Facebook acquires selfie filter app Masquerade, will remain standalone

Facebook has acquired selfie-filter app Masquerade available for iOS and Android, the app developer announced on Wednesday, as Facebook looks to expand its video offerings.

Specific terms of the deal weren't disclosed, though Eugene Nevgen, the CEO of Masquerade, says it will continue to run as a standalone app and new features will be added to the app in the future.

Masquerade allows users to to add live filters to their video selfies, by swapping faces with friends or by adding face effects. The app is the top free app in a dozen countries around the world and gives Facebook a treasure chest of live video tools to add to its existing products.

"Video communication is exploding. At Masquerade, we've worked hard to make video more fun and engaging by creating filters that enhance and alter your appearance," the app developer wrote on its blog. "Now, we're excited to join forces with Facebook and bring the technology to even more people. Within Facebook, we're going to be able to reach people at a scale like never before. For starters, we'll be able to bring our technology to Facebook's audience of nearly 1.6 billion people."

With Facebook and Instagram's large photo and video sharing influence on the world, live filters will give the social network a better edge to compete with Snapchat, a popular photo sharing app that has had filters for sometime.

Facebook has been working on bolstering its video offerings. Earlier this year, it rolled out live video streaming to all users and is now doubling down on video advertisements.