Meta to shut augmented reality studio used by third-party creators

(Reuters) - Meta Platforms will shut down the augmented reality studio that third-party creators used for making custom Instagram and Facebook effects, the social media giant said on Tuesday, as it prioritizes spending in other areas including AI.

The feature, Meta Spark, will be shuttered on Jan. 14 and third-party AR effects including computer-generated filters, masks and 3D objects created on the studio will be removed.

The social media company said its first-party AR effects will remain available on products including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.

Meta has been prioritizing investments in AI products and metaverse - a shared virtual environment that it bets will be the successor to mobile internet.

"With the decision to shut down the Meta Spark platform, we're also shifting resources to the next generation of experiences, across new form factors like glasses," the company said in a blog.

Third-party creators expressed their disappointment about the announcement and scrambled to find alternatives on the Meta Spark community group on Facebook.

"I wonder how many people will migrate to Snapchat Lens Studio or Unity now that Meta Spark is being sunset?" one user said in a Facebook post.

Smaller rival Snap offers Lens Studio, which is a free AR creation platform that lets developers build custom AR effects.

In May, Meta said it would discontinue its work-focused Workplace app starting June 2026 for customers but it would continue to use it as the company's internal messaging board.

The company also said on Tuesday that existing reels or stories that use third-party AR effects will remain available to users, but AR effects and files in Meta Spark studio and Meta Spark Hub will no longer be accessible.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)