Meta is laying off over 100 employees from its Reality Labs division, which focuses on VR, AR, and wearable hardware, an unnamed source recently revealed.
The layoff has primarily impacted Reality Labs employees who were working on VR software for the company's line of Meta Quest headsets, along with employees who were focused on hardware, (including VR headsets), the source shared with Bloomberg.
According to the source--who asked not to be named due to the fact that they were sharing details that had not yet been made available to the public--Meta's goal is to combine and streamline tasks being worked on by the two teams within Reality Labs. In June 2024, it was reported that Reality Labs had lost nearly $50 billion over the course of the previous four years.
Meta has confirmed that layoffs have taken place, but refused to elaborate or provide details on exactly how many employees had been affected.
"Some teams within Oculus Studios are undergoing shifts in structure and roles that have impacted team size," Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said when asked to comment on the layoffs. "These changes are meant to help studios work more efficiently on future mixed-reality experiences for our growing audience, while still delivering great content for people today."
Some of the content Meta has evidently deemed as expendable includes Supernatural, a VR-based fitness app that gives users access to training content from various fitness coaches and personal trainers, including a stretching program led by Jane Fonda and a "Boxing With Bon Jovi" workout. Supernatural was initially created by Within Unlimited (formerly Vrse), which Meta attempted to acquire in 2021. After a drawn-out fight with the FTC, Meta ultimately won its case and acquired Within (and its products, including Supernatural) in February 2023 for a grand total of $400 million.
Now, just over two years after the acquisition, Supernatural's future is up in the air.
"We're deeply saddened to share that these changes have resulted in the loss of some of our incredibly talented team members," Supernatural said on Facebook last week, adding that the number of workout releases each week would be reduced going forward as a result of the layoffs.
As for Meta, Clayton claims that the company is "committed to investing in mixed-reality experiences including fitness and games."
"Our drive to deliver the best experiences possible for the Quest and Supernatural communities remains unchanged," Clayton said.
The Reality Labs layoffs are far from the first to hit Meta's workforce. The company laid off 13% of its staff (roughly 11,000 employees) back in 2022, and laid off another 5% (~3,600 employees) earlier this year.
Source
The layoff has primarily impacted Reality Labs employees who were working on VR software for the company's line of Meta Quest headsets, along with employees who were focused on hardware, (including VR headsets), the source shared with Bloomberg.
According to the source--who asked not to be named due to the fact that they were sharing details that had not yet been made available to the public--Meta's goal is to combine and streamline tasks being worked on by the two teams within Reality Labs. In June 2024, it was reported that Reality Labs had lost nearly $50 billion over the course of the previous four years.
Meta has confirmed that layoffs have taken place, but refused to elaborate or provide details on exactly how many employees had been affected.
"Some teams within Oculus Studios are undergoing shifts in structure and roles that have impacted team size," Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said when asked to comment on the layoffs. "These changes are meant to help studios work more efficiently on future mixed-reality experiences for our growing audience, while still delivering great content for people today."
Some of the content Meta has evidently deemed as expendable includes Supernatural, a VR-based fitness app that gives users access to training content from various fitness coaches and personal trainers, including a stretching program led by Jane Fonda and a "Boxing With Bon Jovi" workout. Supernatural was initially created by Within Unlimited (formerly Vrse), which Meta attempted to acquire in 2021. After a drawn-out fight with the FTC, Meta ultimately won its case and acquired Within (and its products, including Supernatural) in February 2023 for a grand total of $400 million.
Now, just over two years after the acquisition, Supernatural's future is up in the air.
"We're deeply saddened to share that these changes have resulted in the loss of some of our incredibly talented team members," Supernatural said on Facebook last week, adding that the number of workout releases each week would be reduced going forward as a result of the layoffs.
As for Meta, Clayton claims that the company is "committed to investing in mixed-reality experiences including fitness and games."
"Our drive to deliver the best experiences possible for the Quest and Supernatural communities remains unchanged," Clayton said.
The Reality Labs layoffs are far from the first to hit Meta's workforce. The company laid off 13% of its staff (roughly 11,000 employees) back in 2022, and laid off another 5% (~3,600 employees) earlier this year.
Source