The company behind the innovative VR locomotion device Cybershoes has officially shut down, ostensibly closing the final chapter on VR’s weirdest locomotion peripheral.
The news was first reported by Antony ‘Skarred Ghost’ Vitillo, who further notes production of Cybershoes stopped two years ago. Then, in 2024, one of its branches closed, Vitillo reports, leading to the Austria-based business folding completely sometime in April 2025.
Also noted by MIXED, Cybershoes co-founder Igor Mitric Lavovski confirmed in a LinkedIn post that “Cybershoes GmbH was officially shut down a month ago.”
As an Austrian limited liability company, specific details about formal bankruptcy filings or insolvency proceedings are not currently available to the public, so there’s still no clear idea on how the company can or will proceed.
Notably, Austrian companies are legally required to file for insolvency within 60 days of becoming insolvent or over-indebted, according to Vienna-based insolvency law specialist Andreas Howadt, LL.M, which could shed more light on the situation in the coming weeks.
Unlike conventional VR treadmills, which typically use a parabolic base and low-friction shoes to let users move in VR, Cybershoes are designed for seated VR gameplay. The device is essentially a pair of shoe-mounted rollers which include inertial measurement unit (IMU) to register foot orientation, letting you simulate walking or running in game, albeit from the comfort and safety of chair.
Founded in 2018, Cybershoes has done fairly well for itself despite never garnering public investment from traditional venture capital.
In 2018, the company attracted over €200,000 through its first Kickstarter campaign aimed at PC VR users, helping to bring the product from neat 3D printed prototype to the professional fit and finish of a proper consumer device.
In 2019, the company launched an IndieGogo funding campaign, managing to attract an additional €140,000 from over 500 backers. At the time, the company considered its IndieGogo campaign a way to “continue to build awareness among consumers and potential investors.”
Then, in November 2020, Cybershoes launched its second Kickstarter for a Quest-compatible version of the device, which only performed only half as well as the original PC VR-focused device, garnering around $98,000 from 470 backers.
At the time of this writing, neither the official store nor Amazon have units in stock. While it’s uncertain when Cybershoes ran out of stock through its official website, according to Amazon price tracker CamelCamelCamel, the latest Quest-compatible version ran out of stock sometime in late 2024.
For more info on Cybershoes, check out Vitillo’s review of the Quest-compatible version below:
