Meta has closed three VR studios as a part of its metaverse cuts

A number of of Meta’s VR studios have been affected by the corporate’s metaverse-focused layoffs. The corporate has shuttered three of its VR studios, together with Armature, Sanzaru and Twisted Pixel. VR health app Supernatural will not be up to date with contemporary content material.

Workers at Twisted Pixel, which launched Marvel’s Deadpool VR in November, and Sanzaru, recognized for Asgard’s Wrath, posted on social media about the closures. Bloomberg reported that Armature, which introduced Resident Evil 4 to Quest again in 2021 has additionally closed and that the favored VR health app Supernatural will not be up to date with contemporary content material, although the present model will proceed to be supported.

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed the closures. “We mentioned final month that we had been shifting a few of our funding from Metaverse towards Wearables,” the spokesperson mentioned in an announcement to Engadget. “That is a part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the financial savings to help the expansion of wearables this yr.”

The cuts elevate questions on Meta’s dedication to supporting a VR ecosystem it has invested closely in. The corporate hasn’t introduced any new VR headsets for the reason that Quest 3S in 2024, and final month it “paused” deliberate Horizon OS headsets from Asus and Lenovo. Now, it is also pulling again on in-house sport growth too.

Meta is claiming, internally no less than, that it stays dedicated to supporting the trade. “These modifications don’t imply we’re transferring away from video video games,” Oculus Studios director Tamara Sciamanna wrote within the memo reported by Bloomberg. “With this transformation we’re shifting our funding to deal with our third-party builders and companions to make sure long-term sustainability.”

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