On December 8, District Court Judge Edward J. Davila began hearing arguments about the injunction. In an opening statement, Abby Dennis, an attorney for the FTC, said Meta could have built a competitor to Within’s popular virtual reality fitness game Supernatural on its own.
Hal Singer, an economist who is one of the FTC’s witnesses, later testified that the deal harmed competition. Aaron Koblin, the founder of Within, also appeared as a witness, as did Mark Rabkin, a Meta executive. Mr Rabkin said Meta had considered adding a fitness element to a virtual reality game it owned, Beat Saber, but had not pursued the idea.
On Monday, Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, who oversees the company’s virtual reality work and was involved in the acquisition of Within, testified that Meta saw itself as “a platform, and the idea of a platform is that there is there is so much software that no company could ever make all that software.”
Meta prefers to take over companies that have made viral games, Mr. Bosworth said, because it’s not easy to imitate that success. He added that Meta would not favor any games or programs it purchased over those from other parties.
Hours before his testimony, Mr. Bosworth published a 2,000-word blog post defending Meta’s commitment to artificial and virtual reality and emphasizing that the company sees it as a competitive space.
“As new devices enter the market, we believe our industry will enter a new era of growth and competition that will deliver tremendous benefits to users and the developer community,” he wrote.
Mr. Zuckerberg emphasized that point in court Tuesday, arguing that his company’s approach to the metaverse would benefit developers with more money and interest in virtual reality apps. Some apps will be acquired by his company, he said, while others will thrive on their own.
