Talk about a colossal waste of money.
Meta has announced that it’s shutting down its Horizon Worlds online multiplayer VR game after spending tens of billions of dollars chasing the metaverse. The MMO-esque title originally debuted on Meta Quest in December 2021, with a mobile version following in September 2023.
Now, Meta says it will only focus on the mobile version, meaning it will delist the Meta Quest version on March 31, 2026, before sunsetting it entirely on June 15. That said, those who have downloaded it by March 31 will be able to keep playing until the June 15 shutdown.
“We are separating the two platforms so each can grow with greater focus, and the Horizon Worlds platform will become a mobile-only experience. This separation will extend across our ecosystem, including our mobile app,” writes Meta of the decision.
This comes after Meta CTO and Head of Reality Labs Andrew “Boz” Bosworth recently admitted that VR hasn’t been growing as much or as quickly as it had hoped. It also follows Reality Labs having lost over US$70 billion (about C$95.9 billion) since 2021 after going all-in on the metaverse. As part of that fad chasing, the company even rebranded from Facebook to Meta in 2021.
These metaverse failures have led Meta to cut Reality Labs’ workforce by 10 to 15 per cent, resulting in hundreds upon hundreds of layoffs. All the while, co-founder, chairman and CEO Mark Zuckberg, who orchestrated this colossal bungle, remains one of the wealthiest people on the planet.
Going forward, Meta plans to focus on AI and wearables. One of its most major upcoming products that marries the two technologies, the Meta Ray-Ban Display, recently launched in the U.S. but was delayed in international markets like Canada due to “unprecedented demand and limited inventory,” according to Meta. It’s also developing a line of augmented reality glasses, including the Orion prototype that it’s been teasing.
Source: Meta
