Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth Explains Why Echo VR Is Shutting Down
In Brief
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth explained why the company is shutting down a popular Oculus game Echo VR.
Echo VR doesn’t have a big number of players and it’s difficult to keep the game going, Bosworth said.
Bosworth mentioned that former Oculus CTO Jack Carmack would have kept Echo VR alive.
Meta disappointed its users last week by announcing that one of the oldest VR games on Oculus, Echo VR, would shut down this August. After hearing the news, fans signed a petition and severely criticized Meta’s decision to get rid of the beloved VR game. As the Echo VR team failed to properly explain the reasons behind the closure, the CTO of Meta, Andrew Bosworth, stepped in and clarified the company’s decision through Instagram stories. He also concluded right away that the game would not be saved.
Bosworth acknowledged the sentiments regarding the shutdown, claiming he is sad and understands the community. Although he explained that Echo VR is not “the right place” to invest the company’s resources, the CTO said that the game “was a huge part of the evolution of virtual reality multiplayer, a community-based game.” However, as time passed, Echo VR had fewer users and received less interest.
“The user base is small. It’s loyal as all get-out, but it’s small. It’s measured in the low ten thousands. And unfortunately keeping things alive takes work. This is not like a return on investment money standpoint, it’s just those resources could be put to other uses that I think will be useful to the now tens of millions of people who are in VR,”
Bosworth explained.
He added that Meta has “some regulatory constraints” that make the game more expensive to keep on the market. Bosworth also shared the importance of return on investment: “I’m talking about the return on the human capital, the people, that could be doing something that’s gonna affect millions of people, but instead they’re trying to keep something alive that affects ten thousands of people.”
The final thing Bosworth mentioned was that there was no option to sell the game either. Echo VR was “very deeply entangled with a bunch of [the company’s] systems,” and there was no cost-effective way to do so. Besides, the Ready At Dawn team (the developers of Echo VR) will now be focusing on other projects that can potentially have a bigger impact on more people.
Bosworth said that former Oculus CTO and VR specialist John Carmack “would not have shut down Echo VR”
John Carmack worked at Meta as the executive consultant for VR and left the company in December. He said he was discontent with how Meta works and criticized it for being ineffective.
After being asked, “What would John Carmack do?” in this situation, Bosworth answered that he would not shut down Echo VR.
“He really wants to keep all… Because this is content, this is like if books stopped existing, at some point. It’s weird to him that this content, this art form doesn’t continue to exist forever,”
Bosworth said of Carmack.
UploadVR reached out to Carmack, asking for his opinion on Echo VR’s closure. He responded in an email:
“Even if there are only ten thousand active users, destroying that user value should be avoided if possible. Your company suffers more harm when you take away something dear to a user than you gain in benefit by providing something equally valuable to them or others. User value is my number one talking point by far, but “focus” is pretty high up there as well, and opportunity cost is a real thing.”
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About The Author
Agne is a journalist who covers the latest trends and developments in the metaverse, AI, and Web3 industries for the Metaverse Post. Her passion for storytelling has led her to conduct numerous interviews with experts in these fields, always seeking to uncover exciting and engaging stories. Agne holds a Bachelor’s degree in literature and has an extensive background in writing about a wide range of topics including travel, art, and culture. She has also volunteered as an editor for the animal rights organization, where she helped raise awareness about animal welfare issues. Contact her on agnec@mpost.io.
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Agne is a journalist who covers the latest trends and developments in the metaverse, AI, and Web3 industries for the Metaverse Post. Her passion for storytelling has led her to conduct numerous interviews with experts in these fields, always seeking to uncover exciting and engaging stories. Agne holds a Bachelor’s degree in literature and has an extensive background in writing about a wide range of topics including travel, art, and culture. She has also volunteered as an editor for the animal rights organization, where she helped raise awareness about animal welfare issues. Contact her on agnec@mpost.io.
