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Facebook to Start Testing Advertisements in Oculus VR Games

  • Developers will see a cut of ad revenue in strategy shift
  • Facebook will soon face competition from Apple in VR devices

A person tries out the Oculus Quest VR headset in 2019.

Photographer: Michael Short/Bloomberg
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Facebook Inc. plans to start showing advertisements in virtual reality games on its Oculus Quest headset, a push toward turning the expensive hardware business into a moneymaker for the social network.

For now, the move is a test. In the next few weeks Facebook will run ads in Blaston, a futuristic shootout game from Resolution Games, and programs from a couple other developers, according to a company blog post Wednesday. Gaming companies will earn a portion of the revenue generated by the advertising, a Facebook spokesperson said, but didn’t disclose their share.