Oculus VR employees got death threats and harassing phone calls that extended to their families

According to Oculus VR’s Palmer Luckey, people working at Oculus VR got death threats and harassing phone calls that extended to their families, something that is obviously shocking given the fact that this is a PC peripheral and not a cure for cancer or something like that.

[PCGamingNoobs]

damn right!!!

no, but seriously that's a bit far.

[Eonjay]

There are always fools willing to take things too far.

[PoSTedUP]

ur right. i sorry, guys. i was just really mad bc, uh, facebook, and, teh whole facebooks is facebooks. i wanted the oculus, but why they have do'd that? D:

really tho, society has some f'd up ppl in it, any death threat should be taken seriously, you dont know people or their intentions. its sick that some people think this is a joke (the ppl that are opposing the threats).

[hay]

"You work in the company that was bought by Facebook for shitload of money! Silence! I kill you!"

Not a fan of Facebook personally, but this surely makes sense. /sarcasm in the room

[Pogmathoin]

Posted.... Someday you may be a business man and have to make a big decision, unless your Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, decisions are made with common sense,, people who work on these things have other important things in life, must do whats best for them, not for love of gaming....

[miyamoto]

Oh, Microsoft what catastrophic thing have you done again?

[YellowTempes]

Yes, there are, but the employees have nothing to do with the business side of their work and this situation is completely wrong.

[DragonKnight]

Is it just me, or do "death threats and harassing phone calls" look like the go to sympathy claim every time some company does something unpopular?

I personally am not buying this at it's immediate face value. It's very easy to say this kind of thing happened just so people shut up about something they don't like so as to not be lumped together with crazy nut jobs and also to appear to be sympathetic.

The amount of times I've seen "I've received death threats and my family has received harassing phone calls" just really seems suspicious now. It's like these people can get the phone numbers of family members but for some reason NOT get the phone number of the immediate people they are actually angry with.

[AliTheSnake1]

What a bunch of No lifes.

[SilentNegotiator]

@DragonKnight

I kinda hear you. Empty internet threats seem to be used a bit too often as counterpoints and it would be all too easy to simply claim to have received serious death threats for sympathy.

[Charybdis]

Let's all not try to pretend that only pc gamers are at fault with stuff like this. It's not like this is the first time we heard of devs etc getting threats from so called 'gamers' .
Edit: old article same subject still happening : http://www.polygon.com/2013...

[Silver360]

Hoped they used caller ID on every call

[andrewsqual]

But isn't it a bit of a coincidence that it is acquired by Facebook, that houses some of the biggest scum in the world, and THEN they receive these death threats? You want to bring it to the masses, at least know your audience guys.

[DragonKnight]

That's what I'm saying. I think this is a sympathy stunt to get people to shut up.

[starchild]

A "bit far"? Talk about an understatement.

No, the people who made those threats and hateful comments are scum. This is an entertainment device. If it bothers you so much that Oculus was acquired by Facebook then just don't buy the Rift. Nobody cares.

But the pure venom and hate that people directed at Palmer Luckey and the other Oculus guys on places like reddit is just shameful.

[Baccra17]

Don't screw with a man and their money. What did they expect would happen?

[DanielGearSolid]

The internet makes cowards think they're killers

[Dante81]

Killers ARE cowards.

[Saints94]

Subjective.

[Neixus]

@Saints94

Why is that subjective? any killer is a coward, because they chose the cowardly way to solve a problem.

If you mean subjective, as killing someone in self defence, you don't get deemed as a killer.

[Watari321]

@Neixus Not all people that kill people are cowards that is a dumb way to look at it.

[morganfell]

",,,the cowardly way to solve a problem."

Really?

You should get out into the world more. Or try reading something besides gaming news. There are some people that only understand the kind of reasoning that comes out of the barrel of a gun or they at least comprehend the lesser form of communication known as a sharp blow to the head.

