Social network for helmets of virtual reality AltspaceVR will close next week. Developers "with heavy hearts" reported that the project after "unforeseen financial difficulties" will cease to exist on August 3 at 23:00 Kiev time.

The representative of the company in a letter to the site The Verge revealed the details of the closure of the social network. "We were supported by a group of investors, which last gave us money in 2015," he said.. - It looked like we reached an agreement for the next round of financing, but it did not burn out. Due to the unsuccessful deal and the general slowness of the growth of the virtual reality market, most investors lost the desire to finance us further. We tried to raise money, but we ran out of time and money ".

In AltspaceVR registered 35 thousand active monthly users who spend in the free service an average of 35 minutes a day. The platform was visited by such celebrities as comedian Reggie Watts (Reggie Watts) and popularizer of science Bill Nye (Bill Nye). The company even signed a partnership with NBC News for special events during last year's US presidential election.

The platform has been in the open beta test since the spring of 2015 and has become one of the most popular social VR-sites.

It is still available to owners of most virtual reality helmets, including Oculus Rift, Gear VR and HTC Vive.

The representative said that closing the service does not mean that the company will cease to exist. But while its future is foggy.

"The amazing people who worked for this company created amazing technologies - we think they will become fundamental for the future of social virtual reality," said AltspaceVR. "We will be happy if these technologies or the company somehow continue to live, and we are working on it".