Reality Syndrome Symphony's upcoming escape room puzzler has promise, but issues with controls and puzzle readability make this a release we'll need to see more before recommending.

I love puzzle games, as I'd imagine most VR players do; it comes with the territory. I also love narrative puzzlers like Myst, and have played more than a handful of escape rooms. So, when Reality Syndrome Symphony offered us a chance to take an early look at the upcoming Amelia's Escape, I was pretty stoked to see what the game had in store - yet what I've played leaves me concerned and excited for the final release in equal measure.

Let's start with some of the obvious; starting up the demo, players find themselves - Amelia - locked in a warehouse filled with puzzles, and after some brief exposition discover they must complete a number of puzzles and gain keycards to unlock a door to allow their escape. You accomplish this by searching the warehouse for items to interact with, some obvious and others less so. Two major issues immediately reveal themselves, one hopefully exclusive to this demo build, and another which isn't inherently exclusive, but with any luck will be patched before launch.

I must confess that I found myself stuck on the second of the demo's puzzles for an unreasonably long amount of time, to the point where I eventually ended up emailing the developers to figure out if I had run into a progression blocker, or some other known issue. I hadn't, but I did learn that the build I played came with a few quirks; while the warehouse is dotted with all manner of objects, all but a few of them actually do anything in this version of the game. The rest are "red herrings" that will be used in the full release.

On its own, I can't say I'm a fan of this tactic. Some of these objects, like air canisters that Amelia will comment on when interacted with can be filled with air, leading the player down a dead-end. Others, then, don't even offer this luxury - even if Amelia will comment on them all the same, suggesting that they do offer a use. Ultimately the solution I was missing all along I'd glanced over due to a weird interaction; you're meant to bridge a connection with a metal spanner, but placing it when the fuse starts the power flowing will do nothing, even if you place the spanner in the right spot.

0:00

/0:14

1×

I'd hope in the final release the game can prevent you from placing the spanner when the power is on - ideally making it clear that, yes, you're on the right track in the process. This ties into my second issue with the game, not tied to the demo; sometimes the game's controls, and which objects the player can interact with, are inconsistent. For the most part, objects that the player can interact with are a brighter shade than objects surrounding them. Yet, at the same time, this logic is inconsistent. Sometimes darker objects can be picked up and interacted with just fine. Other times, brighter objects are stuck in place and in the end players are left scratching their heads and scrambling their hands across entire shelves of the warehouse in search of objects they can pick up.

Even worse, while players have to actively use the grip button to interact with most objects, switches do not - and the sensitivity with which they're activated is ridiculous. Returning to that electricity puzzle; the same box you place the spanner in has two levers the player can interact with. They will react to your hands even from what feels like a foot away, and it's almost impossible to finely control which of the two is activated at any given time.

On a more positive note, and perhaps unsurprisingly the game looks and runs great on a Quest 3 headset. Even if this demo left me with far more questions than answers, with any luck the final release will manage to fix the issues I've had with this early build. I hope the next time I check out the game, things will be in a better - and more easily recommendable - state.

Orcs Must Die! By The Blade, the VR reimagining of the long-running tower-defense series, is available now on Quest 3 and 3S.

Developed by Teravision Games, makers of the tower-defense shooter Captain Toonhead vs. The Punks from Outer Space, Orcs Must Die! By The Blade is the first VR release in the Orcs Must Die series. By the Blade builds on the long-running franchise's core gameplay loop for VR. Beyond setting up traps and auto-battling as you try to survive waves of orcs, as in traditional tower-defense, the VR version of Orcs Must Die! will have you physically wielding weapons to defend your base in first person.

In addition to the game's standard solo mode, a two-player co-op mode is also included.

0:00

/1:15

1×

The game's main campaign features 12 missions across three chapters. These task the player with placing traps on a map before physically battling oncoming orcs with weapons like axes and swords. By The Blade uses free locomotion for movement and combat, and you'll need to balance blocking and countering along with offensive attacks. As you progress through the campaign, you'll upgrade your weapons and traps to become a more formidable anti-orc force.

