Meta agreed to stay open until December 31 at 11:59 p.m. or until the first business day following the judge’s decision on whether the case can move forward.
According to a court document, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and a major player in virtual reality, has decided to postpone the completion of its acquisition of Within Unlimited, the company behind the well-known fitness programme “Supernatural.”
In July, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to block the transaction and requested a temporary restraining order from a federal judge in San Francisco to prevent the companies from finalising the transaction.
In a joint court filing on Thursday, Meta stipulated that it would remain open until either 11:59 p.m. on December 31 or the first working day following the judge’s determination on whether the lawsuit may proceed.
The FTC described Facebook as a “global technology juggernaut,” noting that it owns popular applications like Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. It also said that Facebook’s “effort to dominate VR” began in 2014 when it purchased VR gear manufacturer Oculus.
When the lawsuit was launched, Facebook, which had contracted to purchase Within in October 2021 for an undisclosed sum, claimed that the FTC case was “based on ideology and supposition, not fact.”
In its lawsuit, the FTC said that Meta intended to use the proposed acquisition as a means of gaining control of virtual reality.
The Meta Quest Store, which has hundreds of apps, is run by Meta, which already owns the best-selling VR headgear, the Quest 2. Original content for virtual reality is produced by Within, which was founded in 2014. As “the foremost destination for cinematic virtual reality,” it describes itself.
