Meta isn’t closing down its VR metaverse after all — it’ll stay live in a limited capacity for ‘the foreseeable future’

• Meta's CTO says Horizon Worlds will live on in VR, for now
• You won't be able to make new worlds, but can enjoy existing games
• He says it will remain live in VR in this way for the "forseeable future"

It seems reports of Horizon Worlds' death were greatly exaggerated — Meta has announced it won’t be killing the VR version of its metaverse after all.

Earlier this week, Meta announced that it would be ending support for the VR version of Horizon Worlds and making it into a mobile-only app, sending out an email to all Quest users that they only had until June 15 to enjoy their favorite created worlds before they’d be gone forever.

Now, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has said they’ll be keeping the app live for VR users in a limited capacity after all. In response to someone saying they were “heartbroken” about the closure, Bosworth said in an Instagram AMA, “I have a little bit of good news here for you.”

“We have decided, just today in fact, that we will keep Horizon Worlds working in VR for existing games,” he revealed, though Bosworth added that new games won’t arrive in VR, and said that, for Meta, “most of our energy is going towards mobile” because “that’s where most of the consumer and creator energy already was.”

He ended the segment by explaining that this limited version of Horizon Worlds will be live for “the foreseeable future.”

Best of both (Horizon) Worlds

For me, even as someone who never liked Horizon Worlds, this is the ideal scenario.

As I outlined when the cancellation was announced, even if Horizon Worlds was never massively popular, there will be plenty of folks who have crafted their perfect VR worlds, or curated a list of their favorite VR games and hangout spots, who were now having that ripped away from them.

These users will still have access to all of that content now, though, thanks to this U-turn. Meanwhile, those of us who hated having Horizon Worlds shoved down our throats won’t be faced with Meta’s constant over-promotion in VR.

Though I wouldn’t be surprised if Horizon Worlds doesn’t survive even in mobile phone for much longer. Maybe my perception is wrong, but against mammoth titles (Roblox and Fortnite) with similar custom game design elements, is there space for Meta’s platform to win over a significant number of users?

I’m unconvinced, simply from the perspective that I never hear anyone talking about Horizon Worlds — this cancellation story is the most buzz it has had in years — meanwhile, I can’t escape references to Roblox or Fortnite in the gaming space, and I have never even touched Roblox; it’s just a gaming behemoth.

We’ll need to wait and see how Horizon Worlds develops, but at least for now, VR players will be able to cling onto their worlds for a little longer.

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