In a recent interview, Teravision Games' Co-Founder and Creative Director Luis Daniel Zambrano spoke about bringing Orcs Must Die! to VR for the first time. "We dialed up the importance of combat vs. the traps, and we made the enemies focus more on the players than the Rifts. Bold ideas that aimed at making the player feel more present, and the game more immersive overall. [...] Once we did that, it started to feel more excitingly VR than ever."

Originally announced to release on January 22nd, Orcs Must Die! By the Blade was delayed due to an unexpected performance issue found in the Quest 2 build. That version is still under construction and will release at a later date.

Orcs Must Die! By The Blade is available now on Quest 3 and Quest 3S.

Though no release date has been announced, the multi-player FPS will be storming onto PS VR2 later this year.

Triangle Factory has announced that its Battlefield-like FPS, Forefront, is coming to PS VR2 in 2026. The visceral and tactile FPS dumps players onto large-scale battlefields where up to 32 players fight for control of territory using handheld weapons, Humvees, tanks, helicopters, and other war machines of the air, land, and sea.

I previewed Forefront when it launched in Early Access on Meta Quest and found it to be a solid take on the Battlefield formula. Combat is exciting and tense, its VR gunplay is tactile and satisfying, and its environments are dynamic and engaging. While some small problems did exist in that EA build, mostly due to weapon balance issues, on the whole, Forefront stands as the strongest large-scale shooter I’ve played in VR.

Forefront Hands-On: The Battlefield Multiplayer Experience In VR

Forefront in early access brings excitingly tense, large-scale multiplayer warfare reminiscent of Battlefield to VR.

UploadVRJames Tocchio

Forefront is available now on Quest, Steam, and Pico, and you can now wishlist it on PS VR2 from the PlayStation Store.

LaCie Rugged is a popular line of portable storage devices backed by an iconic, timeless style of an orange silicone frame holding a solid metal drive. This design spanned the HDD and SATA SSD era, and now enters the NVMe and 40 Gbps USB4 era, offering snappy file transfers while retaining its hallmark tough physical construction.

Thermal Grizzly has released the first public software suite for the WireView Pro II, alongside the first official firmware update. Both are optional, but together they enable full PC‑based configuration and data logging, expanding the device’s capabilities beyond the standalone hardware interface.

Software version 1.0.5 provides full operating‑system integration, access to all supported WireView Pro II functions, more precise configuration options than the firmware alone, and power‑ and temperature‑logging with export support, including analysis of 12V‑2×6 current distribution. The software is currently available for Windows, with Linux support planned. It remains optional, as all essential measurements continue to be handled directly on the device’s integrated display.

 

This first public release follows a beta phase in which several issues were resolved. Users can report problems via Discord, the subreddit, or Thermal Grizzly's website support form.

Thermal Grizzly is also releasing the first firmware update for the WireView Pro II. The update is included in the software package and is flashed to the device via USB. Once installed, the software can be closed and removed. The update is optional and does not affect warranty coverage, but it is recommended for full compatibility with the new software.

Firmware version v03 enables full software control of the device, improves averaging calculations for more stable readings, and adjusts the current‑imbalance alarm thresholds from 30% at 5 A to 40% at 6 A per pin. The alarm now triggers only when a pin exceeds 6 A and the relative difference between minimum and maximum pin current is greater than 40%, reducing unnecessary warnings from minor fluctuations. Flashing the firmware resets all device settings

KitGuru Says: With dedicated software, there will be the opportunity for further enhancements to the WireView Pro II for a long time to come.

The post Thermal Grizzly launches dedicated software for WireView Pro II first appeared on KitGuru.

It's official, Death Stranding 2 is coming to PC and it will be available very soon. Fans of the original game will now be able to get their hands on the sequel via Steam or the Epic Games Store, starting on March 19th.

DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH offers a new range of tools, weapons and vehicles at Sam’s disposal. With his companions from DRAWBRIDGE by his side, Sam takes on a new adventure to connect Australia to the Chiral network. While the original Death Stranding was pretty light on combat, Death Stranding 2 offers players more options to jump into the fray directly, while retaining the stealth mechanics found in the first game.

The PC version of Death Stranding 2 fully supports 21:9 ultrawide displays, and even larger 32:9 displays. The PC version will also offer complete mouse and keyboard support with custom key bindings, full DualSense functionality for those who prefer the PS5 controller, and a suite of 3D audio options.

At launch, both the PC version and the PS5 version of the game will also be updated with new modes and features, which we will get more details on next month.

Those who pre-order the game will get a few bonus items, including several skeleton models and a custom hologram. Those who grab the Digital Deluxe edition will also get an early unlock machine gun, and even more cosmetic items.

KitGuru Says: Are you looking forward to picking up Death Stranding 2 next month?

The post Death Stranding 2 is officially coming to PC next month first appeared on KitGuru.

7 years after the release of the first game, Warhorse Studios re-entered the limelight with the official launch of the much-anticipated Kingdom Come Deliverance II. Released back in February of last year, the RPG has seen consistent sales – having now officially surpassed 5 million copies sold.

As part of the company’s latest fiscal earnings call, Embracer Group revealed that the Warhorse Studio-developed RPG Kingdom Come Deliverance II “has surpassed 5 million sold copies within its first year of release.”

Warhorse themselves also commented on the milestone, taking to Twitter to say: “Bohemia now welcomes five million players, and we are incredibly proud to see #KCD2 reach this monumental milestone. This achievement belongs to everyone here at Warhorse Studios and our amazing community. Thank you for being part of this journey and making this a reality!”

For context, KCDII sold 1 million copies within its first 24 hours. It then took the game two weeks to hit 2 million; 3 months to reach 3 million and a total of 9 months to surpass 4 million.

The original Kingdom Come Deliverance on the other hand took roughly 4 years to reach 5 million copies, though it of course was a brand new IP at the time and so had less cache overall.

Regardless, the first entry has since gone on to sell over 10 million copies and so it is likely that the sequel will take on a similar – albeit faster – trajectory.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Kingdom Come Deliverance II? How big of an upgrade is it compared to the first game? How quickly will it take KCDII to reach 10 million? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Kingdom Come Deliverance II reaches 5 million copies sold first appeared on KitGuru.

Almost two years after the last one, Sony has launched the follow-up WF-1000XM6 earbuds that claim to up the ante on noise cancellation and audio fidelity. Meanwhile, the audio giant also announced a Sand Pink version of its WH-1000XM6 over-the-ear headphones. With the WF-1000XM6, Sony is eager to reclaim the noise-canceling crown from

We're treading uncertain waters as memory prices continue to skyrocket amid a surge in demand caused by the rapid expansion of AI data centers. That also means the market is even more ripe for scams. In an effort to protect product authenticity and reduce retail fraud, Corsair has revamped its Vengeance DDR5 memory packaging so you can see

After having one of the best launches which a game could hope for, EA’s Battlefield 6 has quickly been losing steam, especially in the wake of gen-AI art controversies and a delayed Season 2. Finally however, Battlefield’s next content drop is almost upon us, with EA / DICE having now fully detailed Season 2’s expected additions.

Ahead of the official launch for Battlefield 6 Season 2, the team at BF Studios have released a dedicated gameplay trailer alongside a blogpost detailing all of the upcoming additions.

