Meta scales back Metaverse with major cost cuts

"Meta appears to be implementing major changes within Reality Labs. This is the division responsible for metaverse activities and Quest headsets. The New York Times cites internal sources who say the company is working on a major restructuring. This could see 30 percent of the metaverse unit's budget disappear. SiliconANGLE adds that this could lead to major reorganizations within the team that develops the hardware line."

"The metaverse unit includes the Quest headsets and the social VR platform Horizon Worlds. The Quest 3, the current top model, runs on a modified Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip and delivers high resolution per eye. Despite these technological improvements, Meta continues to struggle with limited consumer adoption of VR, while losses within Reality Labs continue to mount. According to SiliconANGLE, the company's top brass is considering structural cuts to VR development resources, with between 10 and 30 percent of employees potentially losing their jobs."

"Some analysts speculate that Meta may slow down the development pace of its own hardware and lean more on external suppliers. That scenario is fueled by an earlier move in which Meta made the Quest's operating system accessible to other manufacturers. By giving partners more leeway, the company can scale back its own investments without shutting down the VR ecosystem."

Meta is implementing major changes within Reality Labs that could cut up to 30 percent of the metaverse unit's budget. The metaverse unit includes Quest headsets and Horizon Worlds. The Quest 3 is the current top model with improved per-eye resolution. Consumer adoption of VR remains limited and Reality Labs losses continue to grow. Leadership is reportedly considering cuts to development resources and 10–30 percent of VR roles. A lighter, sharper Quest successor is rumored, though budget impacts are unclear. Meta may slow hardware development and rely more on external manufacturers after opening the Quest operating system to partners. Horizon Worlds has received updates but user numbers remain below expectations.

Read at Techzine Global