Meta Wins the Court to Buy a Metaverse Startup; Expansion Speeds Up!

In a recent Bloomberg report, Meta won a court ruling to buy a virtual reality startup.

Ambitious Metaverse Plans Continue

To prevent the deal, the US Federal Trade Commission attempted to block it by filing a case in court. In the end, a judge approved the deal, due to the efforts of Meta Platforms Inc.

An order filed by the FTC to block the proposed transaction was rejected in a closed injunction in effect from US District Court Wednesday morning by Judge Edward Davila.

Meanwhile, The FTC decided it would appeal its decision and therefore suspended Meta’s ability to close deals for a weekwhile the Commission decides whether to appeal or not.

As a result of this decision, FTC Chair Lina Khan suffered her first major setback in her role as President Joe Biden’s antitrust enforcement department leader.

Meta has very ambitious plans to invest Metaverse action and expand its market share immediately. While it’s true that several divisions have suffered losses over the last few months, such as Reality Labs, Zuckerberg plans to continue with the program. During a recent earnings call, he made the following statement:

“And we will – despite me – there are no signs that I’ve seen so far that suggest we should change Reality Labs’ strategy in the long term. We’re constantly adjusting the specifics of how we adapt — how we execute this. So I think we’re definitely going to see that as part of the ongoing efficiency work.

A lawsuit against Meta was filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in July, alleging Meta’s acquisition of Within – maker of the popular VR fitness app Supernatural – will give Meta a competitive edge in the emerging virtual reality space.

A nine-day hearing was held in December at which top Meta executives, including Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and head of VR Andrew Bosworth, testified.

According to the FTC, during a December hearing, Meta’s purchase of Within would help Facebook’s parent company get in establishing a monopoly in the nascent virtual reality market. According to the FTC, the proposed merger could hurt “potential competition” that might emerge in the future, if it had to be carried out.