Meta Shuts Down Three VR Studios in Metaverse Cuts
▼ Summary
– Meta is laying off approximately 10% of its Reality Labs division, including the closure of several VR game studios.
– The studios being closed are Twisted Pixel Games, Sanzaru Games, and Armature Studio, which developed notable VR titles.
– The team for the VR fitness app Supernatural will stop developing new content, though existing service will continue.
– Meta confirms the layoffs are part of a strategic shift to invest more in wearables instead of the metaverse.
– The affected studios were acquired by Meta between 2020 and 2023, with a previous studio closure also occurring in 2024.
Meta is significantly reducing its workforce within the Reality Labs division, a move that includes shutting down several prominent virtual reality game development studios. This strategic shift reflects a broader corporate pivot away from certain metaverse investments and toward the burgeoning wearables market. The decision impacts roughly ten percent of the division’s employees and has led to the closure of studios responsible for some of the platform’s most notable titles.
According to internal communications, the studios being shuttered are Twisted Pixel Games, Sanzaru Games, and Armature Studio. These teams were behind major VR experiences like Marvel’s Deadpool VR, the Asgard’s Wrath series, and the critically acclaimed Resident Evil 4 VR port. Furthermore, the team developing the VR fitness application Supernatural will cease work on new content or features, though existing subscribers will continue to receive support for the current product. A company spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of these reports.
News of the closures spread rapidly as affected employees began sharing the news on professional networks. Former Twisted Pixel level designer Andy Gentile stated, “I’ve just been laid off. It appears the entire Twisted Pixel Games studio has been shut down along with Sanzaru and Armature too.” His sentiment was echoed by other former staff, including senior artist Dan Greenfield, who cited “strategy changes at Meta” as the reason for Twisted Pixel’s closure.
The shuttered studios represent a series of acquisitions Meta made over recent years to bolster its VR content library. The company purchased Sanzaru in 2020, followed by Twisted Pixel and Armature in 2022, and finally acquired Within, the developer of Supernatural, in 2023. This latest round of cuts follows the closure of Echo VR developer Ready at Dawn earlier this year, another studio Meta had acquired in 2020.
In an official statement regarding the Reality Labs layoffs, a Meta spokesperson clarified the reasoning behind the decision. “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.” This statement underscores a strategic reallocation of resources within the company’s ambitious technology divisions, signaling a renewed focus on hardware like smart glasses and augmented reality devices over certain software-driven metaverse initiatives.
(Source: The Verge)
