Batman: Arkham Shadow Developer Camouflaj Hit With Lay-Offs as Part of Meta’s Move Away from VR

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Following Meta’s recent closure of three VR game studios, another studio, Camouflaj – the team behind Batman: Arkham Shadow – has experienced layoffs. According to reports, several employees have been let go, and projects the studio was working on have been cancelled.

Meta hasn’t publicly commented on the job cuts, but they told Kotaku the studio is still operating, unlike Armature Studios, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru Games, even though most of the team has been let go.

According to former Meta employees who wished to remain unnamed, the Camouflaj studio has been significantly downsized, with only a small team still working there. This team is reportedly focused on developing the user interface for future Meta devices. The layoffs have impacted studio leadership as well, including the studio’s founder, Ryan Payton.

Camouflaj, a game studio established in 2011, first gained recognition with its stealth-action adventure game, République. After releasing République on many different platforms, including mobile and consoles, they partnered with Marvel Games to create Iron Man VR. This virtual reality game launched in 2020 for PlayStation VR on PS4 and Meta Quest 2 and newer headsets.

Kaitlin S., a former senior animator, shared on LinkedIn that she was affected by the recent layoffs at Meta, specifically impacting the Camouflaj team. She expressed gratitude for her 12+ years with the company, highlighting the team’s accomplishments and saying she’ll greatly miss her colleagues, who she described as a fantastic group of game developers.

Camouflaj’s most recent game is Batman: Arkham Shadow, released in 2024 for the Meta Quest 3 and 3S. Players take on the role of Batman in this first-person action adventure, battling the Rat King. The game builds on the combat found in the Batman: Arkham series and includes familiar features like Detective Vision and stealth gameplay. Classic Batman gadgets, such as batarangs, the grapple gun, and smoke bombs, are also featured.

Camouflaj is one of the studios affected by Meta’s change in focus, moving investments away from the “Metaverse” and towards wearable technology. This shift has led to around 10,000 layoffs at Meta, significantly impacting its Reality Labs division. According to a company spokesperson, Meta announced last month it would be redirecting funds, and this is part of that plan, with the goal of investing the savings into growing its wearable technology this year.

Although Camouflaj is still operating in a limited capacity, Sanzaru Games, Armature Studio, and Twisted Pixel have all closed. These studios were key developers for Meta’s Quest VR headsets, creating popular games like the Asgard’s Wrath series, the VR version of Resident Evil 4, and Marvel’s Deadpool VR. Before focusing on VR, these studios had a track record of working on various projects, with Armature Studio and Sanzaru Games notably collaborating with Sony to bring older games to platforms like the PS3 and PS Vita.

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2026-01-15 18:11