4/20 update: This Business Insider report seems to have hit all but two major meta studios (Onward developer Downpour Interactive and Echo VR developer Ready at Dawn).Both studios have reportedly lost several employees to layoffs, with some remaining. warn (opens in new tab) About a third of the employees were laid off on April 19th.
Once again, we are faced with the sad news that thousands of Meta employees are out of work. We expected this after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the subsequent layoffs were coming soon, but today one thing he didn’t expect happened. It is said that
As business insider (opens in new tab) Meta reportedly laid off 4,000 people today, but Reality Labs’ gaming division is now considered “safe” for workers and won’t see any layoffs anytime soon. Meta’s games division currently includes about 10 developers from Oculus Studios. (opens in new tab) Labeled and made some of the best Quest 2 games (opens in new tab).
Additionally, the report states that “many projects and teams” within Reality Labs will be disbanded, but surprisingly, the games team will actually be allowed to hire some roles.
The report doesn’t specifically say Meta is canning the Horizon Worlds metaverse, but (opens in new tab) Reading between the lines doesn’t just suggest that the company is staying away from the metaverse conversation for a while. Quest finds itself more popular as a game console than the Metaverse Portal.
san andreas is here
About a month ago we saw the announcement that Meta is increasing its investment in its publishing division (now known as Oculus Publishing), funding over 150 new game projects. (opens in new tab) years to come.
Plus expect 41 new apps and games (opens in new tab) Arrives with Meta Quest 3 from Meta’s first-party studio (opens in new tab) When it goes on sale this fall. While it has previously signaled an increase in interest in game development, this report from Business Insider shows that the company isn’t just increasing its investment in development. Meta actually pivots to what has become the most popular reason to use a Quest headset.
Just this week, we found that millions of Quest 2 gamers are using headsets (opens in new tab) 35-40% of our total installed base of 20 million monthly. This is the first time we’ve seen this metric on Meta’s VR platform, and it bodes well for the future of VR as a continuously viable gaming medium.
Meta actually pivots to what has become the most popular reason to use a Quest headset: gaming.
Meta said that by the end of 2022, one-third of the games on the Quest store would have made millions of dollars in revenue, and recently, games like Beat Saber have made nearly $250 million since launching on Quest. pointed out that it is increasing the revenue of
The report shows that Meta is currently working to acquire more major game franchises on the headset in the vein of Resident Evil 4 VR, which boasts both critical and commercial success. . We have our own wishlist of major games we want to see on Quest (opens in new tab) And it is quite possible that some people will succeed after this big change.
Meta wants major franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty to come to Quest, with the former already announced for Quest two years ago.
The report specifically names franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, the former announced on Quest nearly two years ago and not mentioned since.
Assassin’s Creed VR still listed as an upcoming Quest game (opens in new tab) But even that hasn’t been publicly mentioned in years. Ubisoft canceled after his Splinter Cell VR announcement, but this new push from Meta makes it very likely that some of these major projects will be resurrected along with others.
The shift to gaming focus coincides with the layoffs, as investors have been asking for a “killer app” for the Metaverse since Meta changed its name from Facebook. of people now say the game is that killer app.
A great VR game has arrived. Get Meta Quest 2 and forget everything you ever thought about VR.
