AltspaceVR, an online social VR platform, will become nothing more than a memory in less than two months.
Almost eight years after AltspaceVR launched in May 2015, owner Microsoft will close the app forever on March 10.
The AltspaceVR team has encouraged the community to host final events and download their content before the platform closes.
The AltspaceVR team says the decision wasn’t easy, as many people have grown to love the platform.
Microsoft, which acquired the platform in 2017, will shift its focus to its Microsoft Mesh mixed reality platform.
The team says through Mesh, it aspires to create a platform with the most opportunity for creators, partners, and customers.
“When AltspaceVR first launched, our vision was to create a place where people from around the world could connect and socialize in real time,” wrote the AltspaceVR team in a blog post. “We knew virtual reality could be a fun place for immersive games, and much more importantly, we believed in the power of social VR to bring people together, build connections, and create share (sic) experiences. It was a bold vision, and with the people of our passionate community, the platform became a place where users made lifelong memories, formed cherished friendships, found love—and even married IRL (in real life).”
As the platform closes, the team aims to create more open, accessible, immersive, and secure metaverse experiences.
According to the team, creating the new experiences required shutting down AltspaceVR forever.
When AltspaceVR sunsets, the team will focus on launching the Microsoft Mesh platform for connection and collaboration.
The team will begin by enabling workplaces worldwide.
Early efforts will center around developing workplace experiences and gleaning knowledge and experience from customers and partners.
Eventually, the team aims to create a consumer experience.
According to the team, its methods will create a secure, trustworthy, and compliant foundation for the new platform.