Jason Rubin has left Meta after 12 years, having been VP of Content at Oculus, Facebook, and then Meta, with various official titles.
Rubin was the second longest standing executive from the 2014 era of Oculus still at Meta, with Michael Abrash (still at Meta) being the first.
In a statement, Rubin described the decision to leave as "difficult", saying that he has "nothing but deep appreciation" for Meta leadership, and stating that he's "incredibly proud" of his work and excited for the future of VR and Horizon.
"This was a difficult decision and I have nothing but deep appreciation for Mark and Boz’s leadership, gratitude to the company, love for my coworkers, and excitement for our Horizon and VR roadmap.
I’m incredibly proud of multiple eras of my work at Meta. I helped to build the Oculus Content team, Meta’s first content production and dev rel organization, and producing a lot of highly reviewed and industry applauded titles. I’m also proud of building the Metaverse Creative Team, empowering Design and Art, and raising our quality bar.
Why now? And the answer is relatively boring: This seems like a good time. I am going to chase animals with a camera. You can follow the results on my Instagram."
In 1984 Rubin co-founded Naughty Dog, the game studio behind Rings of Power, Way of the Warrior, Crash Bandicoot, and Jak and Daxter, as well as (after Rubin left) Uncharted and The Last Of Us.
He left Naughty Dog in 2004, and became the president of publisher THQ in 2012. However, by this time THQ was already almost dead, and Rubin was unable to save it, with the company going bankrupt less than a year later.
In 2014, Rubin joined Oculus VR, a few months after Facebook announced it was acquiring the startup.
Ian Hamilton
Initially Head of Worldwide Studios, by 2016 Rubin's title had shifted to VP of Content. He managed the first and second party content initiatives for the Oculus Rift, delivering a strong launch content lineup for both the Xbox gamepad the Rift was originally shipped with and the Oculus Touch controllers that shipped eight months later.
His official title changed multiple times over the years as Oculus was absorbed into Facebook and then as the company rebranded to Meta, and his role expanded to cover more of the company's gaming and content initiatives.
In 2018 he became Facebook's VP of AR/VR Content & Partnerships, in 2019 the VP of Special Gaming Initiatives, in 2020 the VP of Play, and in 2021 the VP of Metaverse Content / Creative.
In these expanded roles, as well as Quest, he became responsible for gaming on Facebook Portal, Messenger, and Facebook Cloud Gaming. Essentially, Rubin was Mark Zuckerberg's gaming chief.
David Heaney
Of course, while Rubin's stated reason for leaving is to pursue wildlife photography, the timing is notable. The departure comes just two months after Meta shut down three of its acquired VR game studios, conducted significant layoffs at a fourth, and canceled the Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel. Rubin had worked closely with these studios for the better part of a decade, and while we won't put words in his mouth, it seems unlikely that his departure after so long is entirely unrelated to Meta's strategy shift.
