Microsoft shuts down failing metaverse as it’s plagued by claims of VR sexual assault

MICROSOFT has revealed plans to shut down its popular virtual reality platform AltspaceVR.

News of the shutdown comes after several claims of virtual sexual assault occurring on the site.

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The tech giant announced the platform would be closing on March 10 in an email to users, Vice reported earlier today.

“Over the past decade, our platform has played host to an astonishing array of virtual events and experiences: group meditations, LGBTQ+ meetups, faith-based gatherings, open mics, stand-up comedy, karaoke, concerts, and so much more,” Microsoft said in its email.

“It has provided a space for people to explore their identities, express themselves, and find community,” AltspaceVR wrote in its email to users announcing the shutdown.

Microsoft noted that the biggest reason for the shutdown was to allow the company to focus on Microsoft Mash.

Heavily focused on team collaboration, Microsoft Mesh is a VR platform designed for internal Microsoft employees.

AltspaceVR was founded in 2013 and acquired by Microsoft in 2017.

It consists of user-generated spaces called “worlds,” that can be frequented by other users’ avatars.

Live virtual events are also frequently held on the platform, allowing individuals to gather, talk and collaborate.

A larger problem

However, AltspaceVR also had a big problem: female users constantly faced virtual sexual harassment.

Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz detailed her account on the platform a few years back.

“Within two minutes of walking into the welcome room in Altspace, a leading social VR app, I was given my first unsolicited ‘virtual reality kiss,'” Lorenz wrote for Mic.

‘Shortly after, my skinny brown-haired avatar was swarmed by male users rubbing on me and asking if I was as skinny in real life or just a fatty behind an avatar,” she continued.

“I felt ripped from the virtual world and transported back to middle school.”

Lorenz continued to talk about her account, before sharing that Mic tech editor Alexis Kleinman went into Altspace and “was also immediately harassed.”

The reporter’s experience on the platform is just one in a sea of many – despite VR platforms implementing safeguards.

In 2022, a woman named Nina Patel recounted a harrowing experience in VR that left her feeling violated and unsafe.

Patel shared her experience in Facebook’s Metaverse in a Medium blog post.

“Within 60 seconds of joining, I was verbally and sexually harassed [by] 3-4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially.

She continued to say that she was “virtually gang-raped” by the other avatars, who also took photos as she tried to get away.

Patel described the ordeal as “surreal” and a “nightmare”.

This has led to many organizations campaigning for more safety measures to be implemented in VR spaces.