You might be surprised to learn that while a great many people respond to reason, attempting this route with certain persons only paints V for victim on your forehead.

http://extramustard.si.com/...

http://www.detroitnews.com/...

http://www.nbcmiami.com/new...

http://www.firstcoastnews.c...

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/n...

The list is endless. And look what happens to a lot of families and individuals when they do not resist the home invaders. Google that one and look at the rapes and the killings.

[dcj0524]

Not true. If I kill a theif to protrct my little brother am I a coward?

[speedforce131]

So what do you call the men and women that protect your country?

[PSNintyGamer]

How immature

[Jihaad_cpt]

Immature nerds lol, this shows what is wrong the world displayed by a group of "gamers". People need to grow up and think before they act.

[4logpc]

Jeeze. Some gamers need to grow up.

[Paulie_gualtieri]

sounds like typical PC fanboys.

[jmac53]

For some reason I always think of the unbeatable player in the South Park World of Warcraft episode when gamers rage about video games.

[d3nworth1]

I wouldn't specifically say PC fanboys but fanboys in general.

[Paulie_gualtieri]

I doubt console fanboys care enough to take it to this level.Especially since oculus never had anything to do with consoles.It's been PC fanboys who have been bragging about oculus forever.Then they turned on them when they sold out to facebook.Now they pull this stunt.

[DoctorJones]

http://kotaku.com/5873587/d...

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk...

http://technutty.co.uk/blog...

It happens from lots of people, including console gamers. Some dullards like to think it's just pc gamers, but it's not true, obviously.

[GeraltofRivia]

I am not aware of death threats being common with PC gamers or as sh*theads like you would like to call them "PC fanboys." Occasionally I like to be enlightened by the almighty console only superior race, so please let me know, what makes someone a pc fanboy?

[Paulie_gualtieri]

Look at your comment history if you want see what a PC fanboy is.

A deep sense of entitlement, massive insecurity issues, the need to validate ones own preference by boasts, bitter jealously stemmed from nonacceptance by general gaming media coverage.

Just some of the traits of rabid PC fanboys - not to be confused with the average happy go lucky PC gamer, mind you.

[starchild]

@ Paulie_gualtieri

As opposed to you? All your comments are Sony fanboy drivel...attacking the PC and Xbox platforms.

The fact is, all kinds of fanboys are jumping on the hate-Oculus bandwagon. On a lot of game sites I frequent there are well-known Sony fanboys bashing the hell out of Oculus and it's obvious they just took this commotion as an oportunity to bash the Oculus Rift because they favor Sony's headset and see the Rift as a strong competitor.

There are lots of PC gamers like myself who haven't bashed Oculus at all and actually think the Facebook acquisition is a good thing for the future of the Rift.

[ArbitorChief]

Ironic when console fanboys sent death threats to the CoD developers over a damn patch. Sounds like Playstation/Xbox fanboys to me if we go by past behavior.

[GeraltofRivia]

Warning: Stating facts to a console only fanboy usually leads to a mindless reaction.

[Paulie_gualtieri]

As opposed to the kind comments left by PC guys at WOW, DOTA, LoL, Diablo etc, updates that screw things up? Give me a break.

Don't get me started on past behavior.

[Ripco_Keller]

Uncalled for.

[player002]

this generation of gamers is pathetic ....They got what was promised which was a prototype of Oculus.Smh

[dcj0524]

Not really. They've always been pathetic. The internet just exposes that.

[Alex_Boro]

People on the internet are so damn butthurt. I bet the people sending death threats never stepped outside before.

[Orange Juice]

More money more problems. I hope palmer isnt wanting these threats to end because they wont. Maybe he can buy his threatened family members a self defense course or two since they are the ones paying for his greed.

[annus]

Of course they will end. The people complaining are like little children that cry until they get something.

A massive amount of people already stopped complaining as much simply by OR recently getting Michael Abrash, and I'm sure as time goes on and they realise that the buyout was a good thing, it will completely stop until the next thing to complain about happens.

