Update: Meta Isn't Completely Shutting Down Horizon Worlds on Quest After All
UPDATE: Meta changes course on Horizon Worlds for Quest and isn't shutting it down completely anymore.
Update from May 19, 2026, by David Jagneaux: It looks like Meta is changing course on their plans to shut down Horizon Worlds on Quest—well, sort of.
Instead of the entire Horizon Worlds app getting shut down entirely from the Quest ecosystem in VR, Andrew Bosworth, CTO at Meta, revealed in an Instagram AMA story that they've instead decided to leave it live as an optional app users can install to experience worlds that have already been published "for the foreseeable future."
In other words, it won't be shut down on Quest for now, but is still being deprioritized in favor of native VR games in the store instead, shifting most of Horizon's focus to mobile.
Meta
Original from May 18, 2026: Mark Zuckerberg was extremely excited to build his vision of the metaverse, but the app to make it possible, Horizon Worlds, is shutting down on its Quest.
Starting June 15, users won't be able to build, publish, or update worlds or access Horizon Worlds on Meta Quest headsets, as reported by Bloomberg.
This doesn't mean you can't experience it at all anymore: the platform is still available on mobile, with the company set on "shifting the focus of Worlds to be almost exclusively mobile."
Those who hate seeing its worlds in the store, rejoice: Meta separated them from other games, which should help game developers reach wider audiences.
"We heard your feedback loud and clear, and after a year of collecting data and running experiments, we agree. We’re removing individual worlds from our store shelves in VR, and we’re separating worlds from the Store in our mobile app. This change should result in more impressions for apps on the store."
Considering that Reality Labs, the division focused on Meta's VR ventures, loses billions of dollars every year, this decision is not surprising. However, just as unsurprisingly, this led to Meta eliminating over a thousand positions.
I wonder what will happen with Zuckerberg's metaverse idea now.
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