Meta invested billions in its Metaverse. But 5 years later, Meta has laid off thousands of employees. This aligns with Zuckerberg’s statements that 2025 was supposed to be the year of decision for the Metaverse.
Meta (formerly Facebook) has invested billions in its Metaverse in recent years, aiming to make the digital world a major pillar of the company. The renaming of the company from Facebook to Meta in 2021 was meant to emphasize this step.
But nearly 5 years after this realignment, it seems to be coming to an end. Meta is said to have laid off employees and cut investments, which could spell the end of the dream of a Metaverse. This is reported by the English-language magazine Techcrunch.com.
$73 billion invested, yet in 2026 thousands of employees were laid off
What is the current situation at Meta? According to a report from the New York Times, the company is said to have laid off around 1,500 employees from its “Reality Labs” division. Other areas in the VR sector are also said to be affected:
- Studios that were supposed to produce content specifically for the Metaverse, including Armature Studio (“Resident Evil 4 VR”), Twisted Pixel (“Marvel’s Deadpool VR”), and Sanzaru (“Asgard’s Wrath”), are reported to have been laid off.
- The VR fitness app Supernatural, which Meta acquired for $400 million in 2023, will no longer produce new content and will switch to “maintenance mode”.
- Camouflaj, the studio behind the VR game “Batman: Arkham Shadow”, is also affected by layoffs.
- The Meta program “Workrooms”, which was supposed to bring VR into the workplace, is also slated to be discontinued.
How does this align with previous statements? Mark Zuckerberg stated in 2025 that they wanted to go all in: Either the Metaverse will be successful in 2025, or they will fail. Andrew Bosworth, CTO of Meta, asserted at the time that the “Reality Labs” division had not made a strong impression in 2024 and would decide in 2025 whether it would succeed with its objectives or fail miserably.
Given the recent layoffs and cost-cutting, one might rather expect a failure. An official statement from Mark Zuckerberg or Meta is still pending.
There has been loud criticism of Meta’s Metaverse for a long time
What were the reactions at the time? The first images and content from the Metaverse often only convinced to a limited extent: When Zuckerberg presented the first images from the Metaverse, players were more afraid than happy. The graphics reminded many more of the times of the PS3 or the Nintendo DS (via Reddit.com).
For many, the Metaverse seemed more like a grand concept without real content, with old-fashioned graphics that cost billions of US dollars.
At least the grand plans of Mark Zuckerberg do not end here. In a conversation on YouTube, he stated that smart glasses would become the next major platform for users. And that would, of course, play into his and his Metaverse’s hands: Mark Zuckerberg announces the end of the smartphone while also introducing a successor
