The Last Light, Magic Leap’s own mixed reality experience is thought to be lost after almost everyone who made it fired was given a surprise – and official – release this week. (We’ve discovered the release thanks to a tweet of former Magic Leap employee Alexandria Heston.)
In The last light, you follow as a young woman, Kayah, goes through a story about her family playing on objects in the room in front of you. “It’s not a game like a tech demo,” former Magic Jump co-star Anastasia Devana told LinkedIn. “It’s actually a short film that is best experienced alone, in a quiet area, and uninterrupted for about 35-40 minutes or so.”
The last light was originally slated to premiere at SXSW in March, but the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, on April 22, Magic Leap told about 1,000 employees, including many of the game’s developers. That same day, co-founder and former CEO of Magic Leap and former CEO Rony Abovitz said that Magic Leap’s “opportunities in the long run for revenue are currently concentrated on the entrepreneurial side,” which seems to point to a shift away. of content such as The last light. (Abovitz said he would retire from Magic Leap in May and has since been replaced by former Microsoft exec Peggy Johnson.)
My colleague Adi Robertson spoke with developers working on The last light, and I recommend her article about it published on July 6th. The developers told her that at the time The last light was in limbo and was close enough to be done that Magic Leap could release it in its app store – which is exactly what the company has been doing ever since. It is now available as a free download.
