Oculus co-founder quits Facebook ‘due to Rift 2 cancellation’ – update

Oculus co-founder and former company CEO, Brendan Iribe, is leaving Facebook, which is now Oculus’ parent company. According to a rumor, Facebook is canceling the Rift 2 for PC, which would be the reason for the departure.

Iribe announces his departure on Facebook. “This is going to be the first real break for me in 20 years. It’s time to recharge, reflect and get creative.” He co-founded Oculus in 2012, along with Palmer Luckey, and served as the company’s chief executive from that year until the end of 2016. From then on, he led Oculus’ PC division at Facebook, which acquired the VR company in 2014. Hugo Barra, who previously worked at Google’s Android division and Xiaomi, took over his role as CEO last year.

The co-founder’s departure follows internal shifts within Oculus. Last week it was decided that the development of the Rift 2 will be scrapped, TechCrunch writes based on information from sources within the company. The company would like to focus on developing the Quest all-in-one headset, which does not require a PC. Iribe reportedly disagreed with that strategy, which he would view as a “race to the bottom” in terms of performance.

Facebook says in a response to TechCrunch that it will not provide information about product roadmaps, but that a future version of the Rift is planned.

It concerns a new departure from Facebook of a founder of a company that took over the social network. Previously, Oculus’ Palmer Luckey, WhatsApps Jan Koum and Instagrams Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left Facebook.

Update, 15.25: The head of Oculus’ Rift division, Nate Mitchell, reiterates the statement that Oculus still works to the ‘Rift/PC platform, with new hardware, software and content.’ He gave no further details.