Microsoft will close AltspaceVR on March 30

Microsoft announces the closure of the AltspaceVR platform. The American giant is focusing on Mesh.

Microsoft decided to reconsider its ambitions towards the metaverse somewhat. Indeed, in a blog post spotted by VentureBeat, the Redmond-based firm is announcing the closure of AltspaceVR, a virtual reality social platform it acquired in 2017, on March 10, 2023. The American giant attributes this difficult decision to its desire to focus on Mesh., a mixed reality platform announced by the company with great fanfare in 2021 and which was later to appear in Teams.

Microsoft announces the closure of the AltspaceVR platform

“We look forward to everything that lies ahead of us, including the launch of Microsoft Mesh, a new connectivity and collaboration platform that will start by creating jobs anywhere in the world,” Microsoft said in a statement. “In the relatively near future, we will focus our VR efforts on experience, learning from our customers and partners, and laying a solid foundation for security, trust, and compliance. Over time, we hope to turn this into an experience for the general public.”

American giant focuses on Mesh

The announcement of AltspaceVR’s closure came after Microsoft confirmed layoffs of 10,000 people by the end of March. According to the Windows Central blog, Microsoft plans to lay off the entire AltspaceVR team as part of this massive restructuring. The company has also reduced the number of employees in charge of HoloLens, according to a Bloomberg report. Over the past twelve months, the division has recorded the departure of its former director, Alex Kipman, who left the American giant in June amid allegations of sexual harassment and the suspension of his sales contract with the company. military field. In 2022, Microsoft would have also abandoned the next generation HoloLens headphone project.