All articles tagged with #horizon worlds
Meta has reversed an earlier plan to retire Horizon Worlds on VR, announcing that it will keep VR support for existing Horizon Worlds games and the Unity runtime, while not funding new VR Horizon Worlds titles and continuing its pivot toward mobile, AR, and AI amid Reality Labs losses and declining Quest headset sales.
Meta has reversed its plan to shut down Horizon Worlds in VR, saying it will keep the Horizon Worlds VR app running for the foreseeable future to support existing games, while continuing to invest in two more generations of VR headsets and broadly framing the metaverse beyond VR.
Creative Bloq argues Meta’s 2021 pivot to the metaverse and rebrand has backfired, with Horizon Worlds being shut down and Realty Labs layoffs signaling a retreat from the plan, underscoring how hindsight paints the branding as misguided amid a fading of the metaverse vision.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth announced in an Instagram AMA that Horizon Worlds will continue to support VR, but only for experiences that already work in VR; new games will be mobile-only, with the majority of Reality Labs’ focus shifting to mobile and AR investments after layoffs, marking a partial retreat from first‑party VR while keeping Horizon Worlds alive in VR.
Meta will shut Horizon Worlds’ VR experience on Quest headsets by June 15, 2026 (apps and events vanish from Quest by March 31), transitioning the platform to mobile-only. Purchases and user-created items stay tied to your account but will only work in mobile-optimized worlds, with VR-building ending after June 15. Meta says the move is part of a broader shift from VR-first development to AI and hardware, focusing on third-party developers and enhancing Quest features rather than exiting VR altogether.
Meta says Horizon Worlds will become a mobile-only experience, removing it from the Quest Store on March 31; users who already have the app can continue to use it until June 15, after which Horizon Worlds on Quest will be sunsetted and limited to a mobile experience (with the legs feature accessible on mobile).
Meta’s 2026 update says Horizon Worlds will be almost exclusively mobile and separated from Quest, with individual worlds removed from the Quest store and the Horizon world catalog split across platforms. VR focus shifts to third‑party developers and ecosystem support rather than first‑party blockbusters, while Quest’s Navigator UI becomes the default and the Horizon Feed is phased out, signaling distinct mobile and VR directions and a continued headset roadmap.
Meta says Horizon Worlds will shift to an almost entirely mobile platform, explicitly separating its Quest VR stack from Worlds and refocusing on mobile, synchronous social games to compete with Roblox and Fortnite, while continuing to support third‑party VR apps and maintain a roadmap for future headsets.
Meta is gradually merging Horizon Worlds into the Quest system interface, with Horizon destinations being prominently featured in the Quest's Explore tab and the renaming of Explore to 'Horizon Feed'. The merging process includes unifying the text chat systems and integrating Horizon Worlds into the Quest library. The next step could involve deprecating Horizon Home and having Horizon Worlds as the default home environment. Meta's investment in Horizon Worlds is evident, despite potential challenges and criticisms from competitors.
Meta is rolling out its text chat feature, called "world chat," to all users of Horizon Worlds. The feature allows users to communicate with others within the virtual reality experience without using their voice. Quick replies are also available to make messaging easier. While it is unclear if the feature is exclusive to the VR version or available on mobile and web versions, Meta has been improving Horizon Worlds with features like world chat to enhance the social experience.
Meta's Horizon Worlds 3D social platform is expanding its availability to web and mobile, offering a more convenient experience compared to VR. While the platform currently lacks the breadth of worlds found in Roblox or Fortnite, it shows potential as a social network for 3D spaces. Accessing Horizon Worlds on web and mobile is faster, with the game Super Rumble being the only available option. Performance on iOS devices has been inconsistent, but overall, the experience is more accessible and less of a hassle. Meta plans to add more worlds in the future, potentially addressing the current lack of content.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is expanding its 3D social platform, Horizon Worlds, beyond virtual reality (VR) and making it available on mobile and the web in early access. Initially, users will only be able to play Super Rumble, but more worlds will be rolled out in the coming months. Meta aims to make the metaverse accessible to everyone, regardless of the device they use, and sees this expansion as a step towards that vision. The company had previously discussed the mobile and web versions of Horizon Worlds and will likely provide more details at its Connect conference later this month.
Meta is rolling out a beta test for adding legs to Quest Avatars in Quest Home, but not yet in Horizon Worlds. Beta users can currently only see their legs in an in-game mirror, and the avatars do not crouch when the user does so. The beta also includes updated menus with hand tracking capabilities and code references to new settings. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously announced that legs were the most requested feature, and more leg news may be revealed at the upcoming Meta Connect event on September 27th.
Meta is revamping its Horizon Worlds virtual reality app in an effort to attract more users by incorporating more video games. The company has established an in-house studio called Ouro Interactive to develop first-party VR games, with their debut game, Super Rumble, already released. Meta plans to test the game when it launches a mobile version of Horizon Worlds. The company has also improved the platform's infrastructure to support higher-quality and more complex games and provide better tools for third-party developers. The move comes as Meta's Reality Labs unit continues to face significant losses, highlighting the challenges of developing VR and AR technologies. Horizon Worlds has struggled to gain a large audience, with less than 200,000 monthly active users reported.
Meta has announced that creators using its Horizon Worlds social VR playscape will no longer be able to make dedicated events, a feature that has been shut down as part of the platform's v109 update notes. The change will make things even more challenging for creators who are investing in Meta's metaverse vision. Meta is positioning the change as the shutdown of a feature that doesn't meet its standards, but some creators hoped would someday see improvements.