Meta released a statement indicating it will retract support for virtual reality with Horizon Worlds — its highly costly metaverse initiative. Launched in 2021, Horizon Worlds was envisioned as the next significant innovation upon its debut. Nonetheless, it fell short of expectations, and Meta found it challenging to capture widespread interest in the metaverse, even after making Horizon Worlds available on third-party devices at one point. While development is not completely halting, many anticipated the news of Meta discontinuing the VR aspect of the application.
Nonetheless, it appears that Meta is indecisive regarding its direction, as the company has now declared it will not be terminating the VR version of Horizon Worlds after all. However, it will also not persist with the existing model. So, what precisely is altering in Horizon Worlds, and what will remain unchanged?
In essence, everything is remaining the same. That is, Horizon Worlds will still be accessible on Meta Quest headsets, allowing users to dive in and experience all that the application offers if they wish. Nevertheless, some aspects will undergo changes. Rather than concentrating on the VR component of Horizon Worlds, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth states that the company will shift its focus to the mobile aspect, as that is where the majority of the user base has established its presence.