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Meta has laid off about 10% of employees in its Reality Labs division, the unit responsible for virtual and augmented reality products. Besides these job cuts, the company has shut down multiple virtual reality game studios, according to social media posts by former employees and reports by The Verge.
Reality Labs has been central to Meta’s push into the metaverse, developing hardware like VR headsets and building immersive content to support that ecosystem. This latest move signals a recalibration of priorities within its divisions.
The layoffs reportedly include the closure of three well-known VR game studios: Twisted Pixel Games, Sanzaru Games, and Armature Studio. These teams were behind popular titles such as Marvel’s Deadpool VR, the Asgard’s Wrath series, and the VR port of Resident Evil 4.
News of these shutdowns first surfaced after Andy Gentile, a former level designer at Twisted Pixel, posted online saying he had been laid off. Other former employees soon confirmed the closures. Dan Greenfield, a former senior artist at Twisted Pixel, wrote on LinkedIn that the studio had been closed due to ‘strategy changes at Meta.’
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Former staff from the affected studios have publicly acknowledged the closures while seeking new opportunities. Ray West, a former senior-level designer at Sanzaru, said several Meta game studios were shut on the same day. Tyler Fluharty, a former lead environment artist at Sanzaru, also confirmed the studio’s closure in a post announcing he was open to work.
Meta has not officially confirmed the shutdown of individual studios.
Commenting on the broader layoffs, Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said the company is shifting some investment away from the metaverse toward wearables. The savings, she added, will be reinvested to support the growth of wearable devices this year.
These changes underline Meta’s gradual pullback from certain metaverse projects as the organization sharpens its focus on hardware and wearables moving forward.
