Meta still isn't keen on reviving its F8 conference, but this time it's not due to the pandemic. The Facebook parent firm revealed that it "will not hold" F8 in 2022 as it retools for "building the metaverse." Instead, Meta will lean on Conversations (its first business messaging event), Connect and other developer presentations throughout the rest of the year.
The company hasn't held a live F8 since 2019. Both F8 2020 and 2021 were online-only due to COVID-19. This isn't the first time Meta skipped F8 altogether, though. It didn't hold conferences in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
A move like this isn't shocking. Facebook only rebranded itself as Meta in October, and the company is still in the early days of defining its metaverse vision and creating relevant tools. The F8 2022 no-show could give Meta more time to present a clearer strategy, not to mention create more augmented reality and virtual reality technology it can pitch to creators.