Meta's Second Major Layoff Round Underway With VR Teams Affected

UPDATE: LinkedIn and Twitter posts indicate layoffs have occurred at Ready at Dawn and Downpour Interactive. An earlier version of this post included claims from a Business Insider report that we removed when they were discredited. We apologize for having amplified them. Please read our latest here:

Meta Laid Off Staff In Acquired VR Game Studios

Meta laid off “many” employees at Echo VR’s developer Ready at Dawn and Onward’s developer Downpour Interactive.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Earlier report follows:

Following Meta's previous layoffs back in November 2022, Mark Zuckerberg announced further layoffs last month as part of Meta's "year of efficiency," which he estimated would see another 10k employees laid off.

Splitting this into two stages, recent reports (via Vox Media) suggested 4000 employees in Meta's tech groups will be notified today, which includes Meta's VR/AR division, Reality Labs. Citing "three people familiar with the company," Business Insider (paywalled) claims that many projects within Reality Labs are expected to be dissolved.

We're keeping an eye on postings and will provide further updates as we confirm information.

Correction: A previous version of this article listed the incorrect number of positions estimated to be affected across Meta's two main layoffs waves.