Facebook owner Meta Platforms is cancelling the company’s annual developers conference, saying it needs more time to prepare for its next big project: the metaverse.

The move marks the second time in three years that the company has scrapped the event. It cancelled the show in 2020 over pandemic concerns and then held it virtually in 2021.

Previously, the F8 conference had given developers and businesses a chance to hear about Meta’s latest products and innovations. Last year’s conference included sessions on creating Facebook business apps and other topics.

But over the past year, the metaverse — a plan for interconnected virtual worlds — has become an increasing focus for the social media giant. The company, previously known as Facebook, changed its name to Meta in October to underscore the shift.

Pausing the developers conference will let Meta focus on “new initiatives that are all tailored towards the next chapter of the Internet, and the next chapter of our company, too: building the metaverse,” the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Meta will still be holding its inaugural Conversations conference on 19 May, an event for businesses and developers building services on the Menlo Park, California-based company’s messaging platforms. — Maxwell Adler, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP