Creators are unhappy with Meta’s decision on Tuesday to shut down its Spark platform, which allowed third parties to build augmented reality (AR) effects, TechCrunch reported.
In posts published to the Meta Spark Community on Facebook, creators are posting about their disappointment in Meta’s decision, noting that for some them, the move will put them out of work – and they only learned this from a Facebook post this morning. Others seem confused or angry about the plan to close Spark and are demanding to know the reasoning behind the company’s move.
First launched in 2017, Meta Spark debuted when augmented reality experiences were still relatively novel and new to many consumers. Since then, the AR effect have been used “billions of times” by “hundreds of millions of Meta users,” the company said in the announcement. The sizable traction had made Meta Spark one of the largest AR platforms at the time.
Meta Spark posted the following:
Following a thorough assessment, we have made the decision to shut down Meta Spark’s platform of third party tools and content, effective Tuesday, January 14, 2025.
This means that the Augmented Reality (AR) effects built by third parties — including brands and our wider community of AR Creators — will no longer be available beginning on this date. AR Effects owned by Meta will continue to be available to our users across our Family of Apps.
We are deeply grateful to the community of creators, businesses, and other key stakeholders who have been part of the Meta Spark journey. When we first launched this platform seven years ago, experiences infused with augmented reality were new to most consumers. Since then, the imagination, innovation, and creativity of our AR creator community has helped extend the reach of AR to hundreds of millions of people across Meta’s platforms.
…Those who use Spark and our third-party AR Effects can continue to use these tools across our Family of Apps until January 14, 2025.
Reuters reported Meta Platforms will shut down the augmented reality studio that third-party creators used for making custom Instagram and Facebook effects the social media giant said on Tuesday, as it prioritizes spending in other areas including AI.
The feature, Meta Spark, will be shuttered on Jan. 14 and third-party AR effects including computer-generated filters, masks and 3D objects created on the studio will be removed.
The social media company said its first AR effects will remain available on products including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.
In my opinion, Meta should have given warning to the creators using Meta Spark before dropping it in a blog post. It is unfair to suddenly pull the rug out from under creators who will shortly be out of work.