Facebook’s Oculus VR leader Hugo Barra is stepping down

Changes are occurring at the top of Facebook’s Oculus VR group.

Hugo Barra, who took control of running Oculus VR from establishing CEO Brendan Iribe in 2017, stated Thursday that he’s stepping down as the head of Oculus simply as the group is preparing to launch its Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S headsets this month. Barra stated next he’ll be assisting to develop AR and VR collaborations for Facebook out of New York.

“Time for me to take on the next big challenge — bringing AR and VR to more people!” he wrote in a tweet revealing the relocation.

Facebook stated Erick Tseng, an almost decade-long veteran of Facebook, will be taking control of for Barra. Before operating at Facebook, Tseng had actually operated at Google, assisting lead its Android group. Barra likewise operated at Google, assisting lead the Android group prior to leaving in 2013 to help in running the Chinese phone maker Xiaomi.

The relocation marks another shift for Oculus, which was gotten by Facebook in 2014 for more than $2 billion. Since that purchase, its initial leaders have actually left, consisting of CEO Iribe and its young headset innovator, Palmer Luckey.

Part of what caused Luckey leaving was a Daily Beast story from 2016 about how he’d assisted fund an online group that set up a signboard prior to the United States governmental election with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s face above the words “Too Big To Jail.” 

A story in The Wall Street Journal in 2015, and after that a book called The History of the Future this year, both reported that Luckey was successfully displaced over his political activity. Facebook then stated workers matters were private.

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Barra’s shift to AR may indicate that Facebook’s investments in the technology are expanding. Two years ago, the company announced sweeping efforts to bring AR to its apps and services. Facebook has also said it’s working on AR glasses, an area already being popularized by Microsoft’s HoloLens headset and the startup Magic Leap. Apple too is working on a device, planed for next year, sources have told CNET.

Barra said Facebook “is setting an ambitious plan for delivering AR glasses.”

“As we move toward a world where VR and AR devices are mainstream, we will need to significantly expand and invest in the global partner ecosystem to make them available to everyone,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement. “Hugo is the perfect person to lead this effort after overseeing product and global strategy for so many years.”

First published May 9 at 12:22 p.m. PT.
Update, 4:23 p.m. PT: Adds Barra’s expanded statement.