A developer named Andre Elijah has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc, alleging that the company killed his virtual reality yoga app just before its scheduled launch. The AEI Fitness app, which featured avatars of top instructors teaching various yoga poses, pilates, and mindfulness exercises, was set to be unveiled at the Meta Connect conference, the largest VR conference in the world.
Elijah claims that the cancellation of the app by Meta prevented it from reaching the top of the VR fitness app market and potentially earning him tens of millions of dollars. He expressed his frustration in an interview, stating that the development process had been challenging but that they had created a “gorgeous” trailer for the presentation. However, just before CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote, Elijah was informed that the project had been killed, and Meta refused to provide him with the funds.
The lawsuit revealed the personal sacrifices made by developers in their association with Meta’s push into the metaverse. The company has faced pressure from investors to increase sales of its VR headsets, and the lack of apps and content has been a barrier to consumer adoption. The reprisal against Elijah, he claims, was due to his discussions with Apple Inc and ByteDance’s Pico about launching the app on their competing VR platforms.
Elijah is seeking $3.2 million in the near term and potentially hundreds of millions more in lost revenue and damages. The VR fitness app market was valued at $16.4 billion last year and is expected to grow significantly in the next seven years. The lawsuit also names Zuckerberg and a fitness apparel and accessories company called Alo as defendants.
While it is uncommon for developers to sue a platform, Elijah hopes to hold Meta accountable for its alleged antitrust behavior and control over the VR headset and app distribution market. Meta has not yet issued a response to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit coincides with Apple’s upcoming release of its own VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro, which could pose a significant competition to Meta’s dominance in the industry. Meta has previously faced accusations of attempting to monopolize the VR fitness app market, with the US Federal Trade Commission seeking to block its acquisition of Within Unlimited Inc. However, the agency withdrew its request after a federal judge rejected it.
Sources: Bloomberg
