VR classic brand Oculus is investigated by the Federal Trade Commission on suspicion of antitrust violations

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which oversees and monitors fair trade in the United States, has begun investigating Meta's VR development brand Oculus for violating antitrust laws. It is reported that.

Meta's (FB) Oculus Faces FTC-Led Probe of Anti-Competitive Practices --Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-14/meta-s-oculus-unit-faces-ftc-led-probe-of-competition-practices

FTC antitrust watchdogs reportedly investigating Meta's VR division --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/14/22884198/ftc-state-ag-investigating-meta-facebook-vr-oculus-antitrust

Bloomberg reports that the FTC and the Attorney Generals of three states, New York, Tennessee, and North Carolina, interviewed third-party developers who have been developing VR apps for the Oculus platform over the past few months. He said he had advanced. The study, led by the FTC and New York, is looking at how Meta is leveraging market power in the VR space to build anti-competitive practices.

The group has interviewed several VR app developers, and the Oculus Quest store , a VR app store developed by Meta, develops a third party that sells apps that compete with Meta's own apps. It seems that they are investigating how they treat people discriminatory.

The research group is also investigating how the selling price of Oculus brand VR headsets is lower than that of competitors' products. Meta's flagship product, the Oculus Quest 2, starts at $ 299, much cheaper than some models sold by its competitor HTC.

Cospa's strongest 'Oculus Quest 2' that can enjoy VR alone with improved resolution and performance is a VR headset that can satisfy beginners to advanced users --GIGAZINE

According to media reports, the investigation group has been investigating Oculus's antitrust violations since 2021.

Bloomberg, who reported this case, will build an immersive digital world accessed via devices using VR and AR, which Metaverse CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls the investigation into antitrust violations. It points out that it may interfere with the 'plan'.

Meta executives talk about Facebook's transition from social media company to Metaverse company-GIGAZINE

Third-party VR app developers have also complained that 'Meta is using market power to interfere with companies that offer games and services that compete with Oculus,' and sometimes 'Meta is the most. It mimics promising ideas and makes it difficult for some apps to work properly on the platform. '

In fact, Bloomberg cites a company called Yur, which released a fitness app for the Oculus platform in 2019, as an example of a company that has declined due to Meta's anti-competitive practices. The same company that Meta (at the time of Facebook) has released a software update that prevents the technology of the operation within the VR, and lost traction in the VR fitness field telling you. After that, Meta released the fitness app ' Oculus Move ', and Yur's fitness app has come to an end.

Another developer, Guy Godin, said that around 2019, he was developing a virtual desktop application for Oculus that can stream content from a PC to a VR headset. However, it seems that Meta has to delete the virtual desktop application after receiving a notification from Meta that 'If you do not remove this function, you will delete the application distributed by Godin.' Meta soon released an Oculus Link with similar functionality.

According to research firm Counterpoint Research, Oculus accounted for 75% of worldwide shipments of VR headsets in the first quarter of 2021, increasing its share by 35% year-on-year.