Meta has closed several studios, suggesting that VR games are no longer a priority for Mark Zuckerberg’s company.
Despite being a Meta Quest 3 exclusive title and only being released in December, Batman: Arkham Shadow was one of the best games of 2024. One of the voice actors, Mark Rolston, accidentally confirmed its sequel when he revealed that he was set to play Inspector Gordon in it. However, UploadVR revealed that Meta Reality Labs’ recent 10% workforce reduction hit the Camouflaj team hard. This resulted in the cancellation of the sequel and the end of all Camouflaj VR game development. Twisted Pixel Games and Sanzaru Games were also shut down as part of Meta’s latest round of layoffs, in which 1,000 people were laid off from Meta Reality Labs. Although Camouflaj was one of the few companies not completely shut down, it underwent significant layoffs and will no longer develop VR games.
Sanzaru Games was collaborating with Camouflaj on the Arkham Shadow sequel, but that project ended with Sanzaru’s closure, contributing to the sequel’s cancellation. The closure of the two best VR game development teams is a clear signal from Meta that it is no longer investing in VR game development. It also signals that Meta is turning away from the metaverse and investing in AI instead.
VR has not become the next big breakthrough in gaming as many predicted. It remains a niche technology and gaming segment, but it’s unfortunate that the teams that made real progress developing the medium were pushed out. Sanzaru Games’ Asgard’s Wrath 2, released in 2023, was considered one of the best VR games at the time. Arkham Shadow represented a new step forward in the visualization of combat in VR.
Hopefully, this won’t mean the end of Camouflaj. We’ll continue to see them make their own games instead of becoming a support studio for the few teams at Meta Reality Labs that are still making VR games.
