The Internet backlash over Facebook buying out Oculus has been varied to say the least. Ranging from those thinking that the extra investment can only speed progress of VR to those saying simply ‘Oculus is dead now – game over.’ One reaction though has gotten an awful lot of notice purely because of what it means and who was saying it.

Shortly after the announcement of Facebook’s purchase of Oculus, Notch the creator of popular sandbox game Minecraft tweeted that Minecraft on Oculus was now a dead thing. Not many people knew at that point that Notch had only two weeks earlier been at the Oculus offices talking about bringing a simplified version of Minecraft out that would be made specially to work with the Oculus Rift.

In a lengthy blog post on his website Notch outlined his joy at virtual reality becoming a feasible concept in the modern age and his trip to see the makers of Oculus.

“I felt like we were on the cusp of a new paradigm… I could be part of the early efforts to work out best practices, and while I have no doubt that in ten years we’ll look back at the problems with early VR applications in the same we look back at GUI problems with early PC games, it still felt exciting to me.”

But then he goes on to explain why he withdrew the offer of a Minecraft game for the Oculus after Facebook bought them out, stating that as a company he really doesn’t trust Facebook. He also points out that Facebook is about engaging users, building numbers and social media. Notch points out that while VR and social are a good match he doesn’t wish to work with social, but games; adding that he didn’t fund the Kickstarter for the Oculus Rift “to build value for a Facebook acquisition.“. He ended the post by congratulating both companies on the ‘business deal’ and stating his respect for the engineers and workers at Oculus. He also linked a mod for those who really needed their Minecraft fix in a VR setting.

While this is sad news, as a long-time Minecraft player I must admit for all my excitement at VR technology I can’t really see the sandbox game working well in VR. Not for me at least. And this might be a good thing, imagine your first VR creeper…

… O.O;

Blog post is here.