Meta Platforms will end support for the Horizon Worlds virtual reality metaverse on Meta Quest headsets on June 15, shifting the platform to a mobile-only experience, the company said in a blog post. After that date, users will no longer be able to build, publish, update, or access Horizon Worlds through Quest headsets.
Horizon Worlds launched in late 2021 as a VR-first multiplayer platform where users created and shared virtual environments and games and interacted as avatars. Meta began experimenting with a mobile version in 2025, and Samantha Ryan, vice president of content at Reality Labs, said in February the company would be “shifting the focus of Worlds to be almost exclusively mobile.”
Competitors such as Fortnite and Roblox operate across PC, console and mobile. Fortnite has not officially launched a VR version, while Roblox introduced a VR app in July 2023 though not all content is VR-compatible. Those multi-platform presences stand in contrast to Meta’s original vision of immersive headset-based worlds.
The move is part of a broader retrenchment for Meta’s metaverse efforts. Reality Labs reported a record $6 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2025, bringing cumulative losses since 2020 to nearly $80 billion. In January, Meta cut about 1,000 Reality Labs jobs and closed some VR game and content studios. Reality Labs CTO Andrew Bosworth said the division would prioritize mobile experiences over fully immersive headset worlds.
Meta’s pivot comes amid other financial and staffing pressures. Meta shares rose about 3% after a Reuters report claimed the company was planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce to offset investments in AI infrastructure and augmented-reality wearables; Meta called the report “speculative.” The industry trend of trimming staff to focus on AI has been seen at other tech firms as well.
The broader blockchain-based metaverse has also faded. Tokens tied to major metaverse projects—Axie Infinity (AXS), The Sandbox (SAND) and Decentraland (MANA)—have plunged roughly 98%–99% from their November 2021 all-time highs, CoinGecko data show.
Cointelegraph notes this article follows its Editorial Policy and encourages readers to verify information independently. For the original Meta announcement, see Meta’s community blog.