Set to be released in 3-phases, the first part of Season 2 – Extreme Measures – will launch on the 17th of February and includes:

• VL-7 psychoactive smoke limited-time mode
• AH-6 Little Bird and MH-350 helicopters
• New map ‘Contaminated’
• 3 new weapons
  • GRT-CPS Marksman Rifle
  • VCR-2 Assault Rifle
  • M121 A2 Machine Gun
• 2 new gadgets
  • HTI-MK2
  • 9K38 IGLA

Phase 2 of Season 2 is titled ‘Nightfall’ and is set to arrive one month later on the 17th of March, adding:

• New map ‘Hagental Base’
• Nightfall limited-time event
• 2 new weapons
  • CZ3A1 Submachine Gun
  • VZ. 61 Sidearm
• M1030-1 motorbike

Finally, phase 3 is known as ‘Hunter / Prey’. Launching on the 14th of April, the last slice of Season 2 will introduce:

• Operation Augur limited-time mode
• Portal updates
• Extra Battle Pass path
• LTV vehicle
• Ripper 14” Machete melee weapon

While there is no denying that the next Season features a solid amount of new content, one of the biggest complaints fans have had with the game is in its maps, and so it is a bit unfortunate to see only two being added over the course of the next 3 months or so.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the full Season 2 roadmap? Is this enough to get you to come back? What is BF6’s biggest issue at the moment in your opinion? Let us know down below.

The post Full Battlefield 6 Season 2 roadmap revealed first appeared on KitGuru.

Today we take a look at a new power supply from OEM manufacturer FSP. The company's new Mega GM range comprises three units, with 850W, 1000W and 1200W variants, the latter of which we are looking at today. This unit is fully modular, 80 Plus Gold and Cybenetics Gold-rated and has a 10-year warranty.

Whenever we review an FSP power supply we usually get emails or posts on socials asking about availability and, as always, we have little information about that as we write this content. I have been told that pricing for the 1200W unit we review today should be around the $229 price point, and while FSP don't often give me UK cost details, we estimate around the £200 price point.

Product Overview:

• Efficiency ≧ 90% at typical load
• 80 PLUS® / Cybenetics ® Gold certified
• Supports native PCIe 12V-2×6 connector and cable
• 105°C Japanese bulk capacitor
• 135mm Fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) fan
• Eco semi-fanless fan control switch
• Off-Wet, Off-Dust and Off-Stain conformal coating
• Top-notch LLC topology and synchronous rectifier & DC-DC converters
• Fully modular with embossed cabling design
• Complete protections: OCP, OVP, SCP, OPP, UVP, OTP, SIP, NLO

The post FSP Mega GM 1200W PSU Review first appeared on KitGuru.

As with the first game before it, Sucker Punch Productions promised that Ghost of Yotei would be receiving a free update in the new year focused on introducing the game’s co-op Legends Mode. Sure enough, as part of the company’s latest State of Play showcase, the release date for Ghost of Yotei Legends has now been officially announced.

Making the announcement during the latest State of Play, Sucker Punch Productions confirmed that the much-anticipated Legends Mode is coming to Ghost of Yotei in a little under a month: On the 10th of March.

Landing alongside update 1.5, this new Legends Mode will launch with 3 main mission types (two of which have been revealed):

• Survival (4-player): “Take down waves of increasingly difficult enemies on one of four maps” while fighting to control territory to activate blessings
• Story (2-player): 12 missions where after every 3 you must take on an incursion (large-scale four-player assault on a stronghold belonging to a member of the Yōtei Six)

Just like Tsushima, Yotei’s Legends mode will continue to receive updates post-launch, with the team promising that a Raid will go live in April, “putting your team to the ultimate test, where you can expect to take on the Dragon and Lord Saito himself.”

Across all modes, players will be able to take on the role of 4 different classes: Samurai, Archer, Mercenary, or Shinobi; each of which “excel in a different one of Ghost of Yōtei’s weapon and combat systems” while earning some unique armour.

Ghost of Tsushima Legends was a welcome surprise when the free update arrived back for the original game. With the team having now learned lessons from their first take on the formula, here’s to hoping that Ghost of Yotei Legends will have even greater levels of depth and replayability. We won’t have to wait long to find out. Full details of Ghost of Yotei’s Legend mode can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for the Legends mode? Will you be hopping in next month? Let us know down below.

The post Ghost of Yotei Legends launches next month first appeared on KitGuru.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits was the impressive debut title from studio Ember Lab. Released back in 2021 for PlayStation and PC, the game resonated with many thanks to its gorgeous visuals, fun combat and overall vibes. In a surprise announcement during the most recent State of Play, the team revealed that a sequel is officially on the way – arriving some time this year.

