Authorities Allow Meta To Take Over VR Company FTC Failed

Meta wants to acquire a VR company Within Unlimited. The FTC had objected to the deal. After a defeat in court, the antitrust authorities have now given up their resistance. Within is behind a VR fitness app called Supernatural.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had feared that Meta would want to restrict the market by buying up Within Unlimited. After all, the group led by Mark Zuckerberg already has a not-inconsiderable market share in the VR sector with Oculus. Therefore, the FTC asked the court for an injunction to block the deal. The responsible judge recently rejected the application.

FTC has now completely backed down

The FTC has refrained from appealing the decision. As the US authorities announced in a document, they are no longer generally opposed to the takeover. With that, Meta is now free to incorporate into Within Unlimited.

To prevent the takeover, the FTC would have had to prove that the company had planned fitness applications for virtual reality devices even without Within Unlimited. Since Meta currently does not offer any apps that can be classified in this area and have unique functions, the acquisition of Within will bring advantages to Meta without jeopardizing competition.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta doesn’t dominate the VR industry either. Instead, the group would contribute to the development of the area. However, he is certain that the Metaverse is the future of technology. It remains to be seen whether VR glasses will prevail over AR devices in the long term.