In 2021, Facebook, Inc. changed its name to Meta. The rebrand was a strategic move by the company as it attempted to shift away from social media and focus on building the metaverse, which it envisioned as a digital world with the potential to be the next generation of the internet.
But like most big tech corporations, Meta is all-in on generative AI, leaving its metaverse hopes and aspirations in the rear-view mirror. In case you missed it, Meta's virtual reality department recently took a huge hit following the company's decision to shut down several VR game studios.
According to people with close affiliations and knowledge about the situation at Meta, the company is shutting down Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel, Sanzaru, and Oculus Studios Central Technology.
Additionally, the company's popular VR fitness app Supernatural will no longer receive any updates. According to the developers: “Due to recent organizational changes to our Studio, Supernatural will no longer receive new content or feature updates starting today."
However, the company says the app will remain active for existing users.
The Facebook maker is diverting all the money and talent that it had once invested in the field that could have potentially defined its future toward its artificial intelligence and wearable technology divisions.
While speaking to Engadget, a Meta spokesperson indicated:
"We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables. This is part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year."
Meta claims that it is still committed to the industry and that the recent changes do not imply that it is giving up on video games.
It's interesting to see Meta subtly pull the plug on its VR ambitions for AI despite its heavy investment in the field. For context, the company has been suspiciously quiet about its efforts on the VR front, especially after it launched its Quest 3S headsets in 2024.
Last month, the company announced that it had paused the development of its long-anticipated Horizon OS headsets from Asus and Lenovo. And as it now seems, video game development is also joining the fold and being placed in the back banner.
Elsewhere. Meta is undoubtedly doubling down on its AI efforts, from launching its new superintelligence lab to investing $14.3 billion in Scale AI and hiring CEO Alexandr Wang to co-lead operations to poaching top AI talent from rival research labs like OpenAI.
However, everything isn't going according to plan. While explaining his abrupt departure from Meta, AI Scientist Yann LeCun claims that the company fabricated Llama 4 benchmark test results to keep up with advanced AI development and hype. LeCun predicts that more layoffs could be on the way for Meta.
Will Meta's decision to ditch VR for AI payoff in the long run? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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