Meta, previously known as Facebook has pushed towards their Metaverse project, claiming it to be a future where we can interact within a virtual space , despite recently partnering with Zoom to help coordinate virtual meetings, and many updates attempting to make Horizon Worlds better in both the means at which content creators can develop content within Horizon Worlds and the ways Horizon Worlds can be beneficial for potential businesses, the metaverse is still struggling, with many possible reasons behind it, even within Meta itself, with employees being told in a recent memo that they should attempt to love Horizon Worlds, as many employees despite working on the project, don’t actually use it, putting the confidence of consumers into question if even the developers of the program do not spend much time using it.
To access Horizon Worlds individuals have been expected to purchase Meta’s own VR headset or similar products, this however has created a barrier of entry, with the cheapest Meta headset being the Meta Quest 2 starting at 399 USD, which is in the present economy is not very appealing to consumers especially as Horizon Worlds itself is still under construction, leading to few consumers entering the Horizon Worlds space, as for those who have entered, most of the users who entered have stopped using Horizon Worlds within a month of usage, showing great signs of incapability to provide an experience worth using Horizon Worlds for.
Across the internet the term “metaverse” which Meta has been using to advertise Horizon Worlds has been used by other businesses such as the infamous NFT projects which use the metaverse as a term that sounds new and innovative so that they could make a profit off people who are clueless in a new market and with the downfall of NFTs this has subsequently made Horizon Worlds seem less appealing for them as it appears more like a means for the wealthy to become more wealthy.
With the discussion online regarding Horizon Worlds being primarily mockery, users leaving the service, and few entering, Meta has already sunk over billions of USD into the project, but now it isn’t providing enough revenue for the business, its longevity is questionable and would require a lot of work from Meta to turn the situation around.
Allysa Marie S. Irada
Sources for this article:
- Heath, A. (2022, October 7). Meta’s flagship metaverse app is too buggy and employees are barely using it, says exec in charge. The Verge. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/6/23391895/meta-facebook-horizon-worlds-vr-social-network-too-buggy-leaked-memo
- Tangalakis-Lippert, K. (n.d.). Most metaverse users don’t even make it a month, WSJ reports. Business Insider. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/most-metaverse-users-dont-even-make-it-a-month-wsj-2022-10
- Plant, L. (2022, October 13). The metaverse has had a very bad week. IGN. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.ign.com/articles/the-metaverse-has-had-a-very-bad-week
- Delouya, S. (2022, October 14). Meta has burned $15 billion trying to build the metaverse – and nobody’s saying exactly where the money went. Business Insider. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/meta-has-burned-15-billion-trying-to-build-the-metaverse-and-nobodys-saying-exactly-where-the-money-went/articleshow/94847061.cms
