After spending billions to build Mark Zuckerberg's dream of a metaverse where everyone participates, Horizon Worlds is still not getting the attention the Meta CEO had hoped for. Likely an attempt to bring in more users, Meta decided to bring the online game platform to phones and PCs.
No Longer Limited to VR Headsets
It announced on Thursday that people will no longer need to buy their Quest VR headsets in order to virtually step into Horizon Worlds. Meta believes that "bringing Worlds to more surfaces is a step toward delivering on that vision and opening up the experience to more people."
In the company's blog post, they expressed that the best and most immersive way to access the metaverse is still through the Meta Quest VR headset, they believe that there should be more entry points for users, as reported by Gizmodo.
The first thing that mobile and PC users will see is the shooting game, Super Rumble. Meta intends to release more "worlds" for the platforms. "The metaverse should be available to everyone, no matter what device they're using," says the social media giant.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg did say that he planned to release the mobile version of Horizon Worlds months after its release. This could also just be the company's way to encourage users to buy its VR headsets after experiencing the game through boring screens first.
The company is also framing it as a way for people to avoid missing out on the experience as they call it "a great way to keep the FOMO at bay." Meta still has a lot to improve on the game, and not just adding legs to avatars.
It does not bode well for the company that its virtual reality division, Reality Labs, is losing money more than it's getting. Zuckerberg remains optimistic about the future of his VR vision, refusing to drop the project despite it not doing so well.
Reality Labs is Bleeding Billions
Meta CFO Susan Li says that they expect operating losses to increase "meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in AR, VR, and our investments to further scale our ecosystem."
Zuckerberg, believing that the idea would eventually take off, says that it is an "ambitious long-term horizon, multi-faceted roadmap." how long "long term" can be is anyone's guess, hopefully not before investors lose their patience.
During Meta's second-quarter earnings call for 2023, it was revealed that the company lost more than $3.7 billion. It generated $276 million in revenue, which is a 39% drop from the second quarter of the previous year, as reported by Coin Geek.
Meta is already set to release its Meta Quest 3 headset in the third quarter of 2023, and it has already released the code for its AI model, LLaMa. It also looks like Zuckerberg has a plan to add AI elements within the metaverse.
He says that the company has been working on both the metaverse and its AI model, adding that "in many ways, the two areas are overlapping and complementary." Hopefully, this will be enough for Meta to finally hit the one million user mark for Horizon Worlds.
