HeadlinesBriefing favicon HeadlinesBriefing.com

Moss Developer Polyarc Has Closed

Engadget •
×

Polyarc, the developer behind virtual reality games Moss and Moss: Book II, has closed, according to a new post on the studio's LinkedIn page. Based on a reverse recruiting sheet shared alongside the announcement, at least 29 members of the studio's staff are now looking for work.

"After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end," Polyarc says. "As we wind down active development, we are saying our farewells to each other."

The Seattle-based studio's Moss series was an early VR favorite, thanks in part to the way it fused traditional action-adventure gameplay with a camera system that let you peer around diorama-like levels while controlling Quill, the series' mouse protagonist. Moss launched on the PlayStation VR, and was also ported to the Oculus Quest as a launch title. Moss: Book II was similarly released on PSVR, Quest, Steam VR and Pico, and the studio even released one of the few VR games for the Apple Vision Pro, a multiplayer strategy title called Glassbreakers.

In May 2026, Polyarc tried to reach a non-VR audience with Moss: The Forgotten Relic. It's unclear how well the game has sold, but it evidently wasn't enough to keep the studio afloat. The bigger issue might be changes to the VR ecosystem that made it harder to get new projects off the ground. Meta began its big pivot away from the metaverse towards AI products at the start of this year. Not only did the company close several of its own VR studios, but its retreat from the space likely made getting new VR games funded even harder. Even though the studio is closed, all of Polyarc's games remain available to purchase.