VR is Dead? Or It's Just XR Glasses Marketing?

#ai #mixedreality #webdev #vr

> Some Very Important News Has Arrived!

In early 2026, Meta - the company behind Oculus/Meta Quest and the long-standing vision of the metaverse - introduced major changes to its VR division, Reality Labs. These decisions have sparked intense debate and concern across the global tech community.

What happened?

📉Mass Layoffs and Studio Closures

Meta announced the reduction of more than 1,000 jobs within its Reality Labs division - the team responsible for virtual reality and metaverse development.

As part of this restructuring:

Several VR studios were shut down, including well-known developers that had been working on major games for VR headsets.
Development of new content from these studios was discontinued, effectively marking the end of several previously announced projects.

According to Meta’s technical leadership and company representatives, the main reasons cited were slower-than-expected growth of the VR market and weaker headset sales compared to initial projections.

😱 What Does This Mean for Quest and VR Users?

There are several key implications for headset owners and VR enthusiasts:

Official support for VR content will be reduced. Many large internal projects have been cancelled or frozen, and Meta is now investing less in exclusive VR games.
Delays or cancellations of future headset models are possible. According to some analysts and insider reports, the next new Quest device may launch later than originally expected.
Third-party developers and the ecosystem remain. While Meta has cut back on its internal studios, external developers continue to create games and applications for Quest, meaning the platform will continue to function and evolve.

🧐 Why did this happen to VR now?

Meta’s step back from VR did not happen in a vacuum. It is the result of a much larger shift in the technological landscape - because technology never stands still.

👉 AI is growing faster than VR ever did

The main reason is simple: artificial intelligence has begun evolving at a pace that VR never managed to reach.

AI:

does not require new hardware from users
scales instantly
integrates seamlessly into existing products (social networks, messengers, office tools)
delivers fast and clearly measurable ROI

Unlike VR, AI does not need to be explained to the market. It became useful, mainstream, and profitable almost immediately.

For companies at Meta’s scale, this is critical: investors are no longer willing to wait years for “the future” -> they want results now, today.

👉XR glasses are a more realistic path to the mass market

The second key reason is the shift in focus from VR to XR and smart glasses.

Full-scale VR remains a niche technology:

bulky headsets
user isolation
high cost of entry
limited everyday use cases

XR glasses address these issues:

they look like a normal accessory
they work in the real world
they pair perfectly with AI
they don’t require full user “immersion”

In essence, XR + AI is a more convenient version of the metaverse - without the word “metaverse.”

For example, the recent Ray-Ban Meta glasses are not an experiment, but a signal: the future is not in virtual worlds, but in augmented intelligence layered on top of reality.

💡Conclusion

Answering the question of this article - No, VR is not dead, but the belief in it is no longer as fanatical as it once was. There will be more VR worlds and activities, but the main focus remains on XR with AI and development for smart glasses.