Facebook says it plans on spending $10 billion this year to bolster its virtual reality business.
The company’s third quarter earnings note the social network is preparing to pour a fortune into Facebook Reality Labs, the division that develops the Oculus VR headsets and the newly launched Facebook smart glasses.
“We expect our investment in Facebook Reality Labs to reduce our overall operating profit in 2021 by approximately $10 billion,” the company says in an earnings release. “We are committed to bringing this long-term vision to life, and we expect to increase our investments for the next several years.”
The investment occurs as Facebook is reportedly going to announce a new name for the company on Thursday at the Facebook Connect conference. The rebranding is an attempt to reflect the social network’s growing focus on creating a VR-powered software ecosystem dubbed the “metaverse,” according to The Verge. And perhaps divert attention away from weeks of punishing headlines about the company's inadequate response to misinformation.
To create the metaverse, Facebook announced earlier this month that it plans on creating 10,000 jobs in Europe focused on developing the software and hardware needed to power the VR apps.
Facebook’s third quarter earnings also note the social network will for the first time break out the revenue generated from Facebook Reality Labs into its own section, starting in Q4. This will give the public a look at the sales side to the Oculus VR headsets and if they’re gaining steady adoption. Facebook originally bought Oculus VR back in 2014 for a mere $2 billion.