What you want to know
- Meta is shedding groups in its Actuality Labs division as part of its restructuring efforts.
- The Actuality Labs division contains workers working in Oculus studios, Meta’s gaming wing.
- Meta’s spokesperson stated that, “these modifications are supposed to assist Studios work extra effectively on future combined actuality experiences for our rising viewers.”
Meta, on Thursday (April 24), laid off an unknown variety of workers from its Actuality Labs division, which incorporates workers working in Oculus studios, who’re answerable for creating combined actuality wearables in addition to video games for Meta’s Quest VR headsets.
In an e mail to Android Central, Meta spokesperson stated, “Some groups inside Oculus Studios are present process shifts in construction and roles which have impacted group dimension,” the spokesperson stated.
These cuts are supposed to assist the Oculus studios work extra effectively on delivering combined actuality experiences, Meta added.
Reuters famous that workers engaged on Supernatural, a VR health recreation, are amongst these impacted within the newest spherical of cuts. This was confirmed by Meta’s spokesperson as effectively.
They additional added that, regardless of these cuts, “We stay dedicated to investing in combined actuality experiences, together with health and video games, and our drive to ship the very best experiences doable for the Quest and Supernatural communities stays unchanged.”
As of December final yr, the corporate’s headcount grew by 10%, to 74,067. This comes after Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, stated that he would reduce 5% of Meta’s lowest-performing workers and warned them that extra cuts had been slated for this yr.
Throughout Meta’s This fall earnings name in January, the corporate said that Actuality Labs skilled a record-breaking income in 2024. This was pushed by Meta Quest 3S and Ray-Ban Meta Sensible Glasses gross sales, with Zuckerberg commenting that “the variety of individuals utilizing Quest and Horizon is steadily rising.” He additional described 2025 as a “pivotal yr for the metaverse” and teased the corporate launching extra “visually gorgeous content material” quickly.
Nonetheless, it is very important notice that regardless of its nice total efficiency, the Actuality Labs division operated at a loss in This fall, with working bills totaling practically $5 billion.
In different information, Meta is slated to announce its Q1 earnings for this yr on April 30, which might give us extra perception as to what Actuality Labs’ income seems like for this quarter.