Microsoft has laid off the entire AltSpaceVR and MRTK development teams, and HoloLens development is likely to be affected

ltSpaceVR was acquired by Microsoft in 2017. Originally named Qualia3D, AltspaceVR was founded in 2013 to help developers transform normal web applications into 3D forms suitable for virtual reality scenarios.

In order to find an entry point to the market, the company changed its name several times and finally built a social platform based on VR social networking and gaming —-. Users of Oculus Rift, Gear VR and Google Cardboard can chat, hold meetings, exercise, play cards and play games in virtual reality scenarios.

AltSpaceVR is a strategic acquisition of the metacomes by Microsoft and is integrated into the Microsoft Mesh service. At the moment, however, Microsoft is not particularly keen on the metacomes, so the division will be the focus of the layoffs.

In addition to AltSpaceVR, Microsoft axed the entire MRTK development team. MRTK was built specifically for Unity VR integration and can be used with Meta’s headdisplay, although development is focused on HoloLens.

HoloLens has been scaled back following the departure of its chief architect, Alex Kipman. Microsoft had been seeking a HoloLens contract with the U.S. military, but Congress recently scaled back the contract because of numerous problems.