spatialcomputing.info

Meta’s recent rash of studio closures means that the planned sequel to Batman: Arkham Shadow has also officially been cancelled.

Batman: Arkham Shadow (2024) was developed by Camouflaj, released exclusively on Quest 3 in late 2024, coming just one week after the launch of Meta’s $300 Quest 3S.

Although it was confirmed the sequel was already underway, with Mark Rolston tapped to reprise his role as Commissioner Gordon, the next Batman: Arkham Shadow VR game is now cancelled.

And it’s not due to poor reception of the game—we scored it a solid [8.5/10] in our review—or recent headcount reductions at Camouflaj, which Meta acquired in 2022. It’s due to Meta’s recent closure of Sanzaru Games, developer of Asgard’s Wrath.

As confirmed by UploadVR, Sanzaru was apparently tasked with production of the Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel. With the broader shakeup at Reality Labs, which saw a reported 10 percent staff layoff, Meta has closed Sanzaru Games along with Armature Studio (Resident Evil 4 VR port) and Twisted Pixel (Deadpool VR).

Additionally, budget cuts reportedly also saw the cancellation of a Harry Potter VR game for Quest, which was supposedly being developed by Skydance Games.

This comes amid a broader shift at Meta’s Reality Labs division, as the company appears to be making a clean break from VR game development and its wider metaverse ambitions as it doubles down on AI and smart glasses production.

Meanwhile, Meta and hardware partner EssilorLuxottica are reportedly upping their target for smart glasses production from 10 million to 20+ million units by the end of this year.