Horizon Worlds ultimately did not last long as a showcase for virtual reality at Meta. The social platform will gradually disappear from Quest headsets, with an already well-established schedule. From March 31, worlds and events will no longer be visible in the store. Several emblematic locations (Horizon Central, Events Arena and Bobber Bay) will immediately cease to be accessible in VR. Users will still be able to explore certain universes for a few weeks, but the countdown is on.
End clap for the metaverse in Quest headsets
On June 15, this time, it will be over: the Horizon Worlds application will be removed from headsets. It is then impossible to access it other than through the Meta Horizon mobile application, available on iOS and Android.
Along the way, Meta does a little sorting. Hyperscape Capture, an experimental feature allowing you to scan real places in 3D to share them, is losing all of its social dimension. The captures will remain visible, but it will no longer be possible to invite other users to them. Same thing for bonuses linked to Horizon+, which will be gradually removed. Horizon Worlds in VR is experiencing its last months, without much suspense.
This shift may seem paradoxical for a company that has made the “metaverse” its standard. But Meta accepts it bluntly. “ Sometimes we make mistakes “, recognizes Samantha Ryan, head of content at Reality Labs. A fairly direct way to turn the page. In reality, the decision is based on more encouraging figures on the mobile side. In 2025, Meta says it has observed a strong increase in smartphone usage, with the number of users quadrupling. Enough to change the perspective.
The reasoning is simple: where VR remains a limited market, mobile makes it possible to reach a much wider audience. Meta therefore prefers to adapt Horizon Worlds to these uses rather than forcing the adoption of headsets. This does not mean that VR is abandoned. The company emphasizes its hardware roadmap and continued investments in the Quest ecosystem. But it makes a clearer separation: VR for games and immersive experiences, the metaverse for social interactions… but on smartphones.
This refocusing is also accompanied by a change of tone. Meta promises to “ do fewer things, but better ”, focusing its efforts on products that actually work. And for now, Horizon Worlds seems to have found its audience elsewhere than in headsets. In the background, other priorities take up much more space, notably artificial intelligence and connected glasses.
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