Meta Wins a Legal Battle Against the FTC to Acquire Within, a Virtual Reality Fitness Venture
Syed Imran Haider 
Meta has reportedly won a legal battle against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which requested an injunction for the company’s acquisition of a VR fitness startup known as Within. According to an unreleased ruling of an ongoing antitrust case by the FTC, a California judge allowed Meta to close its purchase of the Virtual Reality fitness venture.
On Wednesday last week, the media reported that the FTC received a denial for its request to block Meta’s deal from the honorable court. The judge also gave the organization a one-week time to appeal. The lawsuit has the next hearing scheduled on 7 February 2023.
History of the FTC’s Lawsuit Against Meta
The Federal Trade Commission or FTC sued Meta to stop its acquisition of Within, which plays vitally in making Supernatural – a popular Virtual Reality app. According to the agency’s arguments, Meta’s acquisition would increase its dominance in the consumer virtual reality market, where the parent company of Facebook has staked lots of its resources in recent times.
The commission pointed out Meta’s merger with the Beat Saber’s company in 2019. It claimed that the inclusion of Within would remove the healthy competition between the two businesses.
While Meta decided to fight against the decision, it agreed to hold up Within acquisition until the end of January 2023. Andrew Bosworth, the CTO of Meta, revealed an inability to close the deal on time might lead the company to drop it.
The legal ruling reads that Meta has significant financial and Virtual Reality engineering resources. But it lacked the capabilities exclusive to VR-powered fitness apps. They include studio production facilities and fitness content creation. Meta is among VR platform developers. It can benefit from many features of VR fitness growth without interfering in the Virtual Reality fitness app market.
Reactions of the Court Decision
The Federal Trade Commission seemingly faced inside disagreements over whether or not it should intervene in Meta’s acquisition of Within. Its chase of the case stands in contrast to many smooth Meta deals, including its 2014’s purchase of Oculus – a VR startup.
Douglas Farrar, the director of public affairs at FTC, said the agency was not in the position to say anything due to the respect for the honorable judge’s ruling. On the other hand, Stephen Peters – a Meta spokesperson, said in a statement that the company is pleased with the court’s denial of the FTC’s request to block its purchase of Within. The deal aims to add more pro-competitive benefits to spur innovation and ecosystem in the broader interest of developers, people, and the Virtual Reality space. Meta looks forward to closing the deal soon.
If the court stands by this week’s order, it will cause a defeat for Lina Khan – agency head and antimonopoly campaigner. The loss would arrive as the Federal Trade Commission attempts to ban another game-related merger – Microsoft’s purchase of Activision. These cases carry a significant difference, the small size of the VR market in comparison to the game industry. The FTC chose to focus on the market of fitness VR apps instead of games in general. However, the decision could represent an uphill battle, aiming to limit tech industry consolidation.
