Social media firm Meta acquires VR fitness company Within that initially started in October 2021

Meta acquires VR fitness company Within. The acquisition agreement was initially started in October 2021, but problems with the anti-competitive provision caused the deal to halt.

Jason Rubin, vice president of Play at Meta, issued a statement in which he said, "Today, we formally welcome the Within team to Meta! We can't wait to work with this accomplished team to realize the potential of VR fitness. Supernatural, a virtual reality fitness software, was created by Within and pairs with wearables to track vital signs like heart rate and design virtual reality exercises.

After a US judge rejected the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) attempt to halt the transaction during the ongoing antitrust dispute, the transaction was finalized. The court did allow a one-week extension so that the FTC could file an appeal, though. In July 2022, the FTC claimed that Meta's acquisition of Within will increase its sway over the consumer VR industry. Meta's prior acquisition of Beat Games was cited by the FTC (the company behind Beat Saber). "Meta has therefore become a prominent participant at each level of the VR ecosystem," the FTC said in its appeal, "in hardware with its Meta Quest 2 headset, in-app distribution with the Quest Store, and in apps with Beat Saber and numerous other well-known titles."

In response to concerns voiced by the FTC, Meta agreed to postpone the acquisition of Within until January 31 in December 2022. But according to Meta's chief technical officer Andrew Bosworth, if the transaction is not completed on time, the firm would have to entirely abandon it.

While the Meta-Within agreement did eventually come to fruition, Microsoft and Activision's second high-profile acquisition has encountered new difficulties. Microsoft's proposed acquisition of the gaming industry might hurt UK gamers, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the UK, because of increased costs, fewer options, and less innovation.