In a move that might be dubbed abrupt by many, Facebook has announced that they will be shutting down their award-winning VR animation studio, Oculus Story Studio.
As the name suggests, the studio catered to story-driven VR content for its platform. Their first project was Lost in early 2015 and next in line was Henry, which won an Emmy Award. Their final project was Dear Angelica showcasing actress Geena Davis.
Oculus, VP of content wrote a blog post announcing the news:
“Two years ago, at the dawn of the modern VR revolution, Oculus launched Story Studio to prove the possibility and allure of a new art form: real-time storytelling. Story Studio created a series of cutting-edge VR shorts, including Lost, Henry, and Dear Angelica, that would inspire traditional filmmakers—and a new generation of storytellers—to invest in VR.
We’re now entering the next chapter of VR development, where new creators enter the market in anticipation of adoption and growth, and we’ve been looking at the best way to allocate our resources to create an impact on the ecosystem. After careful consideration, we’ve decided to shift our focus away from internal content creation to support more external production.
As part of that shift, we’ll be winding down Story Studio.”
However, the post also states that they are in no way going out of the business, but they would rather support new talents who are coming into this field of work.
“We’ll also continue providing resources and programs to help creators get started, including video tutorials, production and distribution tips, best practices for VR development, and chances to connect with leaders in the community.”
