Ready at Dawn Studios has closed its doors after over two decades of developing games for platforms such as the PSP and the Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Rift). The company, which was said to be working on the Lone Echo VR series for parent firm Oculus Studios, is closing effective immediately.
As per a report from Android Central, the cuts were done to make sure that “Reality Labs stays within the new budgetary constraints and that Oculus Studios can make a ‘better long-term impact’ in VR development.” the parent company is also encouraging fired workers to apply to other jobs within Oculus Studios.
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Why Is Meta Shutting Down Ready At Dawn VR Studios
Ready at Dawn was initially formed in 2003 by ex-Naughty Dog members to work on PSP games, including Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus. Its first original IP was The Order: 1886 in 2015, which failed to strike the right chord with the audience but has retained a sort of cult status among players.
It jumped into VR development with Lone Echo in 2017 and was subsequently acquired by Oculus Studios. Its last game was Lone Echo 2 in 2021, but it ended Echo VR's support focus on other games a few years later. This studio was hit by layoffs in 2023 as part of Meta’s larger cuts across the company that affected thousands of employees.
Recently, Meta released its quarterly financials, which showed that Reality Labs -- its AR/VR and metaverse segment — reported a $4.49 billion operating loss. The division has reported losses over each of the last four quarters, and since the start of 2019 has lost around $59.5 billion. The company executives in an earnings call that Meta will continue to invest in the “full set of ambitions” in Reality Labs, including virtual reality.
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Meta Is Changing AI Labels After It Marks Real Photos As AI
Meta is changing the labels it applies to social media posts suspected to have been generated using AI tools. The Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp parent company said its new label will show “AI Info” alongside a post, where it used to say “Made with AI.”
It’s making these changes in part because the company’s detection systems were labeling images with minor modifications as having been “Made with AI,” causing some artists to call out the approach.
In one high-profile example, former White House photographer Pete Souza told TechCrunch that cropping tools seem to be adding info to the images, and that information was alerting Meta’s AI detectors.