Sony kicked off its latest State of Play Showcase with the announcement of Kena: Scars of Kosmora. Being published by PlayStation Studios, the sequel looks to be taking the core of the first game and expanding upon it, introducing new “Elemental spirit companions” that “travel with you, grow over time, and unlock new powers as your bond deepens.”

The added elements of ‘elements’ can be seen throughout the sequel, with companions; skills; and infusions allowing for more engaging gameplay against “challenging encounters and epic boss fights.”

While seemingly not an open-world, Kena’s island of Kosmora is more expansive, necessitating the use of a horse to navigate.

All in all, it appears as though Kena: Scars of Kosmora is building upon what worked in the first game (the pretty visual design, competent combat and cleansing mechanic) while using their partnership with PlayStation Studios to help “craft an even larger world – one built with an emphasis on tightly designed regions, deliberate progression, and a strong sense of adventure.”

Kena: Scars of Kosmora officially arrives some time this year for both PlayStation 5 and PC.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Ember Lab's next project? What did you think of the first Kena? Let us know down below.

The post Kena: Scars of Kosmora officially announced for PS5 and PC first appeared on KitGuru.

With Nova Lake, a new generation of Intel desktops is on the horizon for the end of 2026, which appears to focus less on energy efficiency and more on uncompromising peak performance. While the current Arrow Lake family and its refresh models are increasingly focusing on efficiency improvements, recent information suggests that Intel could once […]

Source

A used MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Super Ventus is currently causing a stir on Reddit. In the PCMR subreddit, user TwistedColossus describes how the card reportedly “instantly burst into flames” during a test run – including a burnt hole in the circuit board. This is not a melted 12VHPWR connector, as seen in previous discussions […]

Source

The latest figures from Mercury Research on the x86 CPU market for the fourth quarter of 2025 are more than just a snapshot. They mark a structural shift in the balance of power between AMD and Intel. AMD ends the year with a 41.3 percent share of server sales. This is not a statistical outlier, […]

Source

Microsoft is apparently rethinking the fundamentals of its subscription ecosystem. According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft is in the early stages of testing ways to expand or structurally adjust the Xbox Game Pass lineup. No concrete decisions have been made, but the direction is clear: more bundling, more flexibility, and possibly less fragmentation. […]

Source

With the release of Windows 11 version 26H1, Microsoft is taking an unusual approach. The new edition of the operating system is not available to the general user community, but is intended exclusively for new complete systems with ARM processors. Specifically, Microsoft currently names only one platform, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2. Devices with AMD or Intel […]

Source

Samsung Electronics has officially started mass production of its latest high-bandwidth memory generation, HBM4, and delivered the first batches to customers. With this step, the company is positioning itself early in the emerging HBM4 market, which is driven primarily by the rapidly growing demand for AI accelerators, data center GPUs, and specialized ASIC solutions. According […]

Source

Introduction and unboxing Today we are presenting a particularly attractive keyboard from Asus. The ASUS ROG Azoth 96 HE is positioned as a technically sophisticated gaming keyboard in the upper enthusiast segment and combines a compact 96 percent layout with modern Hall effect technology. The aim is to combine the precision and speed of professional […]

Source

💾

Google's YouTube has launched an official visionOS app.

While it was already possible to access YouTube on Apple Vision Pro headsets through the Safari web browser, the new official app offers a streamlined native-feeling interface, support for watching 180° and 360° immersive video (including 3D), and, for YouTube Premium subscribers, the ability to download videos for offline viewing.

The player also adapts to the varying aspect ratios of videos on YouTube, avoiding the black-bars problem and revealing more of your real or virtual environment.

On the M5 Apple Vision Pro, the app supports up to 8K, while the original M2 Vision Pro is limited to 4K.

YouTube first announced that it planned to build a visionOS app just days after the original headset's launch.

