Wave, which was launched in 2016, served as a virtual reality platform that brought everyone together via virtual entertainment. The platform merged virtual reality with music to create VR performances. The company’s VR platform even caught the attention of Grammy-winning artists like John Legend and The Weekend. Both the artists performed in virtual reality through the VR platform.

Wave in June 2020 stated that it had raised $30 million in funding. Everything looked sunny for Wave, and the future looked bright for the company. But recently, the CEO of Wave, Adam Arrigo, tweeted the company’s press release, which stated that the company would be closing Wave on the Oculus Store and Stream to protect the company’s future. 

“The VR industry did not develop as quickly as we’d hoped. VR shows will come to a pause.” – Adam Arrigo. Things got even more difficult for Arrigo as all of Wave’s user tools were developed through Google Poly, which is also on the verge of being shut down.

“TheWaveXR served as the role model of what social VR concerts could be. Their recent pivot is a harsh reminder of the difficulty of scaling social VR apps. I wish the team the best of luck!” – Michael Zhang, Social VR Researcher.

While this news from Wave marks a notable loss for the AR and VR market, it no way means that virtual reality has no future. It only means that it may need a little longer before users and industries can find the best way to use it.

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