VR/AR gaming field is about to die!?More than 100 employees are laid off on a large scale in the virtual reality field
According to the initial report of The Verge, the layoffs affected some employees of Oculus Studios, a department that specializes in developing games for Quest headsets, and Reality Labs hardware. Afterwards, Bloomberg also confirmed that the number of people affected exceeded 100.
Meta spokesman Tracy Clayton confirmed the news of Oculus Studios' layoffs in response to The Verge, pointing out that some teams are undergoing structural and position adjustments, thus reducing their staff. Clayton added that the changes are intended to "make studios more efficient in developing future mixed reality experiences while continuing to provide quality content to existing users." The Verge also mentioned that Meta refused to comment on layoffs outside Oculus Studios.
The team that was laid off includes members responsible for the Meta Quest fitness app "Supernatural". Meta acquired Supernatural and its developer Within for US$400 million (about HK$3.12 billion) in 2023. The Supernatural team then issued a statement on Facebook, expressing their "deep grief" about the loss of "some of the extremely talented players". Despite the layoffs, Meta said it will remain "committed to invest in mixed reality, including fitness and gaming, and insist on providing the best experience for the Quest and Supernatural community."
In fact, Meta has significantly reduced its manpower in recent years, laying off more than 20,000 employees in 2022 and 2023 alone. Ready at Dawn Studios, which once developed Lone Echo, -- acquired by Meta in 2020 -- also suffered a heavy blow in the massive layoffs and closed late last year.
The layoffs of Reality Labs comes after Meta admitted in April last year that the AR/VR department has lost more than US$1 billion (about HK$7.8 billion) per month in the past two years. Meta said at the time that it expected that the losses would further expand as investment continued to increase.
