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is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
Meta is laying off about 10 percent of its Reality Labs metaverse division, and the cuts apparently include closing down some of its VR gaming studios. It “appears” Twisted Pixel Games, the developer of Marvel’s Deadpool VR, Sanzaru Games, the developer of the Asgard’s Wrath franchise, and Armature Studio, who worked on the Resident Evil 4 VR port, are all being shut down, according to former Twisted Pixel level designer Andy Gentile, who posted about being laid off.
Other laid off staffers have posted about the closures, too.
- “Unfortunately, Twisted Pixel Games has been closed as a result of strategy changes at Meta,” former Twisted Pixel senior artist Dan Greenfield says.
- “As many will hear soon, several Meta game studios were closed today, including Sanzaru,” former Sanzaru senior level designer Ray West says.
- “Due to an unexpected closure of Sanzaru Studios, I’m open for work,” former Sanzaru lead environment artist Tyler Fluharty says.
Meta didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. In a statement about the broader Reality Labs layoffs, Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said that “We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables. This is part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year.”
Meta acquired Twisted Pixel and Armature in 2022 and Sanzaru in 2020. The company closed Echo VR developer Ready at Dawn, which it also acquired in 2020, in 2024.
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