Meta shuts three VR studios, shifts focus to wearable

Meta has closed three of its VR studios—Armature, Sanzaru, and Twisted Pixel—as part of ongoing cutbacks in its metaverse division.

Employees shared news of the closures, which was confirmed by a Meta spokesperson.

Supernatural, a VR fitness app, will no longer receive new content or feature updates, but will remain available to current users.

Meta said it is shifting investment from the metaverse to its wearables business, with savings to be reinvested in 2026.

The company has not launched a new VR headset since the Quest 3S in 2024 and has paused plans for Horizon OS devices from Asus and Lenovo.

Oculus Studios director Tamara Sciamanna said Meta will focus more on third-party developers and partners.

🔗 Source: Engadget

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Sanzaru won the 2024 Immersive Reality Game of the Year 1 and Reality Labs has lost over $70 billion since 2020 2.
Meta plans to double output of AI smart glasses to potentially top 20 million units a year by end of 2026 3. Buyers raise concerns about price, looks, phone tie-in and privacy 4.
Three first-party studios will close 5. Supernatural will stop new development 5. Meta will focus on third-party developers and partners to support its gaming lineup 5. Horizon Worlds (Meta’s social VR platform) has struggled to attract users 1.
Wedbush (an equity research firm) expects GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) operating margin to drop by about 500 basis points to 36.4% in 2026 from 41.3% in 2025 3.

Layoffs hit more than 1,000 Reality Labs staff 5. Roles include engineers, designers, managers from teams behind Resident Evil 4 VR and Asgard’s Wrath 4. Many have LinkedIn #OpenToWork posts 6.
Studios building spatial computing products (devices that blend digital content with the physical world in 3D) can acqui-hire (acquire primarily to hire the team) crews that shipped consumer VR titles.
AI wearable or AR teams can hire alumni of Armature, Sanzaru and Twisted Pixel. They know battery life limits, form factor tradeoffs and user retention.
Meta will reinvest savings to grow wearables in 2026 5, which could free experienced hardware and software talent for rivals.