In the two years since, multiple third-party apps have emerged to fill the gap, including firstly and most prominently the $5 app Juno, built by the same developer as the Apollo phone app for Reddit. But in late 2024 YouTube forced Juno off the visionOS App Store.

Other third-party offerings include Tubular Pro, which has advanced features including SponsorBlock integration and its own theater environments.

The official YouTube app for Apple Vision Pro is available for free on the visionOS App Store, with offline downloads enabled by a YouTube Premium subscription.

While its arrival on visionOS could be considered surprising by some because of Google's competing Android XR, YouTube operates somewhat independently from Google, and Google has offered iOS versions of its most popular services for almost two decades now.

YouTube is also available on Meta's Horizon OS, including with co-watching support, but the app on Quest is visually less polished compared to visionOS and Android XR.

Official YouTube Co-Watching On Quest Finally Arrives In Beta

Official YouTube co-watching in the Horizon OS home space has finally arrived as a beta.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Meta and EssilorLuxottica sold more than 7 million smart glasses in 2025, and they were the "dominant driver" of the Ray-Ban owner's wholesale growth in H2.

Exactly one year ago, EssilorLuxottica told its investors that the Ray-Ban Meta glasses had sold 2 million units so far, a period spanning from the launch in October 2023 until February 2025.

Now, during its Q4 2025 earnings report, the company announced that it sold 7 million units of Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses in 2025 alone – meaning more than triple that of 2024. This suggests that around 9 million have been sold to date since the launch of Ray-Ban Meta two and a half years ago.

For comparison, Quest 2 sold an estimated 20 million units in two and a half years, while Steam Deck sold around 4 million units over the same timespan.

EssilorLuxottica says smart glasses drove significant growth for both its wholesale and retail business, describing the former in North America as "exponential".

The sales figure comes one month after Bloomberg reported that Meta and EssilorLuxottica were discussing doubling or even tripling smart glasses production capacity.

When announcing the 2 million sales mark a year ago, EssilorLuxottica told investors that it planned to increase annual production capacity to 10 million units by the end of 2026, citing the "great success" of the product. Bloomberg's report suggests that target is being increased to 20 or 30 million.

It's undeniable at this point that smart glasses are an appealing consumer product. The question now is whether Meta will maintain its lead once serious competition from Apple and Google arrives.

Google has repeatedly teased smart glasses with a HUD at events like TED and I/O, and announced last year that it's working with the eyewear companies Gentle Monster and Warby Parker on Gemini smart glasses, and will work with Kering Eyewear in the future. Multiple South Korean news outlets have reported that Samsung plans to launch a Meta Ray-Ban Display competitor this year, powered by Google software, a similar strategy to the Galaxy XR headset.

Meanwhile, in October Bloomberg reported that Apple moved staff off the cheaper and lighter Vision headset project to prioritize shipping smart glasses sooner. Apple's first glasses could be revealed as soon as this year ahead of a release in 2027, the report claimed.

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says that, as with all new headsets, the company will "learn from" Steam Frame if it's successful.

During an "ask my anything" session on his Instagram page, when asked whether Meta will be in competition with Steam Frame or "support" it, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth replied by saying that it's "a little bit of both".

0:00

/0:59

1×

"It is a little bit of both. I have said this before—and I will say it again, because it is really true—every time there is a new headset, we learn from it. We learn how consumers respond to the decisions made regarding architecture, resolution, and cameras. For example, with the Steam Frame, it looks like they included a wireless dongle. We experimented with a dongle many times to make a wireless link work, but we decided it was just too much hassle. They chose to go that route. If consumers love it, maybe there is a bigger market there than we realized.

Every time someone launches something new, it is an experiment that costs me nothing, which is great. Obviously, we do compete with them. Quite a few people use Quest specifically because it is not just standalone, but also capable of PC gaming. I think that is a strong value proposition: being able to use the device both with a PC and without one. However, Steam is trying to build an entire ecosystem, including portable PCs. So, ultimately, it is a little bit of both."

