TORONTO – Facebook shocked many with the news that it is acquiring virtual reality company Oculus VR on Tuesday, but news of the sale is not sitting well with gamers and those in the industry.

Fans of the company have voiced concerns on social media that the social networking giant will turn Oculus’ technology into another way to mine personal information and sell advertising.

Gamers turned to Reddit’s Gaming page /r/gaming to express their frustration and concern surrounding the US$2 billion dollar acquisition.

Screenshot/Reddit.

Those who preordered the company’s flagship virtual reality headset started commenting on the thread titled, “How to cancel your Oculus Rift Pre-Order,” which linked off to the company’s order cancellation webpage.

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Screenshot/Reddit.

Oculus is considered the leader in immersive virtual reality technology. Its first product, the Oculus Rift, is a headset that allows users to step into a 360-degree virtual environment and feel as if they are actually there. The technology has been geared towards gaming but has potential in areas such as communications.

READ MORE: Facebook purchases virtual reality company Oculus VR for $2 billion

While Facebook has not yet revealed how it plans to incorporate Oculus technology into its social media platform, gamers have expressed concerns that the deal could result in Oculus picking up some of Facebook’s practices like tracking its users, or bombarding them with ads.

Oculus founder Palmer Luckey also took to Reddit Tuesday evening to defend the sale, assuring fans that the deal would help bring Oculus’ technology into the mainstream.

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“This acquisition/partnership gives us more control of our destiny, not less! We don’t have to compromise on anything, and can afford to make decisions that are right for the future of virtual reality, not our current revenue,” wrote Luckey.

“I would never have done this deal if it meant changing our direction, and Facebook has a good track record of letting companies work independently post-acquisition.”

But not everyone was satisfied with his response.

Screenshot/Reddit.

Even those in the gaming industry voiced their disapproval about the deal on social media.

“Minecraft” creator Markus Persson, who was in talks to bring a version of Minecraft to Oculus, tweeted that he had cancelled the deal because “Facebook creeps me out.”

We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out. — Markus Persson (@notch) March 25, 2014

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“Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers,” read a post on Persson’s blog published Tuesday night.

“I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook. Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven’t historically been a stable platform. There’s nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me.”

– With a file from Brian McKechnie