Meta has pulled a 180 on its flagship Metaverse app. On Tuesday, the company announced the date it plans to close the virtual hangspace. horizon world. Then late last night, the company announced that it would indeed be maintaining worlds Open to VR users for the foreseeable future. In an instagram storyAndrew Bosworth, Meta’s CTO, said, “We’ve actually just decided today that we’re going to keep horizon world “Working in VR for current games to support the fans that have arrived.”
According to Bosworth, Meta won’t work on anyone New inside vr game worldsBut the current content will still be available for VR users. “People who already have their favorite games are using them horizon worldwill be able to download horizon world Build an app and use it in VR in the near future,” Bosworth said.
While Worlds will be open to VR users, the meta is focusing on mobile users. Any new meta-created content will be tailored for users on their phones. “Most of our energy is going toward mobile, because that’s where most of the consumer and creator energy was already,” Bosworth said.
Meta initially revealed its plans to shut down horizon world for VR in February, then announced concrete plans to pull the plug on Tuesday.
Putting its flagship Metaverse app for VR users into maintenance mode is a big change for a company that has rebranded itself as “Meta.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled both the name change and horizon world in his own company Connect events in 2021Describing the Metaverse as “the successor to the mobile Internet” that will eventually host more than a billion people. Things Don’t Work That Way: Meta’s Reality Labs division, of which horizon world For one thing, there is an estimated $83.55 billion loss from 2021, and Meta has since cut jobs in the division, cutting loose departments dedicated to first-party VR games and fitness content.
What do you think so far?
at its peak, horizon world Allegedly There were only 200,000 monthly users. for comparison, roblox Is 381 million monthly users. But it’s good that the meta is keeping the lights on, at least for a relatively small number of fans. The meta may not be as numerous as we’d like, but it certainly has passionate members. worlds Communities, who will still be able to gather in their VR spaces.
The headsets are out; smart glasses are in
Although meta Recently repeated Touting its commitment to supporting third-party VR developers and promising “a robust roadmap of future VR headsets,” the company is clearly focusing on AI and smart glasses. it’s scaling back worlds And other first-party Meta VR content shows where the market is headed: Unlike the Quest line of headsets, Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses have proven an unqualified success for the company, which is reportedly Plan to produce 20 million pairs of smart glasses in 2026. “Face computers” that interact with and enhance the world we actually live in are more popular than headsets that transport us to another world.
