The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as several states including New York, Tennessee and North Carolina are investigating Meta’s virtual reality division in relation to potential anti-competitive behavior. According , the FTC and the attorneys general involved began interviewing third-party developers last year to find out whether the company put them at a disadvantage when they tried to compete with their own software.
Some third-party developers claim that Meta often copies their best ideas and makes it difficult for their apps to work on their headphones. Among other developers, the outlet points out the experience of The creator . In 2019, it added a feature to its app that allowed Oculus Quest owners to stream PC games to their headphones. Meta, then known as Facebook, allegedly threatened to remove the app if Godin didn’t remove the feature. That same year, the company , a feature that allows Quest users to connect the headset to their PC via a USB-C cable.
It is unclear how close the FTC may be to bringing formal charges against Meta. The agency declined to comment on the matter to Bloomberg. However, what is clear is that Meta is firmly in the FTC’s crosshairs in its various acquisitions. In December, The information informed that the agency had in its purchase proposal studio inside. Separately, this week a federal judge allowed the FTC to proceed with a lawsuit seeking to undo the acquisitions of the WhatsApp and Instagram company.
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