- Meta has just announced that Horizon Worlds VR will shut down on June 15th
- The platform will still be live for mobile users
- Fans have mixed feelings about the announcement
Meta’s VR scaling is entering phase two as the company has revealed its timeline for the full closure of its Meta Horizon Worlds metaverse. At least the VR version of it.
In an email sent to Meta account holders — this writer included — Meta revealed that starting June 15, 2026, we will no longer be able to build, publish, or update VR worlds. What’s more, we won’t be able to access Meta Horizon Worlds using VR headsets; instead, the rooms will be exclusive to the Meta Horizon mobile app.
That is, provided they are optimized for mobile.
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What’s more, as of March 31, Horizon Worlds and Events will no longer appear in the Quest Store, and Horizon Central, Events Arena, Kaiju, and Bobber Bay will no longer be available in VR.
On the one hand, this move is being cheered by many VR fans. Horizon Worlds has never been overly popular, and its increasing prominence in Meta Quest feeds – pushing out third-party software many would rather see – has been a major point of criticism among many.
As one Reddit user put it during a post about the announcement, “So that means those world things won’t be mixed in with my games anymore? I see that as a win.” They are far from the only person with that mentality.
Good? Maybe not
At the same time, I can’t help but agree with others who share this positivity but feel a twinge of sadness, with comments like “I’m glad it’s gone, but I’m worried about what it means for Quest and VR as a whole” summing up that feeling nicely.
For starters, this is a major VR shutdown. While Horizon Worlds might not have been the most popular, it was a big platform from arguably the most important company in the space: Meta – as its headsets make up the vast majority of those in the hands of VR users.
This is therefore a serious reversal of its VR approach, and while Meta has said it is still dedicated to the medium, it feels like the end of an era.
I also feel bad for this title’s loyal base, people who would have spent hours crafting their perfect VR hangout and now have lost that work as exploration on mobile just won’t be the same.
Maybe there are only dozens of these people, but if your favorite VR software just shut down, you’d be sad – even though I’m not a fan, there will be plenty of people out there who loved Meta Horizon Worlds and seriously don’t want to see it go.
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