Bad Luck Zuck: Developer Pulls Out of Facebook's Intrusive VR Ads

The first VR game developer to agree to take part in Facebook’s new VR ads integration has reportedly back out of the deal based on intense consumer backlash.

Breitbart News previously reported that Facebook plans to begin testing ads inside its Oculus Quest virtual reality system very soon. It was announced that over the next few weeks, advertisements would start appearing inside VR titles including Resolution Games Blaston along with two other unnamed apps.

Resolution Games has now pulled out of the deal following huge backlash from gamers. Blaston is a popular multiplayer Oculus Quest title that costs $10 to purchase, and many players did not take kindly to the idea of receiving VR ads in a game they had already paid for.

Almost immediately after Facebook announced its plans to place ads in Blaston, the game’s page on the Oculus store was filled with one-star reviews from angry players. “If we were OK with ads we would play some of the thousands of free games supported by ads instead of purchasing what we think is a premium product. Remove the ads or give us our money back,” wrote one reviewer.

Another asked: “Why on earth am I going to see ads for a game I paid the full asking price for on a headset I paid the full asking price for? Are they REALLY that strapped for cash that they need to squeeze every penny out of us?

Less than a week after the reviews began, Resolution Games backed down. The company stated in a Twitter thread: “After listening to player feedback, we realize that Blaston isn’t the best fit for this type of advertising test. Therefore, we no longer plan to implement the test.”

The company later added that it still does have plans to rollout a “temporary test” of Oculus’s VR ads in another of its games, the free-to-play title Bait!.

Bad Luck Zuck: Developer Pulls Out of Facebook’s Intrusive VR Ads

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