If you didn’t know that Mozilla released a special version of Firefox for VR called Firefox Reality, then you may not know because Mozilla today announced that it would be ending support for the browser just over three years after release. This.
Spanish co-op Igalia will release a “somewhat beta”browser next week called Wolvic, which will be based on the Firefox Reality source code. Firefox Reality will be removed from all app stores where it is available “in the coming weeks.”Like Firefox Reality, Wolvic will use the WebXR standard to enable virtual and augmented reality experiences on websites rather than requiring a separate app to be downloaded from a specialized app store.
It may simply be the case when a company terminates a niche project designed for a niche market that did not generate enough user interest – companies rarely not only cancel, but also voluntarily give away exceptionally successful products. But Mozilla has been open about the need to carefully manage its resources as it has dwindled over the years. The company went through several rounds of layoffs in 2020, both before and in the middle of the pandemic, citing a need for a “refocus”.
Firefox’s usage share has been slowly declining for most of the last decade (according to StatCounter, its usage share on desktop operating systems is currently just over 9 percent, up from a peak of around 32 percent in 2010, but slightly higher minimum level of 7 percent). mid-2021). However, the company has had some success with paid products such as Mozilla VPN, the “save now, read later”Pocket service, and the Firefox Relay email forwarding service. The company expects its earnings to increase this year, though not enough to reduce its reliance on search and advertising deals with companies like Google.