Meta is now targeting mobile users first with Metaverse | Infinium-tech

Remember when Facebook rebranded Meta in 2021? The move was largely related to the company’s internal confidence in the future of VR technology. As a part of that, Meta envisioned Horizon Worlds, which would be the main medium of communication between people in the future. At this point, it seems pretty clear that the VR craze is over or close to it.

The mobile-first strategy is now at the forefront, with Horizon Worlds shifting gears to be “almost exclusively mobile,” according to a recent interview with Samantha Ryan, Meta’s vice president of content at Reality Labs.

As part of the change, Meta is splitting the Horizon Worlds and Quest VR platforms into two separate products. On the Quest or VR side of things, there will be more of a focus on third-party developers and content rather than first-party worlds. In fact, individual Horizon Worlds destinations are being removed from the VR Store and the Worlds section is disappearing from the Quest home screen.

On the Horizon side of things, the focus is shifting almost entirely to mobile. Apparently, in 2025, the mobile-only world will grow from zero to 2,000, and the number of monthly users will more than quadruple. As part of the change, Meta is introducing and expanding the availability of new tools like Meta Horizon Studio and Meta Horizon Engine for a better and more engaging mobile world. Of course, there are also new monetization tools, like Featured Bundles and Season Passes.

Will the meta be able to keep up with giants like Roblox and Fortnite? only time will tell. But in any case, the restructuring, while sensible, is not all good as the company’s Reality Labs division recently laid off about 10% of its workforce.

Source | through