Irvine-based virtual reality game developer Ready at Dawn Studios has been acquired by Facebook to further expand the social media giant’s reach into the rapidly growing gaming market.
Ready at Dawn is joining Oculus Studios, a division of Oculus, the virtual reality (VR) headset and software company that was founded by Palmer Luckey and sold to Facebook in 2014 for about $3 billion.
Financial terms of the Ready at Dawn sale were undisclosed. It’s Facebook’s third acquisition of a VR studio, according to news reports.
The local firm is a veteran game developer, having shipped games to multiple platforms in the past, and is a VR pioneer. The firm has created four games for the Oculus platform since 2017, including “Lone Echo,” which is set in outer space and allows players to move as though they are in zero gravity.
Other VR games it has made include “Echo Arena” and “Echo Combat.” “Lone Echo II” is currently in development.
Non-VR games it has made include “The Order: 1886.”
As part of the Oculus Studios team, Ready at Dawn will continue to create “VR content for gamers around the world as an independently-operated studio,” Mike Verdu, a vice president at Facebook, said on June 22.
Irvine Hub Staying
Facebook said it’s bringing the entire Ready at Dawn team onboard.
“They will continue to build amazing game experiences as an independent studio operating out of their current offices in Irvine, California, and Portland, Oregon, with the full support of Facebook and the Oculus Studios team behind them,” Verdu added.
“The studio is working on Lone Echo II, and we are eager for its launch. We are not announcing future projects at this time.”
Ready at Dawn Studios was founded in 2003 by senior members of game developer Naughty Dog and Irvine-based gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment Inc., OC’s largest software maker. Its co-founders are Andrea Pessino, Didier Malenfant and CEO Ru Weerasuriya.
Buying Push
“Facebook has been on a game studio acquisition spree over the past year, buying up developers behind some of the most popular VR titles,” website TechCrunch said shortly after the Ready at Dawn deal was announced.
The Lone Echo games are “one of Oculus’s most successful series,” TechCrunch added. “The studio has been working closely with Facebook and Oculus for a while as a publishing partner, this acquisition brings the team into the Oculus fold as they prep the release of a full sequel to Lone Echo.”
Facebook previously announced the acquisition of Beat Games, the studio behind “Beat Saber,” and Sanzaru Games, the developer behind the “Asgard’s Wrath.”
Facebook said on June 23 that it will discontinue sales of its Oculus Go, the budget VR headset that was introduced two years ago, and focus on improving higher-priced offerings for Quest and Rift.
There are over 400 esports and video gaming-related companies within a 65-mile radius of Irvine, according to Irvine-based Esportz Entertainment Corp. estimates, making the local area an epicenter for the gaming market.
