The Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust swimsuit towards in a bid to dam it from shopping for Within Unlimited, the maker of the digital actuality exercise app . The company and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg of “planning to expand Meta’s virtual reality empire with this attempt to illegally acquire a dedicated fitness app that proves the value of virtual reality to users.”

The FTC claimed that Meta is “already a key player” at each degree of the VR ecosystem. It stated the corporate has the top-selling VR system (), a number one VR app retailer, “seven of the most successful developers and one of the best-selling apps of all time.” The latter is probably going referring to . Meta the maker of that rhythm sport, Beat Games, in 2019.

“Instead of competing on the merits, Meta is trying to buy its way to the top,” John Newman, deputy director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, stated in a press release. “Meta already owns a best-selling virtual reality fitness app and it had the capabilities to compete even more closely with Within’s popular Supernatural app. But Meta chose to buy market position instead of earning it on the merits. This is an illegal acquisition and we will pursue all appropriate relief.”

Meta its plan to purchase Within final October. It was reported in December that the FTC was . Meta, in fact, received into the VR market within the first place when it in 2014.

The FTC argues in the complaint that Meta has the assets and “reasonable probability” of coming into the VR health market by constructing its personal app. That strategy, the company claims, would “increase consumer choice, increase innovation, spur additional competition to attract the best employees, and yield other competitive benefits.” Instead, if it had been to purchase Within, the FTC claims Meta would restrict “future innovation and competitive rivalry” and says “that lessening of competition violates the antitrust laws.”

“The FTC’s case is based on ideology and speculation, not evidence. The idea that this acquisition would lead to anticompetitive outcomes in a dynamic space with as much entry and growth as online and connected fitness is simply not credible,” a Meta spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. “By attacking this deal in a 3-2 vote, the FTC is sending a chilling message to anyone who wishes to innovate in VR. We are confident that our acquisition of Within will be good for people, developers and the VR space.” 

The transfer will come as one other blow to Meta’s purpose to develop into the main participant. The firm has plowed billions into the trouble, although in latest months it has dialed again a few of its ambitions by and reportedly that had been alleged to hook into its metaverse. This week, the corporate introduced that it’s going to of a Meta Quest 2 headset by $100 as of August 1st. News of the FTC’s transfer to dam the Within acquisition comes on the identical day that Meta will report its earnings for the second quarter of 2022.