Amid currently unfounded concerns that Facebook mean to turn Oculus inside out or stockpile all future Rifts for Zuckerberg’s personal use, one clear, tangible downside to the acquisition is beginning to emerge: we’re not getting a free, officially supported version of Minecraft to forward the cause of magic goggles. And that’s a bit sad.
The trail begins, somewhat oddly, with Oculus investor CliffyB. In the concluding paragraphs of a long and reasoned defence of Facebook’s Oculus acquisition, the former shooter designer accused Notch of “taking his ball and going home”, and said the cancellation of a VR Minecraft “saddens me greatly”.
In response, Notch tweeted that the ball he was taking home was a “potential free version of Minecraft designed to promote VR”.
In other words, Mojang were trying to do Oculus a favour – until the financial deal that didn’t sit right with Notch’s principles.
Facebook and Oculus announced their $2 billion deal two days ago; by bedtime, Notch had cancelled a possible Oculus Rift version of Minecraft.
“I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook,” explained the Mojang founder. “Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven’t historically been a stable platform. There’s nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.”
The VR version of Minecraft had been under discussion for just two weeks after Notch visited the Oculus offices in Irvine. Are you sorry to see it vanish in a puff of potential? Or will VR mod Minecrift do you?