Facebook acquires VR battle royale game developer Population: One

Facebook has acquired the developer BigBox VR. The company wrote this in a blog post. BigBox is the studio behind Population: One, a VR battle royale game for up to 24 players.

Facebook subsidiary Oculus does not disclose details about the acquisition in its blog post. For example, it is unclear what amount is involved in the acquisition. The studio will become part of Oculus Studios. According to Oculus, BigBox VR has “big plans for the future” for Population: One and for “other projects,” but the company isn’t sharing any details yet. All BigBox VR employees will join Oculus after the acquisition.

Population: One came out late last year, and was a success. Facebook wrote in February that the VR game was good for a total of more than 10 million dollars in sales in the Oculus store a few months after release. Facebook writes that Population: One will also remain available at other digital stores. “Population: One will be supported on all current platforms.” In addition to the Oculus platform, the battleroyale game is currently also available on Steam.

Facebook has been acquiring VR developers for some time now. In 2019, the tech giant bought Beat Games, the developer of the popular VR rhythm game Beat Saber. Facebook has since acquired five studios, including BigBox VR. The company acquired Downpour Interactive in April. That’s the studio behind the VR shooter Onward.