Meta Yoga App Developer Describes Frustration After Working ‘Like Hell’ with No Results
Just before its launch, Andre Elijah claimed that Meta Platforms Inc. terminated his virtual reality yoga app, which featured avatars of renowned instructors guiding users through different poses, along with pilates and mindfulness exercises. According to him, users will never get to experience the app due to Meta Platforms Inc.’s actions.
Elijah’s AEI Fitness app was canceled by Meta just days before it was announced at Meta Connect, the world’s largest VR conference, which he says would have put him at the top of the VR fitness app market and ultimately net him tens of millions of dollars.
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“It was hell to work on, and we got there,” Elijah said in an interview, adding that the company made a “fantastic” trailer for its presentation at the conference. But as he prepared to be part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote, he says he was told “”No, the project is killed, we’re not giving you your money. ‘”
Meta banned Elijah from the conference and added his name to a “blacklist” of developers it refuses to do business with, according to a complaint he filed this week in federal court in San Jose, California.
The lawsuit offers a rare look at the personal sacrifices developers are making to bring Meta full throttle to the metaverse. Investors have pressured the company to sell more of its VR headsets after years of loss-making operations in the VR technology division. One of the barriers preventing consumers from buying more VR headsets is the lack of apps and content compared to mobile phones or computers.
According to Elijah, Meta’s revenge stems from the fact that he also had discussions with Apple Inc. and ByteDance’s Pico about releasing his app on competing VR platforms. His antitrust complaint alleges Meta conspired to kill his app as part of an ongoing effort to dominate the VR headset and app distribution market.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elijah is seeking $3.2 million in the immediate future and hundreds of millions in lost earnings and damages. The VR fitness app market was worth $16.4 billion last year and is expected to grow to more than $109 billion over the next seven years, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also names Zuckerberg and Alo, a Beverly Hills fitness apparel and accessories company that Elijah said his app uses, as defendants.
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It’s unusual for developers to sue the platform and threaten to scare off other companies they might want to work with.
“I never thought this would be the case, I’m still dealing with it,” Elijah said. “It’s rough.”
The lawsuit comes as Apple plans to release its competing headset, the Apple Vision Pro, in the coming months. Meta has been the industry leader in the VR headset market for years, but Apple could face some significant competition.
This isn’t the first time Meta has been accused of crashing the VR fitness app market. The US Federal Trade Commission tried to block the company’s purchase of Within Unlimited Inc., maker of the popular Supernatural app, arguing that Meta was denying consumers the benefit of adding a new competitor to the market. But the agency backed down this year after a federal judge in San Jose rejected its request to halt the deal.
The case is Andre Elijah Immersive Inc. v. Meta Platforms Technologies LLC, 5:23-cv-05159, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
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