[Orange Juice]

"The people complaining are like little children that cry until they get something."

the only difference is that oculus willingly took thousands of dollars worth of donations only to immediately sell out to the highest bidder who happens to be facebook! Maybe they shouldve pitched their tech to facebook in the first place, then this backlash wouldnt be happening.

[annus]

Those thousands of dollars were to "kickstart" the company so that they could do their research to produce DK1, which was out ages ago.

If you honestly thought that some company weren't going to buy out the leader of the next big thing you are delusional. It was bound to happen in some point in time, thought Facebook was actually quite a surprise.

I can't imagine the amount of money they are going through having some of the biggest names in gaming and virtual reality together to build this, now they basically have more money than they can spend, which is a good thing.

[Orange Juice]

I just think they couldve held off longer. If selling to the highest corporate bidder was their kickstarter plan then they should tell us that in the pitch instead of acting like this grassroots based savior of pc gaming with their palms wide open. I know you will disagree but this is how I feel, and im not alone.

[aliengmr]

@Orange Juice

Wrong, they can't see the future and had no idea someone would buy them out.

Facebook only got interested around GDC.

People are upset they lost their "little guy" that's all. They had ZERO obligations to do anything beyond providing KS rewards and ultimately developing the Rift. KS isn't a license to tell businesses what to do in the future.

[strickers]

Pathetic. Twats should be ashamed.
They also drag us all down.

[Mr Tretton]

Nerd rage! /O\ Oh noes!

[ShiftyLookingCow]

There will always be a few of such people when something like this happens. It doesn't mean the argument about Facebook being bad for gaming is suddenly invalid.

[PoSTedUP]

own a gun. it's better to have one and not need it, than to need it and not have one...

ppl are pa-th-etic tho.

[Ghost_Nappa]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?...

[azure1990]

Wow now this. The other some kid destroyed his dad's motorcycle(I think) because he told him to turn off his gaming console.

[The_Truth_24_7]

Lol.
#teamsony #projectmorpheus

[level 360]

These people are fighting for the wrong reasons.

They made themselves worse than their enemies.

[gameforall]

Calling bull, just trying the sympathy card

[ELpork]

I love how this is too much, but when that lady who was making that game about depression or whatever everybody was up in arms about how the same thing was ok with her and she needed to deal with it...

This is where the "Wacky internet" song plays right?

[_LarZen_]

I hope the police will be able to track them and put them in jail or a psychiatric clinic where they belong.

[Th3o]

At that rate all FB users should get the same punishment? Willingly putting personal information on a social site, they might need psychiatric help as well.

On the serious note, yes I agree they do need help. I too am saddened by Oculus VR being sold to FB but there are plenty of waves to cope with it, for example...not wanting to kill ppl....or you know...moving to it's competitors?

LOGIC HAS NO PLACE BETWEEN THESE WALLS! (The internet):)

[Summons75]

Jail is a bit far but a fine and or some community service would teach them that death threats are not okay.

I get being upset with what happened but it came down to the leads own selfish agenda and facebooks 'everything must be social and acociated with Facebook' agenda.

The only thing we can do is speak against it by showing no interest and not buying it.

[Back-to-Back]

Jail? lol ok you're an idiot.

[_LarZen_]

Death threats can be punishable by 1-4 years in the USA. Depending on what state and if the person has any priors.

If you think it's funny or "ok" to threat to kill anyone or their family then you are the idiot. Did you feel that? That smack in the back of your big head was reality saying wake the fuck up.

[Rimeskeem]

It saddens me that anything has to go this far :,(

[incendy35]

Makes me not want to be a part of the gaming community. Sad, very sad.

[anonjohn23]

That ain't right. I mean I dislike Facebook just as much as the next guy, but death threats? That is taking things WAY too far. I wonder how the whole Oculus team feels about this deal now?

