I first read the news on LinkedIn this morning: MeetinVR, a social VR platform I last wrote about on my blog back in 2022, has announced that it is shutting down its services as of April 30th, 2026:
The technology landscape is characterized by constant change. As we look ahead, we recognize significant shifts occurring in the enterprise sector:
- Industry Focus Shift:Key platform providers are strategically re-aligning their enterprise VR initiatives.
- Market Maturity:The core VR market is evolving, allowing new forms of spatial computing to emerge.
- The Rise of AI-Enabled Glasses:We are seeing an acceleration in the development and focus on AI-enabled glasses and next-generation augmented- and virtual reality, signaling the next generation for workplace collaboration.
In light of these industry dynamics, and to finish strong, we have made the strategic decision to conclude MeetinVR services.
MeetinVR services will officially cease on Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Now, there is enough technojargon in this press release to make me grit my teeth (and we are far, FAR away from “the rise of AI-enabled glasses,” in my opinion). And the “industry focus shift” gobbledygook of “key platform providers are strategically realigning their enterprise VR initiatives” can brutally be summarized as metaverse companies are folding because there’s still not a market for business users.
Let’s face some brutal facts in the harsh and unforgiving light of the inevitable crash of the artificially-heightened expectations of the recent metaverse hype cycle (of which I, being the writer of a popular blog on just that very topic, was actually around for during the beginning, middle, and end.) Still with me? Good.
Facebook (which had gone to all the trouble and expense of rebranding as Meta during this ridiculous hype cycle) has dropped millions of dollars into acquiring Oculus and trying to build a business metaverse platform, and failed to even to entice its own employees into using it (let alone anybody else). Linden Lab (the makers of Second Life) spent millions of dollars into building a shiny new social VR platform called Sansar, which never took off, and now languishes in a near-moribund state, supported only by a passionate cadre of volunteers determined to keep it alive. (Now, Sansar was designed for consumer as opposed to business use, but I’m quite sure the original development team would have been happy to see it take off for corporate use, too. Aside from a few music festivals, that never happened, though.)
And frankly, given the perilous political and economic times in which we now live, people have far greater concerns on their minds than whether they can meet up as avatars to conduct business in a flat-screen virtual world or on a social VR/AR platform accessible via a headset. The current tsunami of generative AI tools like ChatGPT threatens to gut lower- and middle-management white-collar jobs (something that’s not being talked about enough, in my opinion). If metaverse platforms weren’t able to sell themselves during a pandemic, when everybody was forced to sit at home, they certainly won’t be able to sell themselves now, when businesses are cutting costs, and people are worried about keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads.
I predict that we are going to see a “metaverse winter,” much like the previous “AI winters,” when the initial promise and hype of the technology hits what the Gartner group politely calls “the trough of disillusionment.” And I predict we are going to see a lot more shutdown announcements like this throughout 2026.
All the PR spin in the world (“to finish strong”? Really??!?) cannot hide the fact that the metaverse business is in a period of retrenchment, possibly a long one. And no, generative AI is not suddenly going to be some sort of magic wand that can make everything all better again. That’s just laughable.
It’s time to go back to the drawing board, for a rethink (that, I can agree with in this press release). And I do wish the team behind MeetinVR every success in whatever they decide to do next.
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