Supernatural, the virtual reality fitness game that gained a devoted following on Meta’s Quest headsets, will continue operating under a new independent company called Supernatural Health after Meta agreed to spin off the app in 2026. The transition, announced this year, came roughly five months after user backlash over Meta’s decision to halt new content for the app following sweeping layoffs of its VR team.
Meta acquired Within, the game studio behind Supernatural, in 2023 for a reported $400 million — a deal that required Meta to win an eight-month antitrust battle against the FTC. Despite that investment, Meta later laid off much of its VR team and announced it would stop adding new content to Supernatural, effectively freezing the app in place.
Supernatural Health, which is being led by Supernatural’s original founders, will take over the app later this year. “Supernatural is being reborn. Same coaches, same DNA, same obsession with making fitness feel like the best part of your day — now under a new, independent company we’re starting from the ground up,” the company wrote on its website.
The spinoff followed vocal protests from Supernatural’s user community. “We all felt like it was purchased to kill,” one user wrote in the app’s public Facebook group. The new company credited Meta for its role during the app’s growth phase while framing the split as a mutual decision. “This transition reflects a shared belief that Supernatural’s community is best served by a focused, independent team. Meta has been supportive throughout,” Supernatural Health wrote.
For Supernatural’s users, the spinoff may signal that the app will resume adding new content — something Meta had ceased. The app had stood out as one of the few widely praised products to emerge from Meta’s broader push into VR and the metaverse.
Source: TechCrunch