Meta Shuts Down Multiple Studios, Including Twisted Pixel, Sanzaru Games, and Armature Studio - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 13 January 2026 / 4,227 Views
Meta is planning to lay off about 10 percent of staff in its Reality Labs division, which includes the Oculus Studios division that runs first-party game development studios. This is according to The New York Times.
Twisted Pixel Games designer Andy Gentile in a post on social media stated he has been laid off and it appears the entire developer and Sanzaru Games have been shut down.
"I've just been laid off," said Gentile. "It appears the entire Twisted Pixel games studio has been shut down. Sanzaru Games too."
Sanzaru senior level designer Ray West has corroborated this in a post on LinkedIn.
"Welp. As many will hear soon, several Meta game studios were closed today, including Sanzaru," said West. "It was an amazing team of powerhouse talent, and I’m really glad to have gotten to know everyone there. But, onward – I am open to work."
Twisted Pixel Games is best known as the developer of The Maw and 'Splosion Man. The studio was acquired by Oculus Studios in November 2021 and most recently released Marvel's Deadpool VR.
Sanzaru Games was founded in 2006 and is best known for developing Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The studio most recently worked on the Asgard's Wrath series.
It has also been confirmed Armature Studio will also be shutting down. The studio was acquired by Meta in October 2022. It developed the virtual reality port of Resident Evil 4, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and Where the Heart Leads.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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I'm playing the Sly games ported over by Sanzaru right now. Still interested in getting to Sly Thieves in Time when the time comes. Bummer. I was hoping Deadpool VR would come to PSVR2. Oh well.
RIP Sanzaru, you did a great job with Sly Cooper. Hopefully they will be able to retain their independence like Typhoon/Raccoon Logic so they can keep making games
Spy perv facebook need to release all defunct developers games on PSVR2 due to them buying up developers to not release it on PSVR2 only to shut them down moment later!
Unacceptable that they get away with destroying VR gaming industry
Deadpool VR? Asgard's Wrath? No studio is safe no matter how good a job you do, apparently...
Another sign that western gaming is doing great.
I’ve enjoyed all of these studios works at some point in my life. Very sad.
