Microsoft intends to shut down Altspace VR, a social virtual reality (VR) platform, on March 10 this year. Just a few days after announcing 10,000 job cuts worldwide as part of its reorganization process, the tech giant shared the news in a blog post.

The particular post explains that the company’s even bigger ambition now is a more open, accessible and safe form of immersion in the metaverse.

“Looking to the future, we see opportunities for VR to spread beyond consumers into enterprises. We hope to create a platform with Mesh that provides the most opportunities for everyone involved, including creators, partners and customers”

reads the post.

One of the first virtual reality social networking apps is AltspaceVR, which allows users to join 3D chat rooms, play games, watch movies and attend events using headsets and online platforms.

Microsoft acquired the firm as part of a goal to create its own mixed reality ecosystem when it was on the brink of failure in 2017 due to financial issues. The tech giant said customers can now pull their data and content from the VR platform as AltspaceVR has ceased operations.

With its Mesh platform, a tool for creating collaborative apps for users in augmented reality, Microsoft is still in the race for the metaverse.