Meta abandons the social VR platform Horizon Worlds and is redirecting its strategy towards artificial intelligence.

Meta Platforms has announced the closure of the virtual reality social platform Horizon Worlds, marking a significant withdrawal from its metaverse ambitions. The app will be removed from the Quest store at the end of March, and the VR version will be completely shut down on June 15, continuing to exist only as an independent mobile app.

Launched in 2021, Horizon Worlds allowed users to interact through avatars in a 3D virtual space, but it failed to attract a large audience, having only a few hundred thousand active users monthly. Meta has invested heavily in the metaverse, but the Reality Labs division has recorded billions in losses, prompting the company to change its strategic direction, focusing more on artificial intelligence development.

Recently, Meta restructured the Reality Labs division, laying off over 1,000 employees. The decision to close Horizon Worlds contradicts the vision announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2021, when the company was renamed from Facebook to Meta to emphasize the transition to the metaverse.