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Mark Zuckerberg scales back metaverse dreams after $80 billion in losses
Mark Zuckerberg scales back metaverse dreams after $80 billion in losses
Mark Zuckerberg scales back metaverse dreams after $80 billion in losses
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are scaling back their metaverse ambitions after accumulating over $80 billion in losses
Published on: Mar 19, 2026 7:57 AM IST By Sanya Jain Share via Copy link When Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta in 2021, he pitched the metaverse as the company’s future — calling it “the next frontier” and saying he wanted to anchor the company’s identity to the metaverse. Less than five years later, the virtual world at the centre of Meta’s ambitious gamble is on the verge of shutting down. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pivoting away from metaverse (REUTERS) Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are scaling back their metaverse ambitions — the company announced in a blog post yesterday that the Horizon Worlds app will be removed from the Quest store at the end of March, and fully removed from VR on June 15. After that, it will only be available on a standalone mobile app. “We are separating the two platforms so each can grow with greater focus, and the Horizon Worlds platform will become a mobile-only experience,” the company said in announcing the change. The development comes just weeks after Meta cut over 1,000 jobs at Reality Labs, the division overseeing its metaverse efforts.An ambitious bet
In 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta in a sign of the company’s commitment to the metaverse. The metaverse was imagined as a shared, virtual digital world where people interact with each other and digital environments in real time using avatars. (Also read: Explained: What is metaverse which Facebook is touting as the future of internet) “Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers,” Zuckerberg wrote in a 2021 blog post announcing the pivot to metaverse. However, Horizon Worlds struggled to find users. CNBC reported that the platform never had more than a couple hundred thousand active users a month. Losses touch $80 billion Reality Labs, the Meta division responsible for VR and metaverse development, has accumulated nearly $80 billion in losses since 2020, CNBC had reported in January this year. The layoffs at Reality Labs, also in early January, came as the company began to shift resources from virtual reality to artificial intelligence and wearable devices. News of the metaverse shutdown, coupled with the staggering $80 billion figure, led to surprised reactions on social media. “I forgot about this stupid s*** but imagine if they poured $80 billion into feeding the hungry instead of this failed cartoon universe that nobody wanted,” wrote one X user. “Zuckerberg killed the Metaverse after burning $80 billion on cartoon avatars nobody used,” another said. “Meta has announced it is shutting down its VR metaverse on 15th of June. All 5 users are reportedly devastated,” one person joked. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sanya Jain Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More Mark Zuckerberg Facebook News / Trending / Us / Mark Zuckerberg Scales Back Metaverse Dreams After $80 Billion In Losses See Less News / Trending / Us / Mark Zuckerberg Scales Back Metaverse Dreams After $80 Billion In LossesWhen Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta in 2021, he pitched the metaverse as the company’s future — calling it “the next frontier” and saying he wanted to anchor the company’s identity to the metaverse. Less than five years later, the virtual world at the centre of Meta’s ambitious gamble is on the verge of shutting down.
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are scaling back their metaverse ambitions — the company announced in a blog post yesterday that the Horizon Worlds app will be removed from the Quest store at the end of March, and fully removed from VR on June 15. After that, it will only be available on a standalone mobile app.
“We are separating the two platforms so each can grow with greater focus, and the Horizon Worlds platform will become a mobile-only experience,” the company said in announcing the change.
The development comes just weeks after Meta cut over 1,000 jobs at Reality Labs, the division overseeing its metaverse efforts.
The metaverse was imagined as a shared, virtual digital world where people interact with each other and digital environments in real time using avatars.
(Also read: Explained: What is metaverse which Facebook is touting as the future of internet)
“Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers,” Zuckerberg wrote in a 2021 blog post announcing the pivot to metaverse.
However, Horizon Worlds struggled to find users. CNBC reported that the platform never had more than a couple hundred thousand active users a month.
Losses touch $80 billion
Reality Labs, the Meta division responsible for VR and metaverse development, has accumulated nearly $80 billion in losses since 2020, CNBC had reported in January this year.
The layoffs at Reality Labs, also in early January, came as the company began to shift resources from virtual reality to artificial intelligence and wearable devices.
News of the metaverse shutdown, coupled with the staggering $80 billion figure, led to surprised reactions on social media.
“I forgot about this stupid s*** but imagine if they poured $80 billion into feeding the hungry instead of this failed cartoon universe that nobody wanted,” wrote one X user.
“Zuckerberg killed the Metaverse after burning $80 billion on cartoon avatars nobody used,” another said.
“Meta has announced it is shutting down its VR metaverse on 15th of June. All 5 users are reportedly devastated,” one person joked.
Source: HindustanTimes
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