The controversial deal for many years between Meta and Within has come to fruition.
According to Engadget, the dispute over Meta’s acquisition of Within has come to an end as the company has now completed its acquisition of the maker behind the virtual reality fitness app Supernatural.
The two did not provide further details on their plans, but Within has said that from October 2021 they will continue to develop exercise content for the Supernatural app under the auspices of Reality Labs (the division focused on Reality Labs). metaverse of Meta).
This deal has gone through many difficulties since its announcement. Accordingly, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal in July 2022, arguing that Meta was trying to take over the dominant position of the VR world by acquiring it. key developers such as Within and Beat Games.
Meta agreed to delay the acquisition so that the commission could investigate. However, last week, a federal court rejected the order to block the sale while the FTC is still investigating. The commission later also decided not to appeal, but it remains unclear whether it will ask for a lawyer anytime soon.
Closing the deal allows Meta to take control of one of the top popular VR fitness apps at a pretty significant time. Specifically, Meta is struggling to make the transition away from the metaverse amid heavy losses to spend more time in VR. Besides, this also helps Meta compete with heavyweights in the virtual reality market, such as PSVR2.
Meanwhile, the FTC has to receive bad news because it lost the lawsuit. While the agency still has other major battles to contend with, such as the antitrust lawsuit over Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard, this stumbling block with Meta and Within shows its control of the industry giants. Technology is not easy.