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In a recent development that is surprising to absolutely no one, Oculus just dropped co-founder Palmer Luckey. At this point, it isn’t clear if the controversial figure was fired or if he quit voluntarily, but Facebook’s ruthless PR streak does make the former case more likely. Considering just how much the company is suffering on Luckey’s account, he has become a huge liability for the social network.
Luckey used to be the poster boy for the resurgence of virtual reality technology in the mass consumer market by reportedly creating the Oculus Rift headset. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it was then snatched up by Facebook for $2 billion. Two years later, Oculus has released a statement to confirm Luckey’s departure and making it sound almost like a eulogy, Tech Crunch notes.
“Palmer will be dearly missed,” the statement reads. “Palmer’s legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and build an industry. We’re thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best.”
This ends a promising new era where a home-schooled figure broke through the generic college frat boy crowd in Silicon Valley. So far, Luckey himself could not be contacted, as has been the case for several months.
The Oculus co-founder’s absence from the public sphere is mostly credited to Facebook’s rabid team of PR people, Business Insider reports, which is made up of some exceedingly enthusiastic damage control specialists. Through their efforts, Mark Zuckerberg has enjoyed an unnaturally immaculate public profile. As such, it only makes sense for them to keep someone as toxic as Luckey away from the windows.
By finally ridding itself of Luckey, Oculus basically cut loose dead weight and gives it a chance to finally turn on the ignition of its troubled business. If not, there is a very real chance that Facebook just flushed $2 billion down the drain along with the $500 million that it had to pay ZeniMax after the recent court battle between the two tech firms.
