Porn will be a big deal for virtual-reality headsets, much the same way it is in other entertainment industries. And Oculus, one of the world’s biggest players in VR entertainment, will be embracing it.
Oculus has no plans to restrict porn on its platform, founder Palmer Luckey said on stage at a virtual-reality technology conference on Tuesday.
“The Rift is an open platform,” Luckey said when asked whether pornographic content would be banned or restricted on Oculus. “We don’t control what software can run on it … And that’s a big deal.”
Given that Facebook owns Oculus, the admission that porn will be totally welcome in its VR world sets up a striking distinction from Facebook’s own restrictions on nudity. The company has a muddled history with controversial limitations on photos that depict women’s breasts, specifically breastfeeding or post-mastectomy scarring.
Facebook is way more prudish when it comes to its content than its hardware platform. However, as Venture Beat notes, any apps that go through the Facebook-owned Oculus Store will still be required to be nudity-free. Porn companies will have to submit apps to other distribution services in order to provide VR experiences with significantly less clothing.
Porn companies are already cozying up to virtual reality in order to produce more engaging and immersive experiences for viewers. Such applications can be paired with other sex toys and hardware, allowing you to not only see a 3D rendering of the porn you’re watching, but also feel as though you’re participating.
It’s not too surprising that Oculus would be chill with X-rated content on its platform. After all, other gaming hardware allows porn.
“We’re on Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo. All of those companies say they don’t want hardcore porn, but obviously we’re still on there,” Rebecca Bolen, director of marketing for SugarDVD, explained to the Daily Dot last year. “They don’t want porn associated with their public brand, but they’re more than happy to take money from us.”
Similarly, as long as developers aren’t going through official Facebook channels, Oculus is cool with porn.
H/T Venture Beat | Photo via lhl/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)