The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and several US states are investigating Oculus. The company that makes virtual reality glasses, like Facebook, is a subsidiary of Meta and is said to be guilty of unfair competition practices. That reports financial news agency Bloomberg based on insiders.
Employees of the American competition watchdog have been talking to developers who make apps for Oculus in recent months. The app store for the company’s virtual reality glasses might favor programs that Oculus has developed itself. Some developers also accused the company of copying promising ideas and making it harder for some third-party apps to work properly on the platform.
The FTC also wanted to know more about Oculus’ sales strategy. The company’s headsets are a lot cheaper than those of competitors such as Taiwanese HTC.
The FTC’s investigation could frustrate Meta’s plans with the so-called metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to transform his social media company into a digital meeting place where, for example, conversations, games and shopping seem lifelike thanks to VR headsets. Adults in the United States and Canada can already use Meta’s Horizon Worlds platform to play games in virtual reality.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus changed its name to Meta this fall to underline its belief in the metaverse. The internet group previously announced that it would have to invest significantly more to create a digital world that is hardly distinguishable from the real thing. Meta, then Facebook, bought Oculus in 2014 for 2 billion dollars (1.8 billion euros).
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