AltspaceVR has been in jeopardy for years, but the company that built the virtual social space long before “metaverse” became a household word is now shutting down for good.
After announcing its closure in 2017, Microsoft stepped in and brought the company under the tech giant’s umbrella. Now Microsoft is ditching his AltspaceVR virtual reality platform. AltspaceVR is an immersive social space web that invites people to hang out with friends and colleagues as his 3D avatar.
AltspaceVR will end on March 10, with Microsoft saying it will focus more resources on its mixed reality platform Microsoft Mesh.
“We look forward to what lies ahead, including the launch of Microsoft Mesh, our new platform for connectivity and collaboration, starting with enabling workplaces around the world,” the announcement said.
“In the short term, we will focus our VR efforts on workplace experience, learning from and learning from our early customers and partners, and ensuring we provide the foundation that enables security, trust and compliance.”
Outside of games, Microsoft has built many of its products with an enterprise-first mindset, and VR and mixed reality are no exception. The company says it plans to “extend” to consumers once its VR plans are established for the workplace.
AltspaceVR may never have built a formidable user base, but it was a difficult task in VR given the bespoke hardware required.
By 2015 AltspaceVR had created a robust social VR platform. Users can roam wood-paneled rooms with tranquil views, watch Taylor Swift music videos together, and surf his web via virtual browsers. Spatial audio replicates the way humans perceive sound in real-life environments, laying the foundation for virtual events and making the experience more immersive.
At the time, most of the resources and attention in VR was focused on cutting-edge gaming applications rather than virtual hangout spaces. Meta launches Horizon Worlds. Six years have passed since this was his AltspaceVR-like experience with a neutral, non-aggressive interior and a less-than-realistic avatar.
It’s not clear if Microsoft plans to put the product into other VR efforts, or abandon the project altogether. Given the timing, AltspaceVR’s fate is likely linked to Microsoft’s dramatic company-wide merger detailed this week. TechCrunch has reached out to the company for additional information about what happens to the AltspaceVR team and technology in light of the news.
As job cuts in the tech industry deepen, Microsoft announced it will cut 5% of its workforce, affecting 10,000 employees. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella cited economic uncertainty and a setback from the tech boom early in the pandemic as reasons for the drastic cuts.
“We will continue to invest in strategic areas for the future, which means allocating both capital and talent to areas of long-term growth and long-term competitiveness of the company, while divesting in other areas,” Nadella said. ‘ said.
It’s not clear if Microsoft is submitting part of its Metaverse plans, or if AltspaceVR is just a victim of widespread company-wide cuts. It was only a year ago that Facebook boldly rebranded itself as Meta. This has plunged the industry into a tumultuous hype cycle around the vision of a more immersive and possibly VR-powered social networking.
A year later, the Metaverse discourse is already circulating rapidly through stages of backlash, and the future of avatar-driven virtual social spaces is a blur. The Metaverse may not have needed any special hardware at all — the non-VR online world continues to thrive in his 2023 — but years before tech’s lumbering giants came along. But it’s worth remembering the company that explored that possibility.
