Facebook Buys ‘Beat Saber’ Developer Beat Games

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 27, 2019
  • Facebook announced it has acquired Beat Games, the game development studio known for the “Beat Saber” VR game.

Facebook announced it has acquired Beat Games — which is the studio known for developing the popular virtual reality game “Beat Saber.” Going forward, the Beat Games team will be joining the Oculus Studio division at Facebook and will operate independently from Prague. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

“Beat Games’ accomplishments are already impressive, but Facebook and the Beat Games team know that there is so much more that can be done across VR, games, and music. They have only scratched the surface with Beat Saber in terms of social features, new modes, music, and more. We are thrilled to join forces to see where this talented team takes VR gaming in the future,” said Mike Verdu, Head of AR/VR Content at Facebook. “Beat Saber is a perfect example of why VR is so exciting—VR reimagines old genres and invents new ones. The team at Beat Games made a leap forward in innovation and design with the stellar blend of game mechanics and music in Beat Saber, and yet we know that they, along with so many other devs, are just getting started.”

The “Beat Saber” game involves players swinging virtual sabers at blocks. The blocks sync with the music similar to what you may have seen in the “Guitar Hero” franchise. Prior to the acquisition, the “Beat Saber” game sold for $29.99 on the Oculus Store. Here is a gameplay video of “Beat Saber”:

Verdu also said that Facebook is exploring more ways to accelerate VR. And next year, Facebook will make more launches and announcements. Earlier this year, Facebook also acquired CTRL-Labs. CTRL-Labs is known for its neural interface technology.

“This is just the beginning,” Verdu added.