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TEXXR

Chronicles

The story behind the story

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Meta acquires Within, the company behind VR fitness game Supernatural; Within will continue working on the game and help Meta improve future VR hardware

The company already owns Beat Saber  —  Meta has announced that the studio behind VR workout game Supernatural will be joining the company …

The Verge Mitchell Clark

Discussion

  • @boztank Boz on x
    Fitness in VR has brought people together over a renewed sense of joy in movement. We look forward to partnering with Within to grow and accelerate their vision for fitness experiences and explore other areas centered around social, community, and beyond: https://www.oculus.com/.…
  • @mikeisaac Rat King on x
    Faceb— .......meta acquires VR fitness app makers “Within” https://www.cnet.com/...
  • @cixliv CIX.eth on x
    So, remember what I said about VR Fitness? @FBRealityLabs “Meta” just acquired @getsupernatural Looks like the data was showing I was right. https://www.cnet.com/...
  • @jetscott Scott Stein on x
    Facebook (Meta) just bought another game company. But this is a fitness company, subscription workouts, that pair with Apple Watch heart rate https://www.cnet.com/...
  • @cixliv CIX.eth on x
    @BartronPolygon ... Cross ecosystem doesn't matter if there is no other ecosystem That's what zuck wants
  • @cixliv CIX.eth on x
    @EricPresidentVR ... Yo Facebook doesn't have any vision except getting out from under Apple This vision is just them watching data trends from usage on their platform, that's it They don't have any ethos, the leaks prove that Ffs I promised I'd take a break from Twitter
  • @mikeisaac Rat King on x
    @mkarolian i have a colleague who feels similarly....
  • @vishalshahis Vishal Shah on x
    I'm a huge fan of Supernatural personally, and the community they've built around fitness in VR is truly inspiring. I'm looking forward to having them join us and bring more joyful experiences to the metaverse. https://twitter.com/...
  • @slhamlet Wagner James Au on x
    @jank0 @MikeIsaac If top-selling Beat Saber which is really fun, a great cardio workout, and keeps adding new content, can't sustain its peak (and still relatively small) CCU, why does Facebook think they can do better? https://nwn.blogs.com/...
  • @bartronpolygon Bart Trzynadlowski on x
    @tacolamp ... MR devices will be far more restrictive than any other computing platforms — including phones. That's the sad reality. All the big use cases will be dominated by BigTech. But one lever that still might exist is cross-ecosystem support.
  • @hmltn Ian Hamilton on x
    This marks the first time I've been able to use two relevant quotes recorded in separate interviews inside virtual reality. https://twitter.com/...
  • @alexeheath Alex Heath on x
    @benedictevans @MsHannahMurphy Not for all of them, but Supernatural was absolutely making money and growing faster than Peleton based on what I've heard
  • @kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
    If I was an antitrust regulator, I'd be less concerned about emails Mark Zuckerberg wrote in 2013 and more concerned that Facebook is acquiring every VR start-up with a pulse. https://www.oculus.com/...
  • @alexeheath Alex Heath on x
    Facebo.. er Meta keeps buying up the best VR studios. Will seem insignificant to most until it's not. https://twitter.com/...
  • @sar_meta_web3 Sar Haribhakti on x
    Excited to see the likes of Lina Khan declare these acquisitions illegal ten years from now Zuck gives no fucks https://www.cnet.com/...
  • @andreelijah @andreelijah on x
    Uhmmm hey @boztank - feel free to acquire me ANY time, I've got bills to pay! https://twitter.com/...
  • @mkarolian @mkarolian on x
    @MikeIsaac Supernatural is actually a ton of fun and the only thing I've found that I actually like to do in VR.
  • @russellholly Russell Holly on x
    Whether because of the pandemic or because it's genuinely a great platform, Supernatural continued to grow despite being the most expensive monthly fitness service by a considerable margin. Facebook couldn't compete with this, so it acquired Supernatural instead.
  • @matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
    22. I just saw that Facebook is still making acquisitions to monopolize yet another space. Without actual meaningful penalties, this will not stop. https://twitter.com/...
  • @alexstlouis10 Alex St. Louis on x
    @tacolamp They want to own it all, so expect acquisitions of social apps like VRChat or RecRoom, heck they might even go all out and acquire Capcom to get the Resident Evil IP permanently under their wing for that AAA game content in the metaverse.
  • @russellholly Russell Holly on x
    Supernatural is $19/month, and in VR scale has a fairly significant audience. There are very few successful monthly subscription services in VR, and only one at this price point.
  • @benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
    @alexeheath @MsHannahMurphy Is there a viable independent business for them? I get the impression there was a lot of experimental budget around a few years ago but that's all dried up now, and the actual use base is still small.
  • @scobleizer @scobleizer on x
    The founder was the first one to show me modern VR. Smart move to get out. Apple's fitness service is better. Way better. Why? Ecosystem integration. https://twitter.com/...
  • @caseynewton Casey Newton on x
    I've spent more time in Supernatural than any other VR app. And because ... Meta owns the Oculus Store, it has perfect data on time spent + revenue. It's their new Onavo. So it's not too surprising that Supernatural belongs to Meta now https://www.theverge.com/...
  • @russellholly Russell Holly on x
    Back in April of 2020, when Supernatural first started getting some buzz, the Facebook-owned Beat Saber released the track Fitbeat in response. It was super clear this single track was released as a reaction to Supernatural, but it was not enough to detract from this success.
  • @scobleizer @scobleizer on x
    @alexeheath ... Apple is working on a fitness service that is way way way better. Shit, Apple Fitness already is way better. And I love Supernatural and have used it many hours. The founder @milk was the first to show me modern-day VR too. Great sale. Got out at the right time.
  • @tacolamp Brielle Garcia on x
    @boztank Stop acquiring every company that gains any traction in this space! A healthy industry can't grow if they just get consumed by the the largest player in the space. Unless controlling the entire space is the point. I think the answer to that is pretty clear by your action…
  • @futterish Mike Futter on x
    I love Supernatural. I think the team is amazing. I think this is going to be great for the owners. I really don't love this news, though. Supernatural has been instrumental in my fitness journey. And now Facebook is going to own my workout data. https://twitter.com/...
  • @caffar3cristina Cristina Caffarra on x
    So FB buys an app that tracks fitness data. To further plans for connected smartwatch+smart glasses+"neural input accessories". Merger control can't touch it & if it did, wld at most say “okay, maybe don't use data for digital advertising"#antitrust_fail https://www.cnet.com/...