Facebook buys popular face swapping app for silly selfies

Get ready to see more silly selfies.

Facebook is buying the company behind one of the most popular apps in the App Store, Masquerade.

Masquerade's app lets you overlay playful, animated filters over your face using your phone's selfie camera. The effects range from Leonardo DiCaprio at the Oscars (right) to a monkey, and they're fun to play with. You can record video in the app or take a still photo to share on other social networks.

Expect Masquerade's face swapping filters to show up in the Facebook app eventually.

The social network also plans to keep Masquerade operational as a standalone, free app, as well as integrating its technology into Facebook. The effects join a line of creative tools Facebook has added to its app already, like stickers, finger doodles, and photo filters.

Masquerade has been a hit in its short time on the App Store. It has an average rating of 5 stars and has consistently stayed near the top of the App Store's charts, according to App Annie. It's also available on Android phones.

"At Masquerade, we've worked hard to make video more fun and engaging by creating filters that enhance and alter your appearance," the one-year-old-startup said in a blog post. "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."

"Masquerade has built a fantastic app, MSQRD, with world-class imaging technology for video," a Facebook spokesperson told Tech Insider. " We're excited to welcome Masquerade to our team and continue enhancing the Facebook video experience."

The app's three founders, Eugene Nevgen, Sergey Gonchar, and Eugene Zatepyakin, will work out of Facebook's London office, the company said. Facebook declined to say how much it paid for Masquerade.