Microsoft’s streaming serviceMixer unexpectedly shut down this morningas the tech conglomerate announced a partnership with Facebook Gaming, but that is apparently not the only video game-related news Facebook decided to make public today. In an Oculus Blog post by Facebook AR/VR content vice president Mike Verdu, it was announced that the company has acquiredThe Order: 1886developer Ready At Dawn to create “groundbreaking content in VR.”
Ready At Dawn’s 2015 third-person action-adventure titleThe Order: 1886was considered a disappointmentupon release, yet the studio has gone on to create other titles includingLone Echo,Echo Arena, andEcho Combatfor Oculus since 2017. It is also currently developingLone Echo 2, and Verdu said that utilizing Facebook’s VR technology will allow Ready At Dawn to create “memorable, immersive, and innovative VR content.”
RELATED:Ninja and Shroud Not Partnering with Facebook, Says Report
Despite this acquisition, Verdu said in the blog post that Ready At Dawn is still an independently-operated studio, one that is retaining its entire staff and will still be publishing onOculus Quest. On Twitter, Ready At Dawn CEO Ru Weerasuriya said the team is excited to “open a new chapter in our story and continue to pursue our passions,” though Verdu said in the blog that they are not ready to share details about future projects at this time.
With layoffs being a not uncommon occurrence atmajor game studios and publishers like Sony, it is good to see that Facebook has kept the Ready At Dawn team in-tact through this acquisition, and that they feel the studio’s tight-knit community and focus are “aspects of the company we admire and intend to maintain.” Verdu said the independent studio will continue to operate out of both its offices in Irvine, California, and Portland, Oregon.
However, it is unclear exactly what Ready At Dawn will be doing under this new purview as an Oculus Studios team. In January, it wasrumored that a sequel toThe Order: 1886was in developmentfor PS5 and the Xbox Series X, but with much of the studio’s attention focused on VR series likeLone Echothis seems less likely.
No matter what Ready At Dawn works on next, it should be interesting to see how its new ownership might affect titles down the line. If a sequel toThe Order: 1886does come to fruition, fans of the first game should probably expect at least some VR integration.
The Order: 1886is available for PS4.
MORE:10 Console Game Sequels We Never Got (But We Desperately Want To Get Closure)
