Microsoft announced on January 19 that it would lay off 10,000 employees in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023, with news that it had fired the entire development team for AltspaceVR and Mixed Reality Tool Kit (MRTK).
Recently, Microsoft announced in an announcement on its website that it would officially shut down its VR social platform AltspaceVR on March 10, confirming the previous rumors of layoffs.
When AltspaceVR first launched, our vision was to create a place where people around the world could connect and socialize in real-time. Looking ahead, Microsoft sees the opportunity for VR to expand from consumer to business and now has a larger goal: to deliver more open, accessible and secure immersive experiences in a metaverse.
To achieve this goal, we have made the difficult decision to shut down the AltspaceVR platform on 10 March 2023 and shift our focus to supporting immersive experiences powered by Microsoft Mesh.
