Meta’s latest round of layoffs didn’t just hit internal game studios. It effectively put one of VR’s most beloved fitness apps into permanent limbo.
Supernatural, the subscription workout service that helped keep a lot of Meta Quest headsets from gathering dust, has had most of its staff cut and will no longer receive new content, according to internal changes described by users and first detailed in a Bloomberg report.
For fans who built daily routines and friendships around the app, it feels less like a product update and more like a wake.
A lifeline for people who couldn’t get to a gym
For Tencia Benavidez in rural New Mexico, Supernatural wasn’t a novelty. It was her gym.
She started using the app during the Covid pandemic and stuck with it for five years. Living far from fitness centers and dealing with brutal winters, VR workouts were the only realistic way to move regularly.
"They seem like really authentic individuals that were not talking down to you," Benavidez says of Supernatural’s coaches. "There’s just something really special about those coaches."
That mix of approachable trainers, curated music, and a surprisingly warm community turned a headset and some floating targets into a habit-forming fitness routine.
Meta fought to buy it — then cut it down
Meta bought Supernatural in 2022 as part of its big metaverse bet. The deal was anything but routine.
The US Federal Trade Commission sued to block the acquisition, arguing that Meta was "trying to buy its way to the top" of the VR market rather than competing on the merits. After a lengthy legal battle, Meta prevailed and folded Supernatural into its Reality Labs division.
At the time, many subscribers were cautiously optimistic. A deep-pocketed parent company could mean more workouts, better production, bigger-name music deals.
"Meta fought the government to buy this thing," Benavidez says. "All that just for them to shut it down? What was the point?"
Meta and Supernatural did not respond to requests for comment.
More than 1,000 jobs, three VR studios, and a community hit
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Meta laid off more than 1,000 people across its VR and metaverse efforts, after years of the company hemorrhaging billions of dollars on those products.
Alongside cuts at Supernatural, Meta also shuttered three internal VR studios responsible for titles like Resident Evil 4 and Deadpool VR.
Supernatural itself isn’t going dark immediately. The app is still live, and Meta isn’t pulling existing classes. But development is effectively frozen: no new workouts, no fresh playlists, no new coaches.
That’s where the heartbreak sets in.
"If it was a bottom-line thing, I think they could have charged more money," longtime user Goff Johnson says. "I think people would have paid for it. This just seems unnecessarily heartless."
Paying for a sunsetted service
Supernatural currently offers more than 3,000 lessons. For some, that back catalog is enough to justify hanging on, at least for a while.
Others are already canceling.
"Supernatural is amazing, but I am canceling it because of this," a user named Chip says. "The library is large, so there’s enough to keep you busy, but not for the same price."
There’s also a looming legal and financial question: music. Supernatural’s licensed tracks from big-name artists are central to its appeal. Without an active team and clear investment, users are wondering how long those costly licensing deals will stay in place.
Competitors exist. FitXR offers structured VR workouts. Beat Saber, a VR staple, inspired many of Supernatural’s design ideas and remains hugely popular.
But for devoted Supernatural fans, those apps don’t hit the same emotional note.
Staying until Meta shuts off the lights
For Bay Area accountant Stefanie Wong, who joined shortly after the pandemic and has since organized Supernatural meetups, the app is as much a social space as a fitness tool.
"I’m going to stick it out until they turn the lights out on us," she says. "It’s not the app. It’s the community, and it’s the coaches that we really, really care about."
That community feeling is clearest in Supernatural’s Together mode, where up to a handful of people work out in sync.
During one such session this week, users cycled through routines backed by an Imagine Dragons artist series. In the past, they’d seen special sessions hosted by Jane Fonda or themed playlists that refreshed regularly. This time, everyone knew there might not be many more like it.
As they punched glowing blocks and ducked incoming obstacles, a recorded narration from coach Dwana Olsen cut through the music.
"Take advantage of these moments," Olsen urged. "Use these movements to remind you of how much awesome life you have yet to live."
The workout was, by all accounts, invigorating. And also deeply bittersweet.
When the track ended, the group hung there in VR, sweaty and breathless, trading virtual high-fives.
"Beautiful," a user named Alisa said. "It’s just beautiful, isn’t it?"
Meta’s balance sheet will likely recover faster than its metaverse ambitions. For Supernatural’s loyal customers, the damage is simpler and sharper: a beloved space is still standing, but the people and creativity that made it feel alive have already been shown the door.
