• Meta has acquired German VR haptic startup Lofelt for an undisclosed amount according to reports from the Wall Street Journal. The reports also revealed that the acquisition was completed a couple of weeks ago although it was made public on Friday. As a result of the acquisition, Lofelt members were expected to be absorbed by Meta.   

• Lofelt specializes in haptic technology which creates the illusion of touch in a virtual setting through forces or vibrations in a hardware device. “Lofelt Studio”, the company’s flagship product, is a suite of tools that allows developers to create haptics for smartphone apps and game controllers. 

• Meta aims to utilize Lofelt’s haptic technology and expertise to develop hardware and software for VR controllers, EMG wristbands, and haptic gloves. The technology is also considered to be a building block for the metaverse. 

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake : Meta’s activity in the AR/VR space is well documented. M&A features as a key strategy to build its extended reality portfolio which will then support its metaverse ambitions. This includes the acquisition of Within, the developer of VR fitness app Supernatural, VR game studios including BigBox VR (2021), Sanzaru Games (2020), Beat Games (2019), Ready at Dawn (2020), and social gaming platform Unit 2 Games (2021). Ultimately these acquisitions have also brought on some legal battles with the Federal Trade Commission, the latest being connected to the acquisition of Within.</ul>