Meta has effectively put Mark Zuckerberg’s immersive, VR-first metaverse on life support as it pivots toward artificial intelligence. After years of heavy investment and soaring expectations, the company signaled a recalibration of its metaverse strategy away from a VR-first vision toward broader digital initiatives.
On Tuesday, Meta said Horizon Worlds would no longer be accessible through virtual-reality headsets starting June 15. The following day, the company walked that back only to a point, saying it would continue to support some existing VR apps in Horizon Worlds but would not add new ones.
Even after Meta reportedly spent or lost about $80 billion on the project, the metaverse and VR remain niche. Meanwhile, the company has shifted its focus to AI, forecasting at least $115 billion in AI-related spending this year and expanding data-center capacity, while Horizon Worlds stays accessible on mobile.
Executives say the metaverse is not dead, but the tone has grown more cautious as hardware costs and adoption hurdles persist. Apple’s Vision Pro headset, introduced in 2024 at roughly $3,500, underscores the cost barrier that Meta argues still must be overcome.
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