Polyarc, the studio behind VR puzzle-platformer series Moss, announced it’s significantly reducing the size of the company, marking another VR pioneer currently experiencing existential turmoil.
The studio released word via a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, noting that layoffs come amid an “unsuccessful team-wide effort to secure funding following the cancellation of a major project.”
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Polyarc says layoffs are affecting 30 employees. According to DevOps Director Alex Holodak (via UploadVR), the studio let go two-thirds of staff, putting the remaining team somewhere around 15 people.
Polyarc isn’t alone in its recent financial troubles. Rec Room, one of VR’s most prominent social platforms, announced this week it’s officially shutting down in June. Meanwhile, VR veteran nDreams, the studio behind recent action-adventure game Reach (2025), signaled earlier this month that it’s going through significant layoffs and studio closures.
Notably, Meta’s recent shift in priorities at its Reality Labs XR division not only came alongside the closure of a number of several internal game studios, but also the revelation it was pulling funding from a number of projects already in progress.
Some of those now-cancelled projects include an unannounced Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel from Sanzaru Games, an unannounced Harry Potter VR game for Quest from Skydance Games, as well as a hard fork applied to all new Horizon Worlds content, effectively leaving only legacy Worlds for Quest users as the company shifts focus to mobile users.
Polyarc hasn’t confirmed whether its now-cancelled project was a result of Meta pulling funding.
Founded in 2015 by ex-Bungie develo[ers, the Seattle-based studio self-published the first Moss in 2018, receiving not only near-universal praise, but also more than 120 global industry awards and nominations. Moss was released across all major VR platforms at the time, including PSVR, PC VR headsets, and the original 2019-era Quest.
Then, in 2022 Polyarc released the hotly-awaited sequel, Moss: Book II. which managed to nab the The Game Awards’ Best VR/AR Game and the VR Awards’ VR Game of the Year. Moss: Book II is widely regarded as a stellar follow-up, getting a solid [8.5/10] in our full review.
In 2025, the studio followed up with its multiplayer real-time battler Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss, which offered up a roster of 12 Champions for squad-based arena battles.
