Meta’s long-running augmented reality studio, Spark, will be shut down next year, a move that has raised concerns among some third-party AR developers.
The Spark feature is used by developers and brands to create custom AR effects for Facebook and Instagram.
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Spark will be shut down in a cost-cutting measure as Meta shifts its spending priorities to other areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Meta Spark will be shut down on Jan 14, 2025. The shuttering will be accompanied by the removal of third-party AR effects such as masks, 3D objects, and computer-generated filters created with the Spark platform.
Meta assured that its third-party effects will still be available on its major social media products Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
While Meta went all-in on immersive technologies over the past decade, its recent investments have shifted towards the metaverse and AI.
Meta is betting big on the metaverse and is busy building the hardware, software, and network infrastructure that will power these shared virtual environments, billed as the successor to the internet as we know it today.
In a statement on its blog, the company says it is now shifting its focus toward “the next generation of experiences” that will be experienced using “new form factors like glasses”.
The move has triggered disappointment from sections of third-party developers who have relied on the Spark platform to create AR effects. On Meta Spark community group on Facebook, developers brainstormed viable alternatives to the Spark platform such as Unity and Snapchat Lens Studio.
Snap’s Lens Studio is a free AR creation tool that developers can use to create custom AR effects.
Spark isn’t the only concern being shuttered by Meta in the next few years. In May this year, the social media giant announced it was shutting down its productivity-focused Workplace app from June 2026. The shutdown will affect its customers although the app will still be used as its internal messaging board.
Last week, Meta also announced that its existing stories and reels using third-party AR effects will still be available to users. However, files and AR effects in Meta Spark studio and Meta Spark will be discontinued.
