What the metaverse focus means for the company’s existing social networking products like Facebook and Instagram remains in flux, two employees said. At Facebook and Instagram, some teams have shrunk over the last four months, they said, adding that they expected their budgets for the second half of 2022 to be smaller than in previous years.
A spokesman for Meta, which reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, said building for the metaverse was not the company’s only priority. He added that there hadn’t been significant job cuts to existing teams because of the new direction.
Adam Draper, a managing director of Boost VC, a venture capital firm that invests in companies focused on “sci-fi technology,” said Meta’s new bet was well timed.
“There will be entire economies and countries built digitally through VR/web3, and we are just scratching the surface,” he said, using terms to describe next-generation technologies for building the metaverse. He noted that Meta was in the lead with virtual reality because of products like its Oculus headsets, adding, “This is the sci-fi future, and Meta made the bold move to make it a reality.”
Facebook’s pivot to the metaverse started in its top ranks. In September, Mike Schroepfer, the long-serving chief technology officer, said he would step down by the end of 2022. In his place, Mr. Zuckerberg appointed Andrew Bosworth, known as Boz, who has for the past few years led development on products like the Oculus headsets and Ray Ban Stories smart glasses.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/technology/facebook-meta-change.html
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