Meta decides not to shut down Horizon Worlds on VR after all

Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth announced that Horizon Worlds will continue to support VR after initially planning to only focus on web and mobile. Despite declining interest in VR, the decision aims to retain a user base while prioritizing mobile growth. Meta has suffered significant losses in its Reality Labs division, indicating ongoing struggles in making the metaverse appealing.

Key Points

• Bosworth confirmed on Instagram that Horizon Worlds will not shut down, easing concerns from users.
• Meta planned earlier to stop VR support due to low user engagement in Horizon Worlds.
• The app will now also focus on mobile, which has shown better product-market fit, with 45 million total downloads.
• Meta's Reality Labs lost $73 billion since its rebrand, highlighting financial struggles within the company.
• Sales of Meta's Quest headsets dropped 16% year-over-year, questioning their competitive edge in the market.

Relevance

• The struggles with Horizon Worlds reflect a wider trend in virtual reality, with similar challenges faced by companies like Apple.
• Declining hardware sales and consumer spending on VR applications may be indicative of growing skepticism about the metaverse.
• Meta's significant layoffs and budget cuts in Reality Labs emphasize the need for a reevaluation of its metaverse investments.

Meta's decision to keep Horizon Worlds operational in VR highlights a shift in strategy towards mobile platforms, amid financial struggles and declining hardware sales, demonstrating the evolving landscape of the metaverse market.