[mr-phillips]

Keyboard warriors strike again with empty online threats.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Seriously...what a sad statement on gamers.

[Agent_hitman]

This is too much.. no one in his right mind would send death threat to anyone..

[PurpHerbison]

Wish I could lock those death threat senders up in a room and practice shooting apples off their head with my bow.

[llMurcielagoll]

Yup... That's enought internet for today.

[Milesprowers]

Facebook + Oculus = Awesome.. more money for the development team, more resources and PR.. perfect combination.

[pwnsause_returns]

too far..

[KillerPwned]

Not surprised but in reality its gonna happen over and over again some people act and some just do it for whatever reason that is. Also people did this not just some group you wanna pick out of society.

[ground_beef]

Well first off, empty death threats happen all the time around us in all countries of the world, they happen for the most trivial reasons sometimes. Even celebrities do it to paparazzi (actually only 1 celebrity, Kanye, lool). No that doesn't make it ok in any way off course, but people saying these people should be jailed or taken to a psychiatric facility is too much. A fine and community service is more than enough here as SUMMONS75 said.

Regarding the deal itself, well the rift creators were greedy. I mean they were already good on terms of tweaking the device till it's release, they didn't need more money. They really didn't need the money from Facebook. It's just greed. And they treated the people who donated money with the utmost disrespect, this is my own opinion. But again nothing to deserve death threats off course.

What I think in general is that the rift isn't gonna make any profit. The backlash is huge. I mean the same happened to MS and they had to revert their plans, and still their facing lower sales than their competitor all because of the backlash. Not only that but I think that fb's purchase will never be gaming focused. Fb was never about hardcore gaming, EVER.

That leaves the oculus at a very wierd position. It's not gonna be gaming focused, and it's certainly gonna be more focused on social aspects, following fb's vision. And that's why they're not gonna make any profit. No true gamers will buy it, cause of the bad quality of games (just like move and kinect). No causal gamers or fb users would buy it cause it's too expensive for them. Also Fb users and causuals can't care less about VR tech, actually most fb users don't know what VR tech in gaming is all about.

Oculus rift went from being a scary beast lurking in the shadows, to a little kitten grinding ur foot and purring for some food or milk. VERY STUPID DECISION by the oculus guys.

[kevinsheeks]

Lmao right though the owner went to reddit to post it not to kickstarter lmao how messed up is that lol

you had people on the kickstarter page confused and hurt

[sic_chops]

I know people are mad and upset, but this is going a little too far.

[static360]

ok am against this as much as the next gamer but this is what brings down the gamer crowd in general. i dislike the facebook deal too but not to the point i will be threatening somebody's family

[mogwaii]

Pc elitists in action!

[josephayal]

Oh no the Horror

[Bonerboy]

This is all rather typical. It will all blow over in no time. By next week these silly kids will be all uppity over some other "massive" gaming related issue that has devastated their lives in some horrific fashion. Perhaps some over priced DLC or lower than expected resolution or some other ridiculous bullsh*t that will push their delicate nature over the edge once again.

I do so love all the fanboys calling the kettle black here. It's like flies on sh*t. Classic stuff.

[Born2Game83]

I'd like to see some "Actual Proof" that this happened. This gives all gamers a very bad name, and since this is a very serious accusation, I want to see actual proof.

[LKHGFDSA]

yeah he could be saying it just to make people shut up.

[Swiggins]

It's **** like this that makes me ashamed to be a gamer some days...In no other entertainment demographic do you find such flagrant absolutist entitlement.

"Make it my way or I'll kill you"

Jesus, some people need to get a grip on reality.

[anesthesique]

Well this is getting out of hand now.

[Billybobjoey]

They did a bad and shady choice, but don't send them death threats for god's sake.

[zugdar]

Yet you never hear about these people getting charged with crimes. All the while we suspend students who make a "gun" shapes out of pop-tarts.