Meta laid off employees on Thursday in its Reality Labs division, which encompasses various virtual and augmented reality projects. The cuts impact employees within Oculus Studios, which develops apps and games for Meta’s Quest headsets.
Meta did not specify how many people were impacted by the layoffs but said that the cuts impacted people working on Quest products, including Supernatural, a VR exercise app. Meta acquired Within, the company that makes Supernatural, in 2023.
“Some teams within Oculus Studios are undergoing shifts in structure and roles that have impacted team size,” Meta told TechCrunch in a statement. “These changes are meant to help Studios work more efficiently on future mixed reality experiences for our growing audience, while still delivering great content for people today.”
Reality Labs has been a massive cost for Meta, losing almost $5 billion in the last quarter of 2024 while generating about $1 billion in sales. Meta has reported billions of dollars in operating losses on Reality Labs each year since rebranding from Facebook and emphasizing its commitment to the “metaverse.”
These layoffs come in advance of Meta’s first-quarter earnings report next week, when the company may face scrutiny for the mounting costs of Reality Labs.
Meta told TechCrunch that laid off employees will have the opportunity to apply for other jobs at the company.
For Supernatural users, the layoffs mean that the app will produce fewer new workouts per week. However, each individual workout will be available at a wider variety of skill levels, instead of just one difficulty level per workout. The app also said in a Facebook post that the coaches who run the app’s workouts will not be impacted by the layoffs.
