Virtual reality developer BigBox VR has been acquired by Oculus owner Facebook for an undisclosed fee.
The Seattle-based studio is best known for developing VR battle royale title Population: One, which launched nine months ago and has become one of the “top-performing titles” on the Oculus platform.
Facebook, which purchased VR company Oculus for $2 billion in 2014, will incorporate BigBox into the Oculus Studios family and work with the studio to continue supporting and growing Population: One.
“BigBox VR may be small, but they are a mighty, nimble team of game industry vets who seamlessly nail the game development duality of craft and data-driven live service,” said Facebook on the Oculus blog.
“We’re excited to help BigBox VR grow and accelerate their vision for Population: One as a state-of-the-art VR social gaming experience, as well as pursue future projects, with access to the resources and support of Facebook and Oculus Studios, all while maintaining the team’s creativity, disciplined methodology, and commitment to community.”
Facebook said the deal for BigBox is part of its current plan of investing in content and developers that “foster social connections,” and noted that it wants to help BigBox expand and engage with the Population: One community while also pursuing other projects.
The social media company also confirmed the entire BigBox VR team will be joining Oculus Studios, but said it’s committed to maintaining the developer’s “nimble, iterative, creative culture.” Population: One will also continue to be supported on non-Oculus platforms.
The news comes a week after Facebook purchased Crayta developer Unit 2 Games with a view to tapping into the content creation market.