Meta Platforms announced its Spark platform used by third parties to create augmented reality effects would be stubbed out on 14 January 2025, with the company planning to shift its resources to products deemed to better meet future customer needs.

The closure was revealed on the Spark website, where Meta Platforms explained any effects built by third parties hosted on the platform would cease to be available from that date.

Those owned by Meta Platforms itself will continue to be available across its Facebook, Instagram and Messenger apps.

Spark launched as Camera Effects Platform in 2017, when Meta Platforms was still known as Facebook.

The facility was used to create and source effects for images which could then be employed on Meta Platforms’ social media apps. It is currently used by brands and other content creators.

“This decision is part of our larger efforts to prioritise the products we believe will best serve the future needs of our consumers and business customers alike,” the company noted. “We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible”.

Meta Platforms added when it launched the service, “experiences infused with augmented reality were new to most consumers”.

The company emphasised it is “committed to our long-term investments in new computing platforms that will bring us beyond today’s 2D experiences on mobile”, with resources being moved from Spark to “the next generation of experiences, across new form-factors like glasses”.