Meta is formally sectioning off Horizon Worlds, the closest factor it has to a metaverse, from its Quest VR platform, in line with a brand new weblog put up from Samantha Ryan, Meta’s VP of Content material, Actuality Labs. Whereas the choice runs counter to Meta’s authentic plan to personal an immersive digital world that would function the long run dwelling for all on-line interplay, it suits with the current cuts it made to its pricey Actuality Labs division, and Mark Zuckerberg’s public dedication to focus the corporate on AI {hardware} like good glasses going ahead.
“We’re explicitly separating our Quest VR platform from our Worlds platform in an effort to create more room for each merchandise to develop,” Ryan writes within the weblog put up. “We’re doubling down on the VR developer ecosystem whereas shifting the main target of Worlds to be virtually completely cell. By breaking issues down into two distinct platforms, we’ll be higher in a position to clearly deal with every.”
Meta has been creating cell and net variations of Horizon Worlds in parallel with its VR app since no less than 2023. Switching Worlds to being a mobile-first software program platform is not good for VR diehards, nevertheless it does make it a extra pure competitor to one thing like Roblox or Fortnite, which additionally provide user-created and monetizable worlds and video games. It is also a enterprise Meta believes it might extra simply scale due to its capacity to attach video games to “billions of individuals on the world’s largest social networks.”
Whereas Meta shuttered a number of of its personal VR sport studios earlier this 12 months, it nonetheless desires to assist third-party builders publishing video games on its platform. The corporate says new monetization instruments, higher discoverability, a “Offers” tab and extra methods for builders to speak to their prospects ought to assist make a distinction. Sustaining the Quest’s library of video games may be crucial going ahead. Enterprise Insider reported in December 2025 that Meta was engaged on a gaming-focused Quest headset, and Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth confirmed earlier this February that the corporate nonetheless had a number of Quest gadgets on its roadmap.
