Facebook denies Oculus 'rebranding' claims

The social network says it has no plans to rename the virtual reality company it has just acquired or to integrate the Facebook interface into its products.

The social network says it has no plans to rename the virtual reality company it has just acquired or to integrate the Facebook interface into its products.

Facebook has responded to claims made by a source in a New York Times report that the company 'eventually plans to redesign the Oculus hardware and rebrand it with a Facebook interface and logo.'

A spokesperson for Facebook told TechCrunch that what the source had claimed was 'not true and not in the spirit of our relationship [with Oculus].'

The announcement on Tuesday that Facebook had paid $2 billion for Oculus VR -- the company behind the Oculus Rift, a potentially game-changing three-dimensional virtual reality headset -- has sent shockwaves through the gaming and developer community.

Speculation is rife that the social network has 'evil' plans for the technology and, though Facebook has made it clear that, just like with Instagram and WhatsApp, Oculus will be left alone to operate independently but with added financial support and increased expertise, it has so far done little to change people's minds.

The latest group of internet users to start protesting about the takeover are those who backed Oculus financially via its Kickstarter campaign. Many of the 9,500 crowdfunders who collectively backed the project to the tune of $2.4 million (10 times the company's initial goal) are asking where their cut of the sale is. Others are questioning the point of Kickstarter if successful campaigns become the property of huge tech firms.