Meta has announced the closure of three of its virtual reality game studios, Armature, Sanzaru, and Twisted Pixel, signaling a significant strategic realignment within its Reality Labs division. The move is part of a broader effort to reduce investment in its metaverse content pipeline and redirect resources toward the company’s growing wearables business.
In addition to the studio closures, the popular VR fitness application Supernatural will no longer receive new content or feature updates, although it will remain accessible to existing users.
A Strategic Pivot from Metaverse to Wearables
The decision confirms a shift in priorities for the tech giant. A spokesperson for Meta validated the closures and the strategic pivot.
“We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables,” the spokesperson stated. “This is part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year.”
This move comes after the company has heavily invested billions into building a VR ecosystem. The closures of Sanzaru, known for the hit title Asgard’s Wrath, Armature, which brought Resident Evil 4 to VR, and Twisted Pixel, developer of Marvel’s Deadpool VR, represent a major pullback from first-party content creation.
Ripples Across The VR Ecosystem
The studio shutdowns raise new questions about Meta’s long-term commitment to the VR hardware and software ecosystem it pioneered. The company has not launched a new VR headset since the Quest 3S in 2024 and recently paused its plans for Horizon OS-powered devices from hardware partners like Asus and Lenovo.
Despite the pullback on in-house development, Meta’s leadership asserts its continued support for the industry, albeit with a new focus.
“These changes do not mean we are moving away from video games,” Oculus Studios director Tamara Sciamanna wrote in an internal memo. “With this change we are shifting our investment to focus on our third-party developers and partners to ensure long-term sustainability.”
Implications for the MENA Tech Scene
For the MENA startup ecosystem, Meta’s strategic shift presents both challenges and opportunities. As the global leader in consumer VR hardware pulls back from first-party content, a potential vacuum is created that could benefit agile third-party developers in the region. Meta’s stated focus on supporting external partners could open new avenues for MENA-based gaming and VR studios to secure platform support and funding.
However, the move also serves as a cautionary signal for the region’s investors and founders operating in the metaverse space. The scaling back of a major player like Meta may temper investor enthusiasm for capital-intensive VR content projects, encouraging a shift towards more sustainable, hardware-agnostic, or enterprise-focused AR/VR applications.
About Meta
Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. Formerly known as Facebook, the company owns and operates some of the world’s largest social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Through its Reality Labs division, Meta is also a key player in the development of virtual and augmented reality hardware and software, including the Meta Quest line of headsets.
Source: Tech in Asia
