MetaAnnounceMeta will officially end its support for Horizon Worlds, the metaverse platform for the Quest virtual reality headset, on June 15th of this year. This product, once considered a core vision by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will be transformed into a "mobile-only" application. This decision not only marks Meta's retreat from its expensive VR hardware strategy but also reflects the social media giant's shift of resources towards new battlegrounds such as AI and smart glasses.
Discontinuation schedule: From store removal to complete deletion
According to the timeline announced by Meta on its official community forums, this "VR retreat" will be implemented in phases:
• Starting March 24th:The social collaboration component of the Hyperscape Capture feature will be removed. This beta feature originally allowed Quest users to scan real-world 3D scenes and share them with others for collaborative experiences. Users will still be able to scan, capture, and view Hyperscapes, but the "share, invite, and multiplayer experience" functionality will no longer be supported.
• Starting March 31th:The Quest Store will no longer list individual creator-created Horizon Worlds and official events. Users will no longer be able to access several official and popular virtual locations, including "Horizon Central," "Events Arena," "Kaiju," and "Bobber Bay," through Quest headsets.
• After June 15th:The Horizon Worlds app will be completely removed from all Quest headsets. Users will then be unable to connect to the platform via VR headsets and will only be able to continue the experience on a 2D screen through the Meta Horizon mobile app for iOS/Android.
From a "Metaverse Company" to an "AI-First" Strategic Shift
In its official statement, Meta said that separating the Quest VR platform from the Worlds platform was to "allow both products to grow better." The company emphasized, "By separating them into independent platforms, we will be able to focus more clearly on their respective development."
However, this explanation cannot mask the long-standing pressure of losses within the Reality Labs division. Since Mark Zuckberg renamed Facebook Meta in 2021, Reality Labs, responsible for the virtual worlds business, has suffered huge operating losses for several consecutive years. Meanwhile, the tech industry's focus has rapidly shifted to generative AI, forcing Meta to reallocate resources.
In January of this year, Reality Labs laid off approximately 1000 jobs and closed several VR game and content studios. In an internal letter, Andrew Bosworth, head and chief technology officer of Reality Labs, stated that the company's future focus will shift from "fully immersive virtual worlds" driven by head-mounted devices to "mobile experiences" mediated by smartphones.
The mobile version's "positive momentum" is key, while the VR version has consistently failed to shake off its negative image.
Meta acknowledged that the key to this decision was demonstrating "real positive momentum" for the mobile version of Horizon Worlds by 2025. In contrast, the VR version, launched in 2020 under the name "Facebook Horizon," has consistently failed to shake off its negative public image.
The most classic example is Mark Zuckberg's widely ridiculed virtual selfie posted in 2022—although the image does not represent the platform's true state at all, it still circulates on social media and remains a persistent negative label for Horizon Worlds.
Hyperscape's social features were also canceled, marking the end of the collaborative experience.
With the termination of the VR version, many social functions that rely on the headset will also disappear.
The Hyperscape Capture feature originally allowed Quest headset users to scan real-world scenes and invite friends to experience them together as virtual avatars. However, Meta confirmed that after June 15th, while users can still capture and view Hyperscapes, the social features of "sharing, inviting, and multiplayer experiences" will no longer be supported. This means Hyperscape will degenerate from a "social collaboration tool" into a "personal viewing tool."
Analysis: From "Fully Immersive" to "Readily Available," Meta's Pragmatic Retreat
The discontinuation of the Horizon Worlds VR version by Meta has strategic significance far beyond simply "discontinuing a product." It signifies the company's redefinition of the concept of the "metaverse."
First, VR headsets remain a niche market, with global sales struggling to compete with smartphones. Instead of continuing to burn money on an immature hardware platform, it would be better to convert Horizon Worlds into a mobile app, making it easily accessible to billions of smartphone users. As Andrew Bosworth stated, "You have a team that has already found a market fit on mobile, but they have to develop two systems for two platforms—letting them focus on mobile is the simplest way to improve efficiency."
Secondly, this reflects Meta's strategic heavy bet on AI and smart glasses. Mark Zuckberg's recent public appearances and funding allocations have clearly indicated that AI has replaced VR as the company's "top priority." Meta plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in expanding its data centers over the next few years, aiming to surpass OpenAI, Google, and xAI in the AI race. Meanwhile, the initial success of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses has shown the company the future potential of "AI combined with wearable devices," which is closer to the mass market than expensive and isolated VR headsets.
Furthermore, the late arrival of the "creation tools" was Horizon Worlds' fatal flaw. Horizon Worlds initially emphasized "creating VR within VR," requiring users to wear VR headsets and build worlds brick by brick with controllers. This approach resulted in rough graphics and an extremely high barrier to entry, becoming a major source of ridicule on social media. It wasn't until 2023 that Meta launched PC-based creation tools, allowing creators to import 3D models and program using TypeScript.
Finally, this doesn't mean Meta is abandoning VR, but rather redefining VR's role. In its statement, Meta emphasized that the company "remains the largest single investor in the VR industry" because they "believe VR is a key technology for moving towards the next computing platform." Future VR headsets may focus more on specific scenarios such as gaming, fitness, and remote work, rather than encompassing a vast "meta-universe."
