Microsoft shuts down its social VR platform AltspaceVR amid shift in priorities

AltspaceVR, a social virtual worlds platform acquired by Microsoft in 2017, will shut down on March 10.

Microsoft has reportedly axed the entire team behind AltSpaceVR, one of the leading VR social platforms, (Image credit: AltspaceVR)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Microsoft plans to shut down Altspace VR, the social virtual reality (VR) platform, on March 10, 2023. The Silicon Valley heavyweight shared the news in a blog post just days after it announced 10,000 job cuts globally as a part of the restructuring exercise.

“As we look to the future, we see the opportunity for VR expanding beyond consumer into business and now have an even greater goal: a more open, accessible, and secure version of immersive experiences in the metaverse,” reads the blog post. “With Mesh, we aspire to build a platform that offers the widest opportunity to all involved, including creators, partners and customers.”

AltspaceVR was one of the first virtual reality social networking apps that allow users across headset and web platforms to join 3D chat rooms to play games, watch videos and attend events. When the startup was almost on the verge of collapse in 2017 due to financial reasons, it got acquired by Microsoft as part of its efforts to develop its own mixed-reality ecosystem. Now, with AltspaceVR shutting down, Microsoft says users can download their data and content from the VR platform.

We have some sad news, Altspacers. #AltspaceVR is shutting down on March 10th.

Though we hate saying goodbye, we also feel such pride and gratitude for all the magic that happened here. ✨

Thanks for joining us on this epic adventure. #socialvr https://t.co/peCwpaaBl3

— AltspaceVR (@AltspaceVR) January 20, 2023

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Microsoft is still in the race for metaverse with its Mesh platform, a service to build apps for people to collaborate in augmented reality. However, lately, the company has been scaling back on its metaverse ambitions. Just last week, Microsoft said it would cut its global workforce by five percent, with around 10,000 layoffs. The layoffs extend to Microsoft’s AR and VR departments, with Windows Central reporting the entire team behind AltspaceVR appears to have been axed. In fact, Microsoft has reportedly axed the team behind the ‘Mixed Reality Tool Kit’ or MRTK, a popular cross-platform framework for virtual reality spaces. In recent years, the division behind the HoloLens headset has number of challenges, especially after the departure of Alex Kimpan, who once lead the teams developing Microsoft’s mixed-reality headset and Kinect.