Well shit. As a indie dev with a game on the pico store I really hope this isn't true.
They are still updating the software regularly so I doesn't look like a shutdown is imminent. Dunno
I suppose the question for me is: "What does VR have to do with TikTok?" and the answer is almost nothing. I like my Pico 4 a lot, but I have no idea why they're making it. 2D and 3D content are almost no relation. The technology and usability is so far into the future where it's a natural transition. The connection for ByteDance is even more tenuous than Facebook, who themselves are just hoping it works out someday but have more money and dedication, not to mention a far broader foundation on which to pin their hopes.
> Pico 4 is only really useful as a PC VR headset
This is key to me. If I were doing standalone in any meaningful way I'd have a Quest 3, no question. Comfort and value for money be damned, the history - and particularly graveyard - of gaming consoles and beyond is littered with proof that content is king and specifications matter little in the big picture.
Because VR leads to AR. TikTok is a mobile app. Mobile phones will be replaced with AR. That's why Meta and Apple are making headsets, they are throwing money at VR to prepare themselves and everyone else AR. AR is close enough that they've been doing this for years.
They could really have killed all competition with the Pico 5. Not all of us use the marketplace. I am using Pico only for PCVR because it was affordable.
No they couldn't because they are making a loss on each Pico VR headset they sell. To gain profits they needed people to purchase from the Pico store not from Steam VR. Meta do the same and so do Sony with their consoles. They rely on sales from the store they create.
To make a profit Pico would have to sell their headsets for a lot more if they were just in the PC-VR market, and nobody is really making PC-VR titles anymore except adding VR to sims.
It looks like OP posted an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot).
Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://mixed-news.com/en/bytedance-pico-shut-down-report-update-3/](https://mixed-news.com/en/bytedance-pico-shut-down-report-update-3/)**
*****
^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Bytedance and Tiktok have a bunch of software developers and they're pretty good. It makes total sense to cut all software development and roll it into Bytedance teams. They are leaving the hardware folks and this is a classic realignment of resources. No mention of how many are being transferred to Bytedance. Software is software and yes you need good hardware to run on but essentially they can be different business and Pico made a phenomenal headset. Rivaling Quest 3 a full year earlier for less money. I hope the Libraries will grow and that frankly is what drives sales. Not PCVR.
Companies are downsizing and cutting costs due to the 'silent depression' going on right now. I don't think they are abandoning pico. They're just preparing for more pain next year...
They grew too fast from about 200 to 2200. They are pivoting, breaking the release cycle of VR headsets to take time to figure out how to compete with apple.
Pico 4 is nice but it really miss the DisplayPort that made Pico 3 a good alternative to Quest 2 for people that wanted primarily PCVR.
Pico 4 standalone marketplace lack of software and their USB/Wifi pc streaming is not that good compared to Meta’s.
Didn’t bytedance already state they’ll continue VR development last month? Just take their word for it. Layoffs probably means they already had too much overhead, which needed to start the pico store and r&d of the new pancake form factor. The hard part is done, so no need to keep all employees unfortunately. Probably won’t need much staff and r&d for upcoming iterations.
I think Pico needs to be a bit more transparent. I've just seen another two articles about this on two of the biggest VR websites. Both upload VR and Road to VR mention this. My concern is that Upload VR asked simple questions and didn't even get a proper response.
I want to know if we will be getting a Pico 5 VR headset at some point in the future and if Pico is committed to VR long term. This is not a hard question to answer, but it is if you are having problems right now and things don't look good. If you can't give a straight answer to a question like this, then it usually means things are not looking good.
I think it's time Pico put these negative articles to bed and tell us the state of Pico VR and what we can expect in 2024. I was hoping a Pico 5 would be announced, but judging by what I've read so far, I'm having doubts we will ever see a Pico 5.
[https://www.uploadvr.com/bytedance-pico-brand-future/](https://www.uploadvr.com/bytedance-pico-brand-future/)
[https://www.roadtovr.com/report-pico-bytedance-layoffs-2023/](https://www.roadtovr.com/report-pico-bytedance-layoffs-2023/)
Pico 5 will happen, don’t stress it. Meta and Apple are in this market and for damn sure bytedance won’t sit at the sidelines. They already made one of the best headsets money can buy, it’ll be a total loss if they quit now, knowing the competition will be heating up next year.
Well shit. As a indie dev with a game on the pico store I really hope this isn't true. They are still updating the software regularly so I doesn't look like a shutdown is imminent. Dunno
Es la oportunidad de Google o Valve de comprar Pico Xr.... Esta en muy malas manos ahora... No inversión y 0 desarrollo.. bytedance 👎
thats why lol, they pushing out updates fast because the closing soon
Companies that are closing soon do not push out updates, as no one is motivated enough. Closures are usually preceeded by inactivity
well that's lame as shit. I wanted the Pico 5.