Bosworth has given a relatively similar answer for past VR headsets and accessories, suggesting that Meta will assess it based on how consumers respond, i.e. how well it sells. For example, he once claimed that if the Pico Trackers sold exceptionally well, Meta would "have to" make an equivalent.

"Every time someone launches something new, it is an experiment that costs me nothing, which is great", Bosworth quips in the Steam Frame response.

D-Link VR Air Bridge No Longer Works In Windows 11 24H2

D-Link’s VR Air Bridge wireless PC VR dongle, made in partnership with Meta, no longer works after Windows 11’s 24H2 update, the same update that made Windows MR headsets no longer function.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

The Meta CTO specifically points out Steam Frame's included wireless dongle as something his company tried in the past but "decided it was just too much hassle".

In late 2022, Meta partnered with D-Link to ship VR Air Bridge, a $100 official accessory for gaming PCs to directly connect to Quest 2 for Air Link, a somewhat similar concept. But whereas Steam Frame itself creates the hotspot that its dongle seamlessly connects to, and the headset has a dedicated 6 GHz radio for this, VR Air Bridge was a decidedly lower-effort approach, a traditional 5 GHz hotspot with a somewhat clunky setup process.

Is Bosworth right that a dongle is "too much hassle", or as with Quest Pro, is this another example of Meta deciding that a general idea is bad because its specific implementation was poor?

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth claims that even after the cuts, the company is still investing more in VR content than anyone else, and more than it was 4 years ago.

If you somehow missed it: last month Meta shut down three of its acquired VR game studios, conducted significant layoffs at a fourth, canceled the Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel, and announced the shutdown of Horizon Workrooms and its Quest headsets for business offering. These actions came a month after the company officially confirmed "shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward AI glasses and Wearables".

Despite this, when asked to provide "the truth" about "doom and gloom" for Quest during an "ask me anything" session on his Instagram page, Bosworth responded by claiming that Meta is still investing more in VR content than any other company – and more than it was in 2022, at the height of the Quest 2 era.

0:00

/2:37

1×

"There is a lot of doom and gloom about it—mostly overwrought, but I understand why it exists. Emotionally, we have to navigate two realities. First, there is a real cause for sadness. We had people doing work we were excited about, whether at the OS layer or great studios delivering great titles. Ultimately, we realized that the integrated vision we were pursuing with Horizon and VR was overwrought, and the investment we put in was larger than the growth of the ecosystem allowed. That is a real loss, and we are allowed to feel sad about those things.

On the other side, Meta remains extremely bullish on VR. Adjusting our investment profile was done specifically so that we could continue to invest. We are still investing more in content than anyone else, and more than we were four years ago. While we have receded from the "high water mark," we are still very much a net positive investor in the ecosystem. Furthermore, these internal changes unblock roadmaps for us on hardware; the next two devices we are looking at are very exciting.

I don't want to take away from the sadness regarding cancelled projects like another Arkham, though I wish there was more appreciation for the fact that we got the first one. Regarding community accountability and my December AMA comments about wearables versus VR: I noted then that these areas are separate and we can do both. That remains true. If VR were growing at the rate we wished, we likely wouldn't have made these changes, but we cannot invest infinitely. Our investment must match the size of the growth. The ecosystem is growing—just more slowly than we hoped—and we are still investing. That is the story."

Meta CTO Explains Layoffs & Strategy Shift: “VR Is Growing Less Quickly Than We Hoped”

In a series of interviews at Davos, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth explained why the company is reducing its investment in VR.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Oculus and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey made a similar claim last month, but Bosworth saying it serves as an official proclamation from Meta itself.

Still, with most of its acquired VR gaming studios now closed, that "content" investment will not be arriving in the form of first-party blockbusters. Instead, Bosworth is likely referring to investment in third-party VR content.

In an interview with Axios last month, Bosworth said that Meta will now
"focus a lot more on the third-party content library, the ecosystem that's developed there".

Whether or not Meta will follow through on this suggestion of continuing to fund third-party VR content remains to be seen.