Meta Battles F.T.C. in Court Over Future of Virtual Reality

Ms. Dennis said the Within acquisition was part of Meta’s bid to acquire new and more diverse virtual reality users, including customers of Supernatural who tend to be older females. That would complement Meta’s existing virtual reality users, who tend to skew young and male, Ms. Dennis added.

A government victory could crimp Meta’s ability to maneuver in an area of emerging technology that Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, has identified as the “next generation of computing.”

If the deal is blocked, Meta would face greater pressure to produce its own hit apps and would give up the gains — in terms of revenue, talent, data and control — associated with bringing innovative developers in-house.

Supernatural is advertised as a “complete fitness service” with “expert coaches,” “beautiful destinations” and “workouts choreographed to the best music available.” It is available only on Meta’s Quest virtual-reality devices.

The majority of the more than 400 apps available in the Quest app store are produced by external developers. Meta owns the most app in the Quest store, Beat Saber, which it acquired in 2019.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/08/business/meta-virtual-reality-trial-ftc.html