Metaverse Flop: Meta Ends Horizon Worlds After $80 Billion Loss

Social media giant Meta, which used to be Facebook, has announced it's shutting down its ambitious 'Horizon Worlds' metaverse platform. Back in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook's name to 'Meta' and promised to change the world with this digital universe. Everyone thought it was the next big thing in tech. But now, after losing a staggering $80 billion (that's about ₹6.7 lakh crore) in just five years, the company is pulling the plug.

VR Platform to Shut Down Completely in June 2026

Meta has officially announced that the Horizon Worlds platform for Virtual Reality (VR) devices will be completely shut down on June 15, 2026. The app will be removed from the 'Quest Store' by the end of this March. However, it looks like the mobile version of the app will continue to work. The bad news for users is that they will lose all their saved digital assets and avatar credits.

Also read: Apple CEO Tim Cook Urges Users to Put Down iPhones and Spend Time Outdoors

Why Did the Metaverse Fail?

For starters, the number of users on the metaverse platform was way lower than what Meta expected. They hoped to attract millions, but only a few lakh people were using it each month. Users complained that the platform felt empty and boring. They also said there were not enough interesting things to do and the platform was full of technical glitches.

Were Internal Problems the Real Reason?

Former employees from Meta's Reality Labs division are blaming bad management decisions for this failure. They claim the company ignored feedback from users and developers. Instead, it focused on features that nobody really wanted, leading to this massive flop. Meta has already fired thousands of employees from its Reality Labs team.

Zuckerberg Turns to AI and Smart Glasses

Even though the metaverse project was a setback, Meta is now shifting its focus to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart glasses. Their 'Ray-Ban Meta' smart glasses, in particular, are selling in the millions across the world. It seems Mark Zuckerberg now plans to invest more in technology for the real world, instead of the virtual one.

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