Unity Software (NYSE:U) saw its stock decline 3.5% in pre-market trading Thursday after Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) announced it would replace Unity with a proprietary runtime engine for its app development.
The revelation came during Meta’s Connect event, where the company also introduced its new Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses priced at $799, featuring an integrated screen capable of showing text messages, video calls, turn-by-turn navigation, and AI-generated visual results.
Mandeep Singh, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, commented, “Meta’s AI glasses with a built-in display, controlled by a band that reads muscle signals, underlines the company’s focus on its own form factor for native deployments of its own LLM. While the use of its own runtime engine for app development, replacing Unity, was notable at Meta’s Connect event, we expect limited AI features powered by LLM to curb any near-term uptick in unit sales of AR glasses.”
Meta’s move marks a significant change in strategy, as the company had previously relied on Unity’s platform for app development. Unity Software has long been a leading provider of development tools, especially in augmented and virtual reality.
By creating its own runtime engine, Meta could reduce dependency on third-party platforms like Unity, potentially affecting Unity’s standing in the expanding AR/VR market.
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