Between 2019 and 2022, Meta went on a veritable shopping spree of experienced studios to help push its VR game portfolio, culminating in nine VR studios acquired to date. Here we take a look what’s happened over the past six years, including everything from recent successes to outright shutdowns.
Note: This is an updated version of this article from October 2024, as we continue to track ongoing developments of Meta’s studios.
Acquisition by Meta usually means a few things. Studios typically gets a ton of new resources, connections to beloved IP, and the sort of stability that comes with being beamed up into the Meta mothership. It can also mean they have less flexibility, as they’re beholden to maintaining the games that got them attention in the first place.
In all, Meta has acquired nine studios that have demonstrated varying post-acquisition performance—only few of which have seemed to really break the mold by offering up increasingly compelling follow-up content.
Beat Games – Known for Beat Saber, Acquired 2019
Meta acquired Beat Games in 2019 to ensure that Beat Saber would continue evolving with new features and content, while emphasizing that the studio would maintain some independence.
While the block-slashing rhythm game has seen regular updates and DLC music packs from major artists, perhaps the biggest addition to the game itself, since the acquisition, is the inclusion of multiplayer. Meanwhile, other promises have gone unfulfilled, like custom sabers and a mixed reality mode—both of which have been teased but ultimately never developed.
There’s been no fundamental changes to the core Beat Saber formula. One might think that’s because the once-innovative Beat Games had moved on to its next big project. Alas, six years later there’s still no indication that Beat Games is working on anything but keeping Beat Saber going.
Then, in June 2025, Meta announced Beat Saber was abandoning the PSVR/2 version of the game, saying it will no longer be updated, which included any new DLC or features beyond what’s already there. What’s more, PSVR multiplayer is set to be shutdown in early 2026. Amid the news, the team teased there is something in store, noting that the studio is now focusing on the “the next big leap for Beat Saber.”
Beat Saber is one of the most profitable VR games to date, having followed a pretty well-worn formula by now. Until we hear about this “big leap,” we should probably assume more of the same: widely recognized pop tracks offered as full DLC packs, or ‘Shock Drop’ singles, and not much else.
Notably, studio founders Jan Ilavsky, Jaroslav Beck, and Vladimir Hrincar have all since left the company, leaving it increasingly dependent on Meta’s direction.
Post-acquisition Grade: B–
Sanzaru Games – Known for Asgard’s Wrath, Acquired 2020
At the time of its 2020 acquisition, Meta indicated that Sanzaru would continue to develop large-scale VR titles, building off the success of Asgard’s Wrath (2019), a Rift-exclusive RPG that came out one year before the acquisition.
In 2023, the studio served up Asgard’s Wrath 2. Not only did the studio deliver a sequel, it managed to cram it within the confines of Quest 2 and Quest 3, a challenging feat compared to the much more powerful PC platform that its predecessor had shipped on.
The sequel is widely considered a benchmark for visual fidelity on Quest, nabbing the game a solid [4.2/5] user review score. But it took some serious time. It was nearly four years from the acquisition to the launch of Asgard’s Wrath 2.
What’s more, in January 2025, the studio released its final content update to Asgard’s Wrath 2, leaving it effectively on autopilot. Still, the studio says it’s working on its “next big thing,” which thus far hasn’t been revealed.
Post-acquisition Grade: B+
Ready at Dawn – Known for Lone Echo & Echo VR, Acquired 2020, Closed 2024
Ready at Dawn is the studio behind Lone Echo, which launched in 2017 as one of VR’s biggest and best looking games in the days before Quest. Its signature zero-G locomotion was so flexible that the studio even spun out a separate multiplayer game called Echo VR.
Eventually, development on Lone Echo II began, with announced plans to launch in 2019. But a series of delays ensued. Meta came along and acquired Ready at Dawn in 2020, seemingly willing to help the studio complete the game and build on the social success of Echo VR.
The studio did eventually release the single-player adventure Lone Echo II for Rift in 2021. And given Meta’s shifting focus from PC to Quest, it was widely expected the studio would bring the still-loved Echo VR over to the new headset.
But things didn’t work out that way. It was only three years after the acquisition that Ready at Dawn announced it was sunsetting Echo VR.
The decision rightfully disappointed fans, although the studio said it was “focusing on our next project,” which seemed promising. Then, in August 2024, Meta shut down the studio entirely. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
Post-acquisition Grade: F+ (thanks for trying)
Downpour Interactive – Known for Onward, Acquired 2021, Closed 2025
Onward was one of those early mainstays for VR mil-sim players ever since it released on Steam and Rift in 2016. With the acquisition of Downpour Interactive in 2021, Meta saw this as an opportunity to support a popular game, noting at the time it wanted to help “in growing Onward as one of the foremost multiplayer VR games.”
A year before its acquisition, Onward suffered a pretty bumpy launch on Quest, although it saw marked improvements in stability and visuals over the years, garnering the game a strong following to this day and a whopping 18,000 user reviews on Quest, putting it at a solid [4.2/5] in user ratings.
An ostensibly good game with a cult following didn’t save the team from wide-ranging layoffs in early 2023 though, which also affected sister studio Ready at Dawn. Notably, one month prior to layoffs, founder and CEO Dante Buckley left the company.
Then, in June 2025, Meta announced it was shuttering Downpour Interactive following Onward’s big 2.0 update. Remaining staff have been moved to sister studio Camouflaj. The game isn’t dead, and multiplayer servers are still up, but you can consider it officially on life support.
