Meta announced a significant update for Horizon Worlds, revealing a shift to focus almost exclusively on mobile, leaving the metaverse behind. The company is explicitly separating its Quest VR platform from the virtual world. Meta’s Reality Labs division has incurred nearly $80 billion in losses since 2020, prompting a reevaluation of its VR ambitions. Last month, Meta reportedly laid off around 1,500 employees from Reality Labs and shut down several VR game studios. The VR fitness app Supernatural will no longer produce new content and will move to maintenance mode.
Horizon Worlds, initially launched as a VR platform in 2021 and later expanded to web and mobile, now aims to compete with platforms like Roblox and Fortnite by going mobile-first. Reality Labs’ VP of content, Samantha Ryan, stated that Meta plans to deliver synchronous social games at scale by tapping into its extensive network connections. Despite the mobile focus, Meta remains committed to VR hardware, with plans for diverse VR headsets as the market evolves.
Meta has effectively abandoned its metaverse ambitions to prioritize AI development. Reality Labs is redirecting investments toward AI wearables and advancing AI models. In a recent earnings call, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicted that AI glasses would become prevalent in the future, citing tripled sales of Meta’s glasses as evidence of their rapid growth.