Facebook buys successful Czech game studio

Czech indie game studio Beat Games, the creator of the top-selling Beat Saber game, is expected to grow quickly now that Facebook has purchased the company.

Facebook’s decision to buy the company was seen as a sign of the Czech gaming industry’s growing success, confirming its place among the world’s leaders, experts said.

“The success of Beat Games studio is already impressive, but Facebook and the Beat Games team know that there is much more to be done in the field of virtual reality, games, and music,” said Mike Verdu, a representative of the Facebook company.

Beat Games will become an independently managed studio within the Oculus studio, which is owned by Facebook. Accordingly, it will remain headquartered in Prague.

“We’re excited to announce we’re joining Oculus Studios as an independently-operated studio in Prague! This is a big step for us and we can’t wait to push VR even further together!” stated the Czech studio on its Twitter account.

We're excited to announce we're joining @oculus Studios as an independently operated studio in Prague! This is a big step for us and we can't wait to push VR even further together! https://t.co/WzWLjtnN7g

— Beat Games (@BeatGamesStudio) 26. listopadu 2019

Slovaks Ján Ilavský and Vladimír Hrinčár along with Czech Jaroslav Beck of the Beat Games company created the VR game Beat Saber, in which players cut boxes using laser lightswords while music plays in the background.

This April, Beat Saber won the prize for the best Czech game of 2018. In its category, it also became the best-selling game in the world.

In his statement, Mike Verdu reassured gamers that Beat Games will continue to deliver updates to its successful game on all available platforms.

Verdu also indicated that Facebook could make further virtual reality companies acquisitions. “We are excited that Beat Games joined our team. This is just the beginning,” Verdu said.