Viacom Next, the company’s technology group tasked with producing immersive experiences, is no longer. David Liu, former Creative Director at Next, announced the news via twitter.
As reported by Variety, around 100 employees have been laid off across multiple Viacom divisions in what Variety describes as a “cost-cutting move.”
Next will be absorbed into the company’s Global Emerging Opportunities Group. The team consisted of over a dozen employees, some of whom will join this group. Viacom says a small number of employee positions have been affected, although its uncertain the exact number.
Viacom Next produced projects such as Tyler Hurd’s VR experience Chocolate (2017), Hot Sugar’s VR album The Melody of Dust (2017), and most recently Transformers: Cade’s Junkyard, an AR experience using AR Kit.
The studio was founded by Chaki Ng in December 2015. Since mid-2016, the group has produced a total of 8 AR/VR experiences.