Big Tech
Meta Is Losing Developers to Snap Amid AR Rivalry
- Meta is shuttering its augmented reality studio next year
- Developers plan to build image filters for Snapchat instead
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing the company’s first pair of AR glasses, called Orion.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Meta Platforms Inc. is losing third-party augmented reality developers to rival Snap Inc. following the social media giant’s unexpected decision to shutter its AR studio.
AR filters are popular on Meta’s Instagram and rival Snapchat, where creators use them billions of times each year in images and videos posted on the apps. Filters can overlay digital images onto the real world, such as adding makeup, glitter, dog ears or other effects to a person’s face. Meta’s AR studio was a platform where developers could make custom photo filters that would show up on Instagram and Facebook.