Meta Will Keep Horizon Worlds Alive in VR ‘for the Foreseeable Future’
One day later Meta announced the closure of Horizon Worlds VR, the company’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, announced that it was reversing course.
“I have a little good news for you here,” Bosworth said in an AMA video on Instagram. “We decided today that we will continue to make Horizon Worlds work in VR for existing games, to support the fans who have reached out to us.”
Meta initially sent an email to Horizon Worlds users on Tuesday, announcing that it would end Horizon Worlds in VR on June 15 but would keep the platform afloat on mobile. The move came after Meta announced in February that it was withdrawing investment from its Metaverse and VR efforts and laying off 10% of employees at its VR division, Reality Labs.
Meta’s reversal is somewhat of a surprise, although Bosworth says it was in response to fans reaching out to him. When asked to comment on Bosworth’s announcement, Meta pointed to his Instagram video but added that there would still be new features on the horizon, like virtual concerts.
“The immersive 3D and 2D concerts are still accessible on Quest through the TV app found in the Quest Store,” a Meta representative wrote in an email. “We will have new concerts coming as part of our larger content slate.”
Users won’t be able to create new spaces in Horizon Worlds, but the Meta rep says “existing user-created worlds are included.” WIRED asked when users would no longer be able to create new worlds, but Meta has yet to provide a date.
Bosworth and Meta have stated that there will be no new games or major investments in Horizon World. Meta made a similar decision in January with its fitness service Supernatural, ending future updates while keeping the service operational. He says most of Horizon Worlds’ consumers and creators’ energy was shifting toward mobile, hence the choice to lean into it.
“For people who already have games that they love and use in Horizon Worlds, you will be able to download the Horizon Worlds app and use it in VR for the foreseeable future,” Bosworth said in the video.
It’s unclear exactly what that future will look like. Meta clearly doesn’t get as much out of the service as it puts into it, so the pressure to cut costs isn’t going away.
“I wonder how long this will last,” says Jitesh Ubrani, research director at analyst group IDC. “‘Predictable Characteristic’ doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement that this is going to stay forever.”
