Jason Rubin Leaves Meta
After 11+ incredible years I’ve decided to leave Meta in March. This was a difficult decision and I have nothing but deep appreciation for Mark and Boz’s leadership, gratitude to the company, love for my coworkers, and excitement for our Horizon and VR roadmap.
I’m incredibly proud of multiple eras of my work at Meta. I helped to build the Oculus Content team, Meta’s first content production and dev rel organization, and producing a lot of highly reviewed and industry applauded titles. I’m also proud of building the Metaverse Creative Team, empowering Design and Art, and raising our quality bar.
Why now? And the answer is relatively boring: This seems like a good time. I am going to chase animals with a camera.
Jason Rubin has had an unique career, to say the least. His tenure at Meta alone was all VR gaming from the beginning, back when it was called Oculus. I suspect he was a major player in the acquisition of Beat Games, bringing Resident Evil 4 to VR1, that Batman game I have pledged to play, and the probably-dead-forever VR version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Meta and Jason's efforts over these 11 years have kept VR gaming accessible and in conversation. Heck, they have been the conversation.
Before Meta, Rubin tried to save, but ultimately went down with the ship named THQ, did some start-up stuff, and, of course, co-founded Naughty Dog. Now? He's going to go off and take more photos in Africa. He's pretty good at it.
As for "why now?" I think the answer is a bit more than "boring" Meta is clearly done with VR gaming. From my Big Three Predictions piece last month;
"A small VR footnote tangent: PSVR2 is an undeniable commercial flop. I just saw one open-box at Best Buy for $150. PlayStation Studios has effectively made zero titles for the headset. Might be the most I've ever overpaid for a game console/peripheral ever. Lately, Meta seems hellbent on killing VR gaming by shuttering their first-party teams they paid millions to acquire. The only glimmer of hope is Valve's new Steam Frame. If I ever buy another VR headset—and of course I will—odds are it'll be a Frame paired with a Steam Machine. I gotta play Alyx at some point, right?"