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Watch the Oculus Connect 3 Keynote Here!

Paging Palmer Luckey... The keynote begins at 10 AM PDT.

Asif Khan

October 6, 2016 8:45 AM

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Oculus Connect 3 is already underway, but we are expecting to hear some new announcements today at the Oculus Connect 3 Keynote. Please take a look and let us know what you think of the keynote in the comments section. The keynote will begin at 10 AM PDT on Twitch.

A live VR broadcast will also be available free through the NextVR app. Samsung Gear VR owners can download the NextVR app on any Gear VR compatible phone. For detailed instructions, visit http://www.nextvr.com/getvr.

Oculus Connect 3 is a developer conference that brings together engineers, designers, and creatives from around the world to share and collaborate in the interest of creating the best virtual reality experiences possible. Past keynotes have included announcements for Minecraft VR, new head mounted display prototypes and other new exclusive Oculus software/experiences.

The elephant in the room at the show this week is Palmer Luckey, cofounder of Oculus, who has been nowhere to be found. He recently came under fire for financially backing an anti-Hillary Clinton troll effort. Shacknews has tried to set up an interview with him this week at the show, but he appears to be missing in action. 

Palmer has been a part of every major Oculus announcement, and it will be unfortunate if his actions and alleged cover up efforts will lead to him stepping down from his role as product and brand evangelist. His absence from the show floor and any communications with Oculus community this week does not bode well for his future at the company. Facebook has not fired him officially, but it appears that he can no longer be the face of virtual reality.

After being lampooned on the cover of Time Magazine and an outburst on the Oculus Subreddit, it appears that Palmer Luckey may be best off not communicating with the outside world. He issued an apology statement on Facebook and has since gone completely dark on all social media. His girlfriend, a vocal Donald Trump supporter, has deleted her Twitter account and has also been silent and invisible on the Internet since this news broke. 

Has Palmer Luckey changed your opinion of Oculus? Let us know in the comments section. Regardless of the politically charged mistakes of the 24 year old multi-millionaire, Oculus is still a driving force for virtual reality with the backing of Facebook. It remains to be seen if the company will even publicly address what Palmer's role will be going forward, but hopefully this cloud hanging over Oculus Connect 3 will be overshadowed by today's announcements.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.