Meta's Disappointing 'Horizon Worlds' Commercial Contributes Insight into Meta's Estimated $70 Billion Metaverse Deficit
This year, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has labeled as a "pivotal" moment for the metaverse. Despite renaming the entire company after this concept, their flagship product, Horizon Worlds, paints a different picture. The service, which has reportedly lost nearly $70 billion over the past few years, shows little signs of improvement.
Consider this recent Horizon Worlds advertisement, featuring characters with at least added legs compared to its initial version, but falling significantly short of the large-scale transformations Mark Zuckerberg promised. The awkwardness of these virtual worlds is palpable, and the idea for a "Valentine-less support group" is hardly appealing.
Meta's CTO, Andrew Bosworth, acknowledged the challenges, suggesting that the company must "drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board, but especially in MR. And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long-term plans to have a chance."
But how can this possibly break out in any meaningful way, let alone on mobile devices? Even VR enthusiasts might prefer playing genuine video games instead of engaging with this type of content, which caters to a relatively small market to begin with. Meta's vision for a shared universe currently resembles PS2-era characters engaged in unfunny ads. That's right – browsing through more videos on the Horizon Worlds page reveals nothing but awkwardness, and even some misleading footages showcase avatars that appear better in the pre-rendered videos than in the actual in-world experience.
As Meta seems destined to shift its focus to AI, it's hard not to wonder why the company allowed this situation to escalate. AI may provide more promising results in the long term, despite its challenges.
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Enrichment Data:
Meta's Horizon Worlds platform faces multiple challenges and potential future directions based on recent performance and user feedback. Here is a summary of the key points:
Challenges
- User Retention and Engagement: Meta needs to improve sales, user retention, and engagement, especially in mixed reality with products like Quest visors and Horizon Worlds.
- Developer Satisfaction: Some VR developers are concerned that Meta's focus on social VR experiences might limit broader VR development, favoring younger audiences over the industry.
- Technological Challenges: There are still deep technological hurdles to overcome, which could hinder widespread adoption.
Future Directions
- Enhancing Developer Tools: Meta is upgrading its tools for developers with Meta Spatial SDK, making it easier to build for Quest devices.
- Expanding User Base: Meta is focusing on younger audiences, who are used to interacting in game worlds, by expanding ways to build and monetize in Horizon Worlds.
- Operational Efficiency: Meta is using small, agile teams that perform better than structured groups to improve operational efficiency and foster innovation.
- Content Relevance: Meta is actively listening to user feedback and making changes, seeking to improve the user experience of the Horizon mobile app and deliver more relevant content to a diverse range of customers.
- Mixed Reality Advancements: Horizon Worlds on mobile must break through to secure the future of the ecosystem. Meta is focused on making improvements to achieve this goal.
- Despite Meta's efforts to innovate in the gaming industry with its metaverse project, the flagship product, Horizon Worlds, has struggled to retain users and engagement, reportedly leading to significant financial losses.
- In an effort to improve Horizon Worlds on mobile, Meta's CTO has emphasized the need to drive sales, retention, and engagement, recognizing the challenges in the virtual reality gaming market and the relevance of Horizon Worlds to their long-term plans.
- With the metaverse and Horizon Worlds facing numerous challenges, Meta is exploring potential future directions, including enhancing developer tools, expanding the user base, and improving operational efficiency, to foster innovation and create a more engaging virtual reality gaming experience.
