Meta Shifts Horizon Worlds to Mobile as VR Strategy Evolves

Synopsis

• Meta is refocusing Horizon Worlds away from VR headsets and toward a predominantly mobile experience.

• Reality Labs, which has lost nearly $80 billion since 2020, is betting on mobile to unlock broader market growth.

• The pivot positions Horizon Worlds against established mobile platforms like Roblox and Fortnite.

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Meta is redefining what the metaverse means inside its own walls — and it increasingly looks less like a futuristic headset experience and more like an app on a smartphone.

According to a report by Business Insider, the company is redirecting Horizon Worlds, once promoted as an immersive social universe built for Quest virtual reality headsets, toward an almost entirely mobile-first future. The strategic adjustment was outlined in a company blog post published Thursday, signaling a notable recalibration of Meta’s long-running VR ambitions.

Horizon Worlds sits within Meta’s Reality Labs division, the unit responsible for virtual reality products and smart glasses. Since 2020, Reality Labs has accumulated nearly $80 billion in losses, underscoring the financial weight behind Meta’s metaverse investment.

Samantha Ryan, vice president of content at Reality Labs, wrote in the company’s blog post that Meta began experimenting with Worlds as a mobile platform last year and observed encouraging traction. To access a much larger addressable audience and materially shift growth prospects, she said, the company is now committing fully to mobile.

The shift highlights how sharply Meta has redrawn its metaverse blueprint. Just last month, the company reduced its Reality Labs workforce by roughly 10%, shuttered three VR gaming studios it owned, and halted new content releases for Supernatural, the VR fitness app it acquired in 2023.

Even so, Meta maintains that it remains committed to VR hardware and to supporting third-party developers building for its ecosystem. Ryan wrote that the company is “in it for the long haul,” pointing to what she described as a robust roadmap of future VR headsets designed for different audience segments.

Meta invested nearly $150 million in VR developer platforms in 2025, Ryan noted. She added that titles such as “The Thrill of the Fight 2,” “Hard Bullet,” and “UG” have generated millions in revenue, demonstrating ongoing engagement within the headset market.

Still, internal usage patterns reveal a telling trend. Ryan stated that 86% of time spent in Meta’s headsets goes to third-party applications rather than Meta’s own offerings. By repositioning Horizon Worlds for mobile, the company is effectively placing it in direct competition with entrenched mobile gaming ecosystems such as Roblox and Fortnite, platforms that cater primarily to casual mobile players rather than dedicated VR headset users.

On Meta’s most recent earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Horizon as a natural hub for immersive 3D experiences, including AI-generated scenes, objects, and mini environments. Instead of requiring a headset, users could generate content via prompts and distribute it seamlessly across Instagram, Facebook, or Threads, he suggested — extending immersive creation into Meta’s broader social network infrastructure.

As Business Insider reports, the evolution marks a pragmatic turn. After years of championing hardware-driven immersion, Meta appears to be pursuing scale through the device already in billions of hands: the smartphone.

About Meta Platforms, Inc.

Meta Platforms, Inc. is a global technology company focused on building social connection and immersive digital experiences. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Meta operates major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, serving billions of users worldwide. Through its Reality Labs division, the company develops virtual reality headsets under the Quest brand, smart glasses, and augmented reality technologies aimed at shaping the next generation of computing. Meta has invested heavily in artificial intelligence, immersive 3D environments, and digital creator tools designed to expand how people communicate and interact online. Reality Labs, launched to spearhead its metaverse vision, has absorbed significant capital investment since 2020 as Meta continues developing VR hardware, software ecosystems, and developer platforms. Under CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership, the company is balancing long-term immersive ambitions with evolving strategies centered on mobile, AI integration, and cross-platform social distribution.

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