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Facebook Inc.'s Oculus virtual-reality unit is lining up additional content, including movies and games, ahead of the planned launch of its consumer headset early next year.

At a conference in Los Angeles Thursday, Oculus announced deals for streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix, games such as "Minecraft" and movies including "The Hunger Games" series, to make the technology more attractive for consumers.

Facebook ponied up $2 billion in cash and stock last year to buy Oculus VR, but the lack of content is a hurdle.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told the approximately 1,500 conference attendees that the company "is committed to [virtual reality] for the long-term....We're going to work hard to serve this community."

Mr. Zuckerberg has repeatedly said virtual reality will be the next major computing platform, making it possible to enjoy a courtside seat at a game or consult with a doctor face-to-face.

Oculus said Thursday it is working with Samsung Electronics Co. on a $99 headset, expected to be available in November, that will work with Samsung's newest phones. A third device, the Oculus Touch, which will allow users to pick up objects and interact within a virtual reality world, is projected to be available in the second quarter of next year.

During the conference, Oculus executives said they had joined with Twentieth Century Fox and Lions Gate to bring movies to Oculus, in an attempt to re-create the experience of watching a movie on a big screen. Executives said more than 100 movies will be available from Fox, including the "Alien" trilogy, "Die Hard" and "Black Swan." (Fox's parent, 21st Century Fox, and News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, were until mid-2013 part of the same company.)

Thursday's announcements will beef up the content available through virtual reality, mostly by adapting existing games, movies and shows to the format. Oculus Chief Technology Officer John Carmack said content is a big challenge right now.

It's unclear how long mainstream audiences will be willing to wear headsets and stay within immersive experiences. Ron Bredow, an executive at Disney's Lucasfilm unit, said the company was experimenting with five- to 10-minute videos.

"Is that going to be the kind of thing that's compelling enough as its own medium to hold your attention for two hours?" Mr. Bredow said at a conference session on Wednesday. "If the answer is yes, we haven't yet figured out all of the language of that sort of filmmaking to entertain people like that."

The Facebook-Oculus deal sparked broader interest in virtual reality from investors and content creators. Google Inc. and several venture funds last year invested $542 million in augmented-reality firm Magic Leap Inc. Earlier this week, Walt Disney Co., Sky PLC and other global media firms invested $65 million in a Silicon Valley virtual-reality startup, Jaunt, underscoring interest in the technology from entertainment companies.

Those players now must find ways to introduce the technology to mainstream audiences and encourage outsiders to develop content for virtual-reality headsets.

Oculus was in talks last year to bring Minecraft to its headset, but the deal fell through after Facebook bought Oculus. Minecraft's founder at the time said he found Facebook "creepy." Minecraft later was acquired by Microsoft Corp.

Beyond the Oculus headsets, Facebook is supporting enhanced-reality technology in other ways. It plans to support 360-degree video within its news feed. It also is working on a stand-alone video app focused on virtual reality, people familiar with the project have told The Wall Street Journal.

Oculus in January launched a studio that has produced two movies: "Henry," a cartoon about a lonely hedgehog looking for friends, and "Lost," about a robot hand searching for its owner in a dense, dark forest.

Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2015 08:05 ET (12:05 GMT)

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