VR is thriving reasonably well. The dreaded second VR collapse has not happened (and I dont think it will).

However, not all things are going well. Many years ago, when Facebook took over Oculus, I voiced my concern about what happens when Facebook faces collapse/difficulty and one of the market leading HMD makers and their pleathora of patents suddenly finds itself attached at the hip to a company whose main business is not VR.

Needless to say, people looked at me funny. Facebook, they said, cannot collapse, they are one of the highest valued company in the world, swimming in cash. Stop with the crazy talk, somebody fetch the orderly to escort this gentlemen back to his padded cell…

And now, after the departure of Oculus founder, Carmack being a cog in a machine he cant change (something he always leaves after a while), the earstwhile HMD of choice seeing a price hike, with the current one one being an underpowered, under-batteried zero resolution upgrade for 3x the price, metas valuation being down 80% over 12 months (putting crypto volatility to shame) and the controversial metaverse with its floundering start and unmet expectations…

I am left wondering, is this it? Are we looking at what seemed once such a removed possibility?

How the times change.