Meta shutters its first-party VR game studio Ready at Dawn<p><a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://www.readyatdawn.com/">Ready at Dawn Studios[/url], the game studio behind the
Echo virtual reality series for the Meta Quest, has been shut down by its parent owner, Meta, effective immediately.</p>
<p><a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.androidcentral.com/gaming/virtual-reality/ready-at-dawn-studios-closing">
Android Central[/url]
reported Meta’s decision to close Ready at Dawn Studios almost a year and a half after purchasing the game studio. The news comes on the heels of <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://www.androidcentral.com/gaming/virtual-reality/meta-quest-4-leaked-release-date">a mid-July report[/url] that Meta plans to cut its Reality Labs division’s budget by 20 percent by 2026 when it is reportedly scheduled to release the Meta Quest 4 and Quest 4s, its next VR headsets.</p>
<span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>Ready at Dawn’s reach in the gaming industry goes all the way back to the days of Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP). The studio released its first game in 2006 with Daxter, a PSP spinoff of the popular
Jak and Daxter series. Ready at Dawn also released three titles in <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2007-02-08-rumor-ready-at-dawn-working-on-god-of-war.html">Sony’s
God of War series[/url] for the PSP including
Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta and the
Olympus Collection that bundled its two earlier titles. The studio made the jump to consoles starting with the PlayStation 4 in 2015 with <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2014-06-11-the-order-1886s-aspect-ratio-is-more-than-meets-the-eye.html">
The Order: 1886[/url]. The Victorian-era third-person action adventure became one of the year’s most anticipated titles for its boundary pushing graphics. Following a wave of mixed reviews, Ready at Dawn took a stab at a multiplayer title with a cheerier disposition in 2017 called <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2016-06-02-de-formers-the-order-new-game-ready-at-dawn.html">
De-Formers[/url] for the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Engadget
senior editor Jessica Conditt described the colorful character combat competition as “cannibalism combat in a 3-D cartoon.”</p>
<p>The rise of and ease of access to virtual reality prompted the studio to pivot again in 2018 to the new immersive game medium. The studio released the first two VR titles in its
Echo game series including the free-to-play Oculus Rift and Quest virtual sport <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2017-06-14-echo-arena-is-competitive-virtual-reality-frisbee.html">
Echo Arena[/url] and the interactive, gravity-free sci-fi adventure <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2016-10-06-lone-echo.html">
Lone Echo[/url]. Both found a fanbase on the all-in-one VR headset leading to sequels including the free-floating arena shooter
Echo Combat in 2018 and <a data-i13n="cpos:9;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/lone-echo-2-oculus-gaming-showcase-220016071.html">
Lone Echo II[/url] in 2021.</p>
<p><a data-i13n="cpos:10;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/oculus-buys-developer-lone-echo-235728955.html">Oculus bought the studio[/url] in 2023 and allowed it to continue operations in its California and Oregon offices. The same year, Meta shut down its free
Echo VR game due to dwindling player numbers.</p>
<p>Meta has <a data-i13n="cpos:11;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-laying-off-employees-for-the-third-time-in-less-than-three-months-174112198.html">slashed[/url] more than 20,000 jobs since 2023, a period that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has characterized as a “year of efficiency.”</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/meta-shutters-its-first-party-vr-game-studio-ready-at-dawn-212212491.html?src=rssSource:
Meta shutters its first-party VR game studio Ready at Dawn
