The American firm will remove all social hubs hosted in AltspaceVR and require login via a Microsoft account.
© altspacevr
Acquired in 2017 by Microsoft, AltspaceVR notably makes it possible to organize events bringing together avatars.
The American giants are stepping up measures to control their communities. Microsoft gave a new example of this with AltspaceVR, an immersive platform bought in 2017. Regulars will soon have to show their credentials with a Microsoft ID. The Redmond firm did not stop there, also informing the closure of social hubs. Alex Kipman, sector manager at Microsoft, justified the new policy by saying he wanted to ensure that these spaces “are free from inappropriate behavior and harassment”. He will explain himself on Friday, 5:30 p.m. Swiss time, with the regulars during a event ad hoc sur AltspaceVR.
Some were quick to express their disappointment, especially for the loss of the Campfire space, a communal social space to meet new people.
“Honestly, it was one of the big attractions of the product”, commented a twittos, while another quipped regarding a change allegedly orchestrated by its competitor Meta (ex-Facebook) and its virtual reality helmets Quest to reduce the attractiveness of AltspaceVR.
Metaverse Coin
The AltspaceVR immersive platform is one of many potential gateways to a Microsoft metaverse. Boss Satya Nadella recalled that the company was well positioned with services Teams (video messaging), Mesh (immersive collaborative platform) and even the simulation game “Flight Simulator”. Hololens, the company’s mixed reality headset, on the other hand, has seen its future darken.
In the wake of Facebook
AltspaceVR suffers the same fate as OculusVR where regulars have also been imposed an identifier by a new owner, Facebook in this case. Mark Zuckerberg’s group is also fighting to clean up virtual spaces that are regularly tarnished by inappropriate behavior. It has limited access to those 18 and over to reduce the risk of overflows.