Meta shifts Horizon Worlds focus from VR to mobile

Meta is refocusing Horizon Worlds from a virtual-reality hangout on Quest headsets to an app built almost exclusively for mobile. Samantha Ryan, Meta’s vice president of content at Reality Labs, said experiments with a mobile version last year showed “positive momentum,” and the company is now “going all-in on mobile.” Reality Labs has lost nearly $80 billion since 2020.

The change marks a major pullback in Meta’s VR ambitions. Last month the company cut roughly 10% of Reality Labs staff, closed three VR gaming studios, and stopped releasing new content for the Supernatural fitness app it had acquired in 2023. Meta says it remains committed to VR hardware and supporting third-party developers.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” Ryan wrote, pointing to a roadmap of future headsets. The company invested nearly $150 million in VR developer platforms in 2025, and popular titles such as "The Thrill of the Fight 2," "Hard Bullet," and "UG" have earned “millions.” Still, 86% of time spent in Meta’s headsets is in third-party apps.

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