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Meta's Metaverse Dream Crumbles: Horizon Worlds Shut Down
18 Mar
Summary
- Horizon Worlds VR experience will cease on Quest headsets March 31.
- The virtual world will fully shut down by June 15, 2026.
- Meta is shifting focus to AI and smart glasses, cutting VR investments.
Meta is ending its virtual reality social platform, Horizon Worlds, marking a significant shift away from its ambitious metaverse vision. The VR experience will be removed from the Quest store on March 31, 2025. The virtual worlds will then shut down completely on June 15, 2026, after which the service will only be accessible as a mobile platform.
This decision follows substantial layoffs in Meta's Reality Labs division in February, signaling a strategic pivot towards artificial intelligence and its smart glasses. Horizon Worlds, once central to Meta's rebranding from Facebook, failed to gain significant traction against competitors like VRChat.
Despite substantial investments, including partnerships with major artists, Horizon Worlds faced criticism for technical shortcomings and a limited user base. The platform's struggles underscore the challenges in building a mass-market VR social experience, with experts noting that Meta attempted to solve a non-existent consumer problem.
