Meta’s Layoffs Leave Supernatural Fitness Users in Mourning
Tencia Benavidez, a Supernatural user who lives in New Mexico, started her VR workouts during the Covid pandemic. She’s been a regular user for five years, calling the ability to workout in VR ideal, given that she lives in a rural area where it’s difficult to get to a gym or workout outside during a brutal winter. She stayed with Supernatural because of the community and the eagerness of Supernatural’s coaches.
“They seem like really genuine individuals who weren’t badmouthing you,” Benavidez says. “There’s just something really special about these coaches.”
Meta purchased Supernatural in 2022, integrating it into its then-heavily invested Metaverse efforts. The purchase did not go smoothly, as it sparked a lengthy legal battle in which the United States Federal Trade Commission attempted to block Meta from purchasing the service due to antitrust concerns about Meta “trying to claw its way to the top” of the virtual reality market. Meta ultimately prevailed. At the time, some Supernatural users were cautiously optimistic, hoping that this big bag of Zuckerbucks could keep their workout juggernaut afloat.
“Meta fought the government to buy this thing,” Benavidez says. “All this just to get them to shut it down? What’s the point?”
I contacted Meta and Supernatural, and neither responded to my requests for comment.
Waking up to ashes and dust
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Meta had laid off more than 1,000 people as part of its virtual reality and metaverse efforts. The move comes after years of the company losing billions of dollars on its Metaverse products. In addition to laying off most of Supernatural’s staff, Meta closed three internal VR studios that made games like Resident Evil 4 And Deadpool VR.
“If it was about the bottom line, I think they could have charged more money,” Goff Johnson says of Supernatural. “I think people would have paid for that. It seems unnecessarily cruel.”
There is a division within the community as to who will stay and continue to pay subscription fees and who will leave. Supernatural has over 3,000 lessons in the service. So while no new content will be added, some feel there is still plenty of content left in the library. Other users are concerned about how Supernatural will continue to license music from big-name bands.
“Supernatural is amazing, but I’m canceling it because of this,” Chip told me. “The library is big, so there’s plenty to keep you busy, but not for the same price.”
There are other VR training experiences like FitXR or even the essential VR Beat Saberfrom which Supernatural draws many design concepts. Yet they don’t reach the same bar for many Supernatural devotees.
“I’m going to hold on until they turn the lights out,” says Stefanie Wong, a Bay Area accountant who has been using Supernatural since shortly after the pandemic and has hosted and attended meet-up events. “It’s not the app. It’s the community, and it’s the coaches that we really care about.”
Welcome to the New Age
I tried Supernatural’s Together feature on Wednesday, the day after the layoffs. That’s where I met Chip and Alisa. When we were able to stop and catch our breath, we talked about the changes coming to the service. They had played through previous sessions hosted by Jane Fonda or playlists with a mix of music that changed regularly. It looks like the final collaboration in Supernatural’s multiplayer mode will be what we’ve been playing, an artist series featuring songs entirely from Imagine Dragons.
During the session, as we hit blocks while being serenaded by this singing shirtless dude, recorded narrations from Supernatural coach Dwana Olsen came in to exhilarate us.
“Enjoy these moments,” Olsen said as we drove away. “Use these moves to remind yourself how much great life you have left to live.”
Honestly, it was downright invigorating. And bittersweet. We finished another lap, sweaty, huffing and puffing. Chip, Alisa and I congratulated each other like crazy and got ready for another round.
“Beautiful,” said Alisa. “It’s just beautiful, isn’t it?”
