Activision's former head of development banks on VR with move to Oculus

The company that managed to convince Kickstarter backers that people want to play games with a virtual reality headset has now attracted a well-placed video game executive, too. Activision Blizzard's former senior vice president and head of development Laird Malamed has taken on the position of the start-up's new COO, saying in a statement that "the future of virtual reality gaming was too exciting to pass up." Oculus has been making waves since raising nearly $2.5 million on Kickstarter for its Oculus Rift headset, which has attracted developers including id Software and Epic Games. The company begins shipping initial dev kits this March, with a commercial release coming in the distant future.