"You need to have some regulatory humility because you don't always know on the front-end how certain products are meaningful for certain communities. Bringing to light that Supernatural was a core way for communities to stay healthy shows that there were real stakes here."
"The FTC's Meta lawsuit accused Meta of trying to buy its way to the top in the VR space by acquiring a string of development studios and the popular game Beat Saber. Allowing the sale would not only be illegal but would reduce competition in the space while handing an overwhelming advantage to Meta."
Meta's 2021 acquisition of VR gaming studio Within, maker of the fitness game Supernatural, exemplified the company's metaverse ambitions during the pandemic-driven digital boom. The FTC, led by chair Lina Khan, challenged the $400 million acquisition as anticompetitive, arguing Meta was attempting to dominate the VR space by acquiring multiple studios and games like Beat Saber. Despite regulatory efforts to block the deal, Meta completed the acquisition. However, the company later shut down Supernatural, disappointing its dedicated community. Khan emphasized that this outcome illustrated the real human stakes of antitrust enforcement and the importance of regulatory oversight in protecting both competition and communities dependent on digital platforms.
Read at The Verge
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