Meta mercifully spun out VR fitness game Supernatural instead of just killing it
Meta mercifully spun out VR fitness game Supernatural instead of just killing it
Meta 终于大发慈悲：将 VR 健身游戏 Supernatural 分拆，而非直接关停
Meta’s attempt to pioneer a metaverse and make VR cool totally flopped, except for one shining diamond in the rough: Supernatural, a VR fitness game that made working out feel fun and accessible. Now, users can rejoice that Supernatural isn’t shutting down after all.
Meta 试图开创元宇宙并让 VR 变得酷炫的尝试彻底失败了，但其中却有一颗闪亮的遗珠：Supernatural。这是一款让健身变得既有趣又易于上手的 VR 游戏。现在，用户们可以欢呼了，因为 Supernatural 最终并没有被关停。
Meta went through the hassle of fighting an eight-month antitrust battle so that it could acquire Within, the game studio that made Supernatural, in 2023. The deal was reportedly worth around $400 million, plus however much it costs to fight and win an FTC lawsuit. Yet after all that effort, Meta laid off much of its VR team and announced that it would stop adding new content just a few years later.
为了在 2023 年收购开发 Supernatural 的游戏工作室 Within，Meta 不惜耗费精力打了一场长达八个月的反垄断官司。据报道，这笔交易价值约 4 亿美元，还不包括为应对美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）诉讼所投入的巨额法律费用。然而，在付出如此巨大的努力后，Meta 却在短短几年内裁掉了大部分 VR 团队，并宣布停止更新内容。
But Meta had a rare moment of mercy and listened to the Supernatural users who protested the app’s sad fate. About five months later, Meta is now letting the Supernatural team spin off into a new independent company called Supernatural Health, which will take over the app later this year.
但 Meta 难得地展现了一次慈悲，听取了那些抗议该应用悲惨命运的 Supernatural 用户的心声。大约五个月后，Meta 现在允许 Supernatural 团队分拆成立一家名为 Supernatural Health 的新独立公司，该公司将于今年晚些时候接管这款应用。
“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,” Supernatural Health says on its website. Who’s behind Supernatural Health? The original founders, of course.
“Supernatural 重获新生了。同样的教练，同样的基因，同样执着于让健身成为你一天中最美好的时光——现在，这一切将在我们从零开始组建的一家全新的独立公司旗下继续。”Supernatural Health 在其官网上写道。谁是 Supernatural Health 的幕后推手？当然是最初的创始人们。
It’s a happy ending, yet it’s maddening. It’s the regulatory equivalent of a high schooler confessing their undying love to their crush through an elaborate prom-posal, then navigating a tense dinner with their date’s parents to prove they have good intentions, only to break up right after the dance.
这是一个圆满的结局，但却令人抓狂。这在监管层面就像是一个高中生通过精心策划的舞会邀请向暗恋对象表白，随后又在紧张的晚餐中向对方父母证明自己诚意满满，结果舞会刚结束就提出了分手。
“We’re grateful for the platform and resources Meta provided during a critical growth phase,” Supernatural Health wrote. “This transition reflects a shared belief that Supernatural’s community is best served by a focused, independent team. Meta has been supportive throughout.”
“我们感谢 Meta 在我们关键增长阶段提供的平台和资源，”Supernatural Health 写道。“这次转型反映了一个共同的信念，即由一个专注的独立团队来服务 Supernatural 社区是最好的选择。Meta 在整个过程中一直给予支持。”
I’ll be over here pulling my hair out at how dumb this whole situation has been, but at least I know that one online community has escaped the harsh anvil of big tech. “Like so many of us I was so devastated when the coaches were let go and we were told our beloved Supernatural, while we loved it and it was great, would never get any better than it was. What we had was what we had. We all felt like it was purchased to kill,” one user wrote in the public Supernatural Facebook group. “I am such a sap. Why am I tearing up?”
我依然会因为整个事件的荒谬而感到抓狂，但至少我知道有一个在线社区逃脱了大科技公司残酷的打压。“和我们许多人一样，当教练们被解雇，且被告知我们深爱的 Supernatural 虽然很棒，但永远不会再有任何改进时，我感到非常崩溃。我们拥有的就是现状。我们都觉得它被收购就是为了被扼杀，”一位用户在 Supernatural 的公开 Facebook 群组中写道。“我真是个感性的人。为什么我会热泪盈眶？”