Despite a lack of consumer interest as recently as 2012, virtual reality (VR) technologies entered the mainstream in 2014 backed by multinational corporations, including Facebook and Google. At the heart of this transition is Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and purported ‘face’ of VR. This article develops a case study centred on Palmer Luckey to examine the rise of contemporary VR within the overlapping, contemporaneous contexts of video game culture and the misogynistic gamergate movement. As gamergate expanded its scope with far-right political fervour, Luckey’s political ambitions also expanded in scope. I argue that Luckey’s promotion under the banner of ‘progress’ serves to reify White, male systems of power that are both established and contested within cultures of technological development.