people, and the VR space as a whole. If we talk about innovation, there's no dispute that a big company such as FB entering the VR space will bring a lot of innovation.

But there is also no doubt that this limit the competition in the VR market as most of the share will be held by Meta Platforms.

The FTC complaint is about how the Meta Platforms want to dominate virtual reality, which is still a new part of the internet.

According to estimates, the revenue from the VR industry may increase from $5 billion up to 12$ billion in the year 2024.