Meta’s Vivek Sharma, the corporate’s VP of its Horizon social VR platform, is leaving the corporate, as reported by Reuters. Meta spokesperson Bryan Pope confirmed Sharma’s departure to The Verge and mentioned that Sharma is leaving to pursue an unrelated profession alternative.
Sharma’s departure is occurring at a considerably awkward time for Horizon. The metaverse is a gigantic wager for Meta, with Horizon as certainly one of its centerpieces, however the entire effort turned one thing of a meme final week. To assist promote Horizon Worlds’ launch in France and Spain, CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a screenshot in Horizon that prominently featured his dead-eyed avatar, which almost immediately turned a well-liked joke across the web. Zuckerberg shared idea artwork of a extra detailed avatar a number of days later, however the harm had already been completed. There’s even a Snapchat filter parodying Zuckerberg’s meme-ified look.
The meme second and Sharma’s departure are doubtless solely small blips for the corporate’s metaverse ambitions. Meta is charging ahead with new {hardware}, together with a brand new VR headset that Zuckerberg simply yesterday mentioned could be launching in October. And this week, the corporate launched its new Meta accounts that allow you to use a Quest headset with out having to log in to Fb. However the metaverse is proving to be a pricey enterprise up to now. Final quarter, the corporate’s Actuality Labs division reported shedding $2.8 billion.
Sharma’s group will now report back to Vishal Shah, Meta’s metaverse VP, Pope mentioned.
“We’re grateful for Vivek’s contributions throughout our Market, gaming and metaverse groups during the last six years and we want him nicely,” Pope mentioned in a press release. “Because of his management, the Horizon product group has constructed a powerful group with an formidable imaginative and prescient and it’s simply getting began. Meta continues to be a supply for growing nice leaders, and we’re excited to see what Vivek accomplishes in his subsequent chapter.” Sharma didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.