A developer is now gunning against Meta and has filed a lawsuit because of his app and name getting "blacklisted" on the company's platform, centering on his VR fitness app that was supposedly launching. The said app was set to be unveiled via the Meta Connect event last month, but it was canceled by the company, particularly as he was also talking to Apple about launching it for the Vision Pro.
It remains unknown what was the reason behind Meta's blacklisting, with the lawsuit soon to drag out the real reason for him and his app's ban.
Meta Faces Lawsuit for a VR Fitness App It Blacklisted
(Photo : Meta via YouTube Screenshot)
Bloomberg reported that a developer named Andre Elijah has worked "closely" with Meta on a project to launch the app called "AEI Fitness" on the Meta Quest platform, but it was said to be blacklisted by the company. Not only that, Elijah was also part of the blacklist, centering on the developers that Meta would not do business with, learning of this hard after getting shunned by the company.
In what was supposed to be Elijah's presentation on the Meta Connect event, as part of Mark Zuckerberg's keynote presentation, he was told that his project was "killed" and that the company would not pay him anymore.
Meta already paid Elijah $1.5 million for the initial development of the app, but the developer now asks for $3.2 million more, with a total of $353 million in lost revenue and damages.
Read Also: Meta to Layoff Employees from Reality Labs, Reportedly Struggles-Quest 3 Affected?
VR App Got Banned Because of Vision Pro?
Reports claimed that Elijah's AEI Fitness app was banned because of the previous finding of Meta that he was in talks with other platforms including Apple's Vision Pro and ByteDance's Pico. It was revealed in the lawsuit that the app was set to launch on these other platforms in the next 1 to 2 years, with Meta set to be the first to get it.
Despite already working on the app and preparing a trailer set for the event, Elijah was cut off, with no explanations from Meta, now focusing on a lawsuit against the company.
Meta Quest and the Experience
Last month, Meta unveiled its latest update to the Quest lineup, featuring the company's first take on mixed-reality with the Meta Quest 3, centering on a significant gaming and lifestyle experience for all. This device costs only $500, and it is a massively affordable mixed-reality experience compared to Apple's Vision Pro which costs seven times its price, with the Quest 3 launching ahead.
The technology company from Menlo Park has worked significantly to develop the Quest experience for all, with various upgrades that bring developments and additional features to expand more of its gaming experience. It previously included the now renowned "Passthrough Mode" which allows a somewhat XR experience for the device where its exterior cameras would allow the view from outside the device.
Meta is diving into mixed reality after long years of focusing on virtual reality, with its formal introduction of the experience being the Quest 3 headset that is now available. While there are limited apps to experience for XR, there are many for VR, with the company capable of banning apps that are working with other brands, and the plaintiff now seeking answers from them.
Related Article: Meta Quest 3 vs. Apple Vision Pro: Early Reviews Call it Cheap, 'Hardly' Mixed Reality
