Oh man, where do I even start with this Cybershoes thing? So, buckle up because this is a bit of a ride. The company behind these bizarre VR gadgets—yep, shut down. Closed shop. They were this oddball VR locomotion device, and honestly, I kinda miss them already. Not that I ever owned a pair, but you know, the idea was fun.
Antony ‘Skarred Ghost’ Vitillo broke the news. He’s sorta famous in VR circles. Anyway, he spills the beans that they actually stopped making these shoes two years back. 2024 rolls around, and bam! One of their branches just closes. Next thing you know—poof—company folds over in April 2025. Just like that.
Then there’s this LinkedIn thing from co-founder Igor Mitric Lavovski, confirming the shutdown. Not gonna lie, LinkedIn feels like a weird place for spreading that kind of news, but hey, to each their own, right?
And oh, about that bankruptcy stuff—don’t hold your breath. Austrian companies need to get all legal with insolvency filings within 60 days or something, but as of now, nada. Someone named Andreas Howadt, a fancy law guy from Vienna, says there might be more info coming. But who knows when.
Here’s the kicker—Cybershoes weren’t your typical VR treadmills with all that slick sliding nonsense. You wore these roller things over your actual shoes while you chilled in a chair. Confused? Yeah, so am I. They’d register your foot movements, simulating walking or running, but seriously, all while sitting. I mean, innovation or just plain lazy? You decide.
Started in 2018, Cybershoes seemed to be doing alright. They skipped the usual route and went crowdfunding—€200,000 from Kickstarter, mind blown! Those were some mighty impressive plastic shoes, I guess. When they tried their luck with IndieGogo, raised another big chunk—€140,000 from over 500 folks. IndieGoGo was their hype train to snag more eyeballs and investors.
But here’s the plot twist—2020, their second Kickstarter, this time for a Quest-friendly version, flopped. Only $98,000 from 470 people. Still a lot, but not like the OG campaign. It’s like everyone suddenly went, “Eh, maybe walking in place isn’t that thrilling.”
At this point, trying to find one of these is like hunting for unicorns. Nothing on their website or even Amazon. Curious fact: an Amazon price tracker, CamelCamelCamel (yes, that’s its real name), caught the last seen pair in late 2024. And that’s the end of the line for these quirky VR shoes.
If you wanna dive deeper, check out Skarred Ghost’s review of their Quest version. Maybe you’ll get why some folks loved them… or not. Your call.