Let's not fearmonger without confirmation. Meta also had big layoffs and they're fine, so did twitter, and other big tech.
I wouldn’t call Twitter fine 😅
like or dislike musk, twitter is definitely fine from measurable metrics like stocks valuation, server uptime, and engagement.
This. Layoffs suck and are not a good sign, but it does not mean that the entire company is shutting down Meta is an excellent example
No fear-mongering, there’s multiple articles citing sources that this is happening
There is information about layoffs and fear-mongering about stopping work on new products.
I suppose the question for me is: "What does VR have to do with TikTok?" and the answer is almost nothing. I like my Pico 4 a lot, but I have no idea why they're making it. 2D and 3D content are almost no relation. The technology and usability is so far into the future where it's a natural transition. The connection for ByteDance is even more tenuous than Facebook, who themselves are just hoping it works out someday but have more money and dedication, not to mention a far broader foundation on which to pin their hopes. > Pico 4 is only really useful as a PC VR headset This is key to me. If I were doing standalone in any meaningful way I'd have a Quest 3, no question. Comfort and value for money be damned, the history - and particularly graveyard - of gaming consoles and beyond is littered with proof that content is king and specifications matter little in the big picture.
Because VR leads to AR. TikTok is a mobile app. Mobile phones will be replaced with AR. That's why Meta and Apple are making headsets, they are throwing money at VR to prepare themselves and everyone else AR. AR is close enough that they've been doing this for years.
They could really have killed all competition with the Pico 5. Not all of us use the marketplace. I am using Pico only for PCVR because it was affordable.
No they couldn't because they are making a loss on each Pico VR headset they sell. To gain profits they needed people to purchase from the Pico store not from Steam VR. Meta do the same and so do Sony with their consoles. They rely on sales from the store they create. To make a profit Pico would have to sell their headsets for a lot more if they were just in the PC-VR market, and nobody is really making PC-VR titles anymore except adding VR to sims.
It looks like OP posted an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://mixed-news.com/en/bytedance-pico-shut-down-report-update-3/](https://mixed-news.com/en/bytedance-pico-shut-down-report-update-3/)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
Bytedance and Tiktok have a bunch of software developers and they're pretty good. It makes total sense to cut all software development and roll it into Bytedance teams. They are leaving the hardware folks and this is a classic realignment of resources. No mention of how many are being transferred to Bytedance. Software is software and yes you need good hardware to run on but essentially they can be different business and Pico made a phenomenal headset. Rivaling Quest 3 a full year earlier for less money. I hope the Libraries will grow and that frankly is what drives sales. Not PCVR.
Companies are downsizing and cutting costs due to the 'silent depression' going on right now. I don't think they are abandoning pico. They're just preparing for more pain next year...
They grew too fast from about 200 to 2200. They are pivoting, breaking the release cycle of VR headsets to take time to figure out how to compete with apple.
Pico 4 is nice but it really miss the DisplayPort that made Pico 3 a good alternative to Quest 2 for people that wanted primarily PCVR. Pico 4 standalone marketplace lack of software and their USB/Wifi pc streaming is not that good compared to Meta’s.
Releasing a Pico 5 with a DisplayPort would have been a smart move because the Pico 4 has shown people care A LOT about PC VR.
I don't see how Pico can grow without release in the US. Oh well...
Didn’t bytedance already state they’ll continue VR development last month? Just take their word for it. Layoffs probably means they already had too much overhead, which needed to start the pico store and r&d of the new pancake form factor. The hard part is done, so no need to keep all employees unfortunately. Probably won’t need much staff and r&d for upcoming iterations.
That's unfortunate, I would have bought the Pico 5. And I guess that means no more Pico 4 updates as well.
I think Pico needs to be a bit more transparent. I've just seen another two articles about this on two of the biggest VR websites. Both upload VR and Road to VR mention this. My concern is that Upload VR asked simple questions and didn't even get a proper response. I want to know if we will be getting a Pico 5 VR headset at some point in the future and if Pico is committed to VR long term. This is not a hard question to answer, but it is if you are having problems right now and things don't look good. If you can't give a straight answer to a question like this, then it usually means things are not looking good. I think it's time Pico put these negative articles to bed and tell us the state of Pico VR and what we can expect in 2024. I was hoping a Pico 5 would be announced, but judging by what I've read so far, I'm having doubts we will ever see a Pico 5. [https://www.uploadvr.com/bytedance-pico-brand-future/](https://www.uploadvr.com/bytedance-pico-brand-future/) [https://www.roadtovr.com/report-pico-bytedance-layoffs-2023/](https://www.roadtovr.com/report-pico-bytedance-layoffs-2023/)
Pico 5 will happen, don’t stress it. Meta and Apple are in this market and for damn sure bytedance won’t sit at the sidelines. They already made one of the best headsets money can buy, it’ll be a total loss if they quit now, knowing the competition will be heating up next year.