The 10,000 employees who were laid off by Microsoft this year, could have a direct repercussion on the divisions dedicated to virtual reality (VR) or metaverse development. This has caused possible delays in these areas with two projects being shut down.
Microsoft Employees Working on VR and#038; Metaverse Projects Let Go
On January 18, Microsoft declared that it would be trimming 10,000 positions this year, which is equivalent to 5% of its worldwide workforce. The personnel from divisions involved in initiatives such as AltspaceVR or the Mixed Reality Toolkit have been let go in order to restructure and retrain. These dismissals could impede progress in these areas.
Microsoft bought AltspaceVR in 2017. The platform was recently informed of its closure on March 10. This platform was created to allow creators, brands, or businesses to host events in virtual settings. It will now be replaced by Mesh as it has a more professional focus.
The open-source Mixed Reality Toolkit, which was designed to enable users to create user interfaces in the metaverse using open-source tools, has also been discontinued. There have been no reports about the formation of new teams.
Effect On Virtual Reality & the Metaverse?
Even though Microsoft declared that it is reducing its costs to meet customer demand, some believe that job cuts in the VR and metaverse could point to a slowing of development in these areas. This sector has been affected.
The Path reports that out of the 11,000 positions that have been eliminated, a majority of them have been from the consumer sector.
Nevertheless, Microsoft’s leadership is confident that the metaverse and other cutting-edge technologies are essential and will have a major role in the future. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently mentioned that research has demonstrated that the metaverse technology can provide a transformative experience.
Microsoft was also involved with the construction of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Collaboration Village metaverse universe, and has expressed interest in investing in AI-related projects such as OpenAI (creators of the Chatbot AI bot.
What do you think of the job losses in the VR-centric teams and the metaverse? Please share your thoughts below.
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