Meta will shut down key metaverse products for VR headsets

As the core carrier of the Meta metaverse vision, Horizon Worlds has been highly anticipated since its launch. Its original intention is to create an immersive virtual space that can accommodate multi-user interaction and creation. Users can engage in social, gaming, content creation and other activities through virtual images, and even obtain virtual touch feedback through controllers. At the same time, it is equipped with personal boundary functions to ensure user experience security. Initially, it supported VR headsets such as Oculus Rift (S) and Meta Quest2, as well as mobile devices and web browsers for multi terminal access. The shutdown of the VR headset version this time is not a complete abandonment of the platform, but a significant adjustment to its form, shifting the focus to mobile experience. This is Meta's rational response to the practical difficulties of the metaverse business.

In fact, Meta's strategic contraction has already begun to show signs. The Reality Labs department, responsible for VR headsets and metaverse related businesses, has accumulated losses of over $70 billion in the past four years. Although there have been breakthroughs in VR technology, it has not been widely recognized by consumers. The monthly active users of Horizon Worlds have never exceeded hundreds of thousands, far less than the user base of popular virtual platforms such as Roblox, and the commercialization prospects are still unclear. At the same time, the overall performance of the VR headset market is weak, while the mobile gaming market continues to grow. Meta's shift towards mobile devices has become a natural choice. The company is actively recruiting developers from platforms such as Roblox, drawing on their successful models to create lightweight creative gaming experiences suitable for young people, and plans to make it easier for Facebook and Instagram users to access the Horizon Worlds mobile version.

The shutdown of Horizon Worlds VR headsets is an important signal of Meta's overall strategic shift. In recent years, Meta has gradually reduced its resource investment in the metaverse business, shifting the funds saved from layoffs and budget cuts towards wearable devices such as AR glasses and artificial intelligence. The AR glasses launched in collaboration with Ray Ban unexpectedly became popular, not only with built-in AI assistant supporting voice interaction, but also consistently exceeding internal targets in sales. In the first half of this year, it won 73% of the market share, with a year-on-year increase of over 200% in shipments, becoming the company's new growth engine. Previously, the Reality Labs department had cut about 1000 positions, and a large amount of resources were shifting from virtual reality games to the AI and wearable device fields. Meta even poached top talents from companies such as Apple and Google to increase its AI hardware layout.

Industry insiders believe that Meta's decision to shut down the Horizon Worlds VR headset is not only a practical response to the continuous losses of the metaverse business, but also a strategic choice to seek new growth poles in the AI wave. At present, the metaverse industry still faces multiple challenges such as insufficient technological maturity, lack of user interest, and unclear commercialization paths. The innovation boom of AI hardware has become a new trend in the technology industry, and many tech giants have stepped up their layout of AI glasses, AI phones, and other products, leading to increasingly fierce market competition. Meta's adjustment this time is not to abandon its long-term vision of the metaverse, but to transform it from a high-end VR social platform to a mobile lightweight product that is closer to the public, achieving optimized resource allocation.