ByteDance Eyeing Virtual Reality Market With West Coast Hiring Push
Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
TikTok parent company ByteDance is reportedly planning to expand its virtual reality operations in the U.S.
After acquiring VR headset company Pico last year, China-based ByteDance is preparing to invest “tons of money” into VR-based games and experiences, sources told tech outlet Protocol.
As part of its expansion, ByteDance is currently making a sizable hiring push on the West Coast, where it has job listings for more than 40 positions—including roles related to content, hardware and sales—in California and Washington. According to Protocol, ByteDance has also shifted some TikTok employees over to Pico, such as business development executive Sally Wang.
ByteDance’s ambitions for Pico signal a willingness to compete with Meta in the virtual reality-fueled metaverse. Sources told Protocol that Pico is willing to spend on VR content titles that have already been licensed to Meta and also go head-to-head on hardware, where its Neo 3 Link headset is disadvantaged by a higher price point (450 euros, or about $480) compared to Meta’s Quest 2 ($299).
TikTok has made its own forays into VR and augmented reality (AR) via Effect House, a platform that allows users to create their own AR effects on the video-sharing app. But its investments still lag far behind those of Meta, which will reportedly pour $10 billion to $15 billion this year on its VR, AR and metaverse efforts, including on more hardware and new features.
And Meta isn’t Pico’s only competition in the space: Snap has also made VR and AR a key part of its new product offerings, while entertainment giants like Disney have made no secret of their designs for the metaverse.Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.