Mega Microsoft layoffs may have killed off HoloLens for good
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Microsoft recently confirmed it would cut about 5% of its workforce globally, leading to about 11,000 departures across the company.
At the time it was uncertain which employees and departments would be most affected, but the internet has had an entire weekend to unravel the situation and many former employees have now released details about the matter.
One of the most notable cuts seems to be Microsoft’s extended reality (XR) operations, which saw a number of projects shut down or scaled back significantly, possibly including the famed Hololens headset.
Microsoft XR cuts 2023
AltSpaceVR, acquired by the company in 2017, is one of the hardest hit by the budget cuts, and the arm will close in March 2023.
Some reports say that Microsoft’s metaverse efforts may live on in its Mesh project, but that’s all yet to be confirmed.
The open-source project, MRTK, has also been scrapped, which could have significant implications for the future of the company’s HoloLens, but its open-source nature led some to speculate it could potentially live on in a somewhat scaled-down format.
This news joins recent reports that the U.S. Congress had denied a massive $400 million spend on the Microsoft-built, military-grade ‘IVAS’ HoloLens headset, even though the military still has a newly approved $40 million budget. will spend on an upgraded version of the headset, in response to soldiers’ complaints about earlier versions.
As the partnership continues to develop, a bigger picture painted by the closure of several XR operations could spell the future of technology like augmented reality for Microsoft (which looks a little worrying for now).