Downpour Interactive, developers of multiplayer VR first-person shooter (FPS), Onward, becomes the latest studio to be acquired by Facebook.
Facebook today announced its fourth VR studio acquisition via its official Oculus blog. Facebook welcomed Downpour Interactive, the studio behind the VR shooter Onward, who have developed the title into one of the most popular games for VR. Interest in the game was boosted mainly by the launch of Oculus’ own Quest 2 headset.
The company says that the entire Downpour Interactive team will join Facebook “in some capacity” and that the team has some “exciting plans for future Onward updates and future projects.”
Downpour Interactive CEO Dante Buckley posted this message on the official Onward website:
Today is a very exciting day for Onward and the Downpour team, we are joining Oculus Studios at Facebook! I remember when I wrote the first line of code for Onward and walked around “Cargo,” one of the first maps in game. Putting on a VR headset and building this dream game was a magical experience every day. From those early days to now, Onward and Downpour have grown and made huge strides in the VR industry. I can’t thank my team enough for their hard work and dedication, as well our passionate and dedicated player community.
With us joining Oculus Studios at Facebook, we can now realize Onward’s full vision with tremendous support and resources. This means a better game for all our players on all platforms. There are no changes in hierarchy or in vision, everyone at Downpour is still working hard to deliver you the best game possible. Thank you all for your continued support, and stay tuned for future updates and content.
In the last 18 months Facebook has also acquired Beat Games (Beat Saber), Sanzaru Games (Asgard’s Wrath amongst others), Ready at Dawn (Lone Echo amongst others), and now Downpour Interactive.
Facebook and Downpour Interactive have promised fans of the game that they intend to continue their support for Onward on Oculus as well as non-Oculus platforms. However we believe its likely that any future titles from the newly acquired studio will become exclusive to Oculus.
