Meta Closes VR Gaming Studios, Shifts Focus to AR Glasses
- tech360.tv
- Jan 15
- 2 min read
Meta's Reality Labs is reportedly laying off up to 10% of its staff, leading to the closure of several internal studios that developed games for Meta Quest. These studio closures include Armature, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru Games.
Armature was responsible for the virtual reality (VR) port of Resident Evil 4. Sanzaru Games developed the Asgard’s Wrath titles, while Twisted Pixel created Marvel’s Deadpool VR.
The developer of the Supernatural VR fitness application, Supernatural, will reportedly operate with a severely downsized team. The developer stated on a Facebook community page that Supernatural would no longer receive new content or feature updates, attributing this to recent organisational shifts within its studio.
These closures and staff reductions occur just a few years after Meta acquired the studios. Twisted Pixel and Armature Studio were acquired in 2022, and Sanzaru Games in 2020.
The wider Reality Labs layoffs are estimated to affect up to 1,500 employees, based on the plan to cut staff numbers by 10%. These reductions are part of a strategic shift concerning Meta's costly metaverse project.
Bloomberg reported late 2025 that Meta was planning to reduce Reality Labs budgets by up to 30%. While Meta is not entirely abandoning its metaverse initiative, it is refocusing its efforts on augmented reality (AR) glasses.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses have proven fairly popular, and the series recently received a major upgrade. Meta announced the Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses in Sept. 2025, which feature an in-vision display.
Older versions of the hardware relied only on audio feedback and a camera. The planned early 2026 launch of the glasses outside the U.S. has been delayed due to high demand within the U.S. alone.
The Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses have a relatively high starting cost of USD 799, which includes a wristband controller. The Reality Labs division has lost more than USD 70 billion since its establishment in 2020.
Despite these significant financial losses, the Meta Quest 2 has sold more than 20 million units, making it a mainstream hit.
Meta's Reality Labs is laying off up to 10% of staff, impacting approximately 1,500 employees.
Internal VR gaming studios Armature, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru Games have been closed.
Supernatural, a VR fitness app developer, will cease new content and feature updates due to downsizing.
Source: FORBES
