Against the backdrop of a broader shuffling of its Reality Labs division, Meta is reportedly closing Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru Games, three studios that Meta had previously acquired. The studios were behind some of the company’s biggest first-party VR games, including Deadpool VR, Asgard’s Wrath, and the Resident Evil 4 Quest port.
According to reports by Kotaku and Bloomberg, Meta is shuttering the three studios this week and laying off most or all of their staff.
Among the three studios, Sanzaru Games was the first to be acquired in 2019. The studio was known for the Asgard’s Wrath series, the first of which was released on Meta’s PC VR platform, and the sequel on its Quest platform. Twisted Pixel was acquired in 2022 and was known for Deadpool VR which was released barely two months ago. Armature Studio was behind the Resident Evil 4 port for Quest.
Starting in 2019, Meta acquired nine prominent VR studios. With today’s news, the company has now shuttered the majority of those studios. Here’s the scorecard as we know it:
Acquired Meta VR Studios Still Operating
- Beat Games – known for Beat Saber, acquired 2019
- BigBox VR – known for Population: One, acquired 2021
- Within – known for Supernatural, acquired 2021
- Camouflaj – known for Batman Arkham VR, acquired 2022
Acquired Meta VR Studios Shuttered
- Sanzaru Games – known for Asgard’s Wrath, acquired 2020
- Ready at Dawn – known for Lone Echo, acquired 2020
- Downpour Interactive – known for Onward, acquired 2021
- Twisted Pixel – known for Deadpool VR, acquired 2022
- Armature Studio – known for Resident Evil 4 VR, acquired 2022
The cluster of new closures comes against a backdrop of a broader shuffling of Meta’s Reality Labs division. The last few months have seen lots of reporting about Meta shifting some focus away from immersive VR devices and toward more AI-focused devices like the company’s Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses.
It would seem this moment could be the largest reorganization of the division since Meta first dubbed its AR/VR division “Reality Labs” back in 2020. The company is reportedly laying off 10% of the Reality Labs workforce, which appears to include this latest round of studio closures.
