Meta is shutting down VR social platform Horizon Worlds in further pivot away from the metaverse

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/meta-horizon-worlds-metaverse-vr.html

191 points · 42 comments · view on lemmy.world

42 Comments

jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 87 pts · 187d (19 replies)
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etchinghillside@reddthat.com · 28 pts · 187d (14 replies)

We taking bets on the next rebrand name?

breezeblock@lemmy.ca · 21 pts · 187d

AI

jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 20 pts · 187d (3 replies)
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brsrklf@jlai.lu · 4 pts · 186d (2 replies)

Since there is still nothing actually worth calling "metaverse" as the sci-fi concept it was promised to be, they might go for something around AGI.

jaennaet@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 186d (1 reply)
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brsrklf@jlai.lu · 4 pts · 186d

Oh great, because billionaires shitting on Tolkien wasn't enough.

MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 187d

I'm going to guess they'll keep it and justify it as "metadata". Like the metadata of it's users that it sells

klu9@piefed.social · 11 pts · 187d

Nothing But Bots ™️

kat_angstrom@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 186d

It was "Meta", but now they're going all-in on AI, so they'll probably want to go "MetAI" except that it's lame and so are all the other various portmanteaus, so they'll pivot to something inexplicable and wild like "Everything" or "AllAI"

JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 187d

AI

I can call you Meta, and Meta you can call me AI. Call me AI.

Rekall_Incorporated@piefed.social · 4 pts · 187d (1 reply)

Dead Internet Company

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 184d

It's not dead. I have elderly relatives who still use it.

XLE@piefed.social · 3 pts · 186d
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phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 184d (1 reply)

Meatverse?

etchinghillside@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 183d

Slathered in sweet baby rays bbq sauce.

deacon@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 187d (3 replies)

It’s like tattooing your new girlfriend’s name on your ass.

YaksDC@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 187d (1 reply)

More like tattooing that name on your face.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 184d

More like tattooing her ass on your face, and everyone in the bar nodding and saying "Been there, won't be going back."

fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 186d

"Hi im 's boyfriend. No no that is my legal name." Behavoir

Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz · 34 pts · 187d (1 reply)

How do you spend billions of dollars and not produce any content anyone wants? What were those thousands of man-hours spent doing?

veeesix@lemmy.ca · 19 pts · 187d

✊💦

YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca · 34 pts · 187d (2 replies)

Any half decent company would fire its CEO after that disaster.

ZombieCyborgFromOuterSpace@piefed.ca · 21 pts · 187d (1 reply)

That would be up to the shareholders. But Zuck holds the majority.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 184d

So he could fire himself if he were more rational.

inari@piefed.zip · 25 pts · 187d

I'm sure the 6 Metaverse users are very disappointed right now 

k0e3@lemmy.ca · 24 pts · 186d (5 replies)

Truly a sad day for no one in particular.

Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 186d (1 reply)

It'll be a sad day for the people who lose their jobs because some idiot wasted colossal amounts of money on a delusional dream. Then again it was their choice to work for one of the most evil companies on the planet, so I don't really pity them.

MyVeryRealName@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 179d

Tbf they wouldn't have even got their jobs if it weren't for the delusional dream

leoj@piefed.zip · 2 pts · 186d (2 replies)

Honestly I'm a little sad, and its stupid... But I wanted to share.

I have never once set... foot? inside the metaverse, but I always envisioned it ending up like the Oasis from Ready Player One (great book).

I think the concept of VR could have such crazy legs if they just get the treadmill/walking situation fully ironed out, and at a reasonable price point.

LiveLM@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 186d

Just because Meta killed their attempt it doesn't mean the concept of the Metaverse is dead.
VRChat is the best actualized version of the concept we have and it has been going strong before, during and after this entire bullshit with Facebook.

k0e3@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 186d

I don't think that's stupid at all.

I think the metaverse would be cool too, but I think it needs to be made by enthusiasts and not heartless corporations. Or crypto scammers. So while I don't care that Meta's shitty attempt is gone, I'm still looking forward to something cooler in the future.

People hang out in video games anyway, so hanging out in the metaverse isn't that farfetched imo.

manxu@piefed.social · 19 pts · 187d (4 replies)

Is that where my friend wanted me to buy "real estate" a few years ago? He said he had gotten $200,000 invested and was going to retire once he sold... I suppose we are back to the original plan now, "Chick-Fil-A Chef Until 75"

brsrklf@jlai.lu · 2 pts · 186d (2 replies)

Unless it's a part of meta horizons I didn't know about (which is very possible, I interacted about 3 minutes with it), that particular metaverse might have been some crypto/NFT bullshit rather.

This sounds like something à la "decentraland" a.k.a cryptobros trying to sell plots in a terrible empty virtual world because some day it'll sell for bazillions dollars, trust us.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 184d (1 reply)

sounds like something à la “decentraland” a.k.a cryptobros trying to sell plots in a terrible empty virtual world

Yeah, that makes even NFTs look like a sound investment.

brsrklf@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 183d

Well. the plots are NFTs, so it's just a subset of it really.

Part of the so-called "web3" bullshit, the crypto people's wet dream of a unified metaverse where every shitty asset is a financial investment and video games are not fun unless they're grindy AI slop with a promised RoI.

SkyezOpen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 186d

Wait you actually know someone that fell for that? That's nuts. I know they planned to monetize digital real estate before the metaverse even existed but I didn't realize it actually happened.

Jankatarch@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 187d

All "AI-first" companies will do this too in 2 years.

radiouser@crazypeople.online · 13 pts · 187d (3 replies)

How much money was wasted on this pointless endeavour?

dgriffith@aussie.zone · 20 pts · 187d (2 replies)

Oh, you know, only about 80 billion.

Could have given 10 bucks to everyone on earth, would've had more impact.

Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 186d (1 reply)

What are you, some kind of communist? Next thing you're going to say the government should spend its money on healthcare instead of bombing schoolgirls. Preposterous!

dgriffith@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 186d

laughs in country with public healthcare

Yeah you guys should really sort that out.

Kissaki@feddit.org · 10 pts · 186d (1 reply)

Meta is backtracking on its plans to shut down the VR version of its metaverse. The company now plans to support Horizon Worlds in VR for the "foreseeable future," though users shouldn't expect new games, CTO Andrew Bosworth said in an update.

unknown1234_5@kbin.earth · 6 pts · 186d

glad they're finally realizing the metaverse is bullshit. the term came from early cyberpunk (genre, not franchise) media to describe the internet as we know it before it was invented and properly named.

Satomune@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 186d
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phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 184d

No do the same with the unwanted AI shit.