Meta's Horizon Worlds will find a new home for itself exclusively on mobile devices.
Samantha Ryan, VP of Content at Reality Labs, recently outlined a renewed roadmap for its immersive 3D virtual world, Horizon Worlds, which shifts the "focus of Worlds to be almost exclusively mobile."
The revised approach will see the company separate Worlds from the same VR space Mark Zuckerberg once hailed in 2017 as a place that's not about escaping reality but about making reality itself better. Ryan stated they are "explicitly separating our Quest VR platform from our Worlds platform in order to create more space for both products to grow."
Now, eight years later and nearly $80 billion lost since 2020, Meta is "going all-in on mobile" in a move made after the company experimented with Worlds as a mobile platform in the previous year.
What’s in Store for Meta’s Worlds on Mobile?
Meta believes a mobile-only approach for Worlds could be a potential opportunity to dive into a larger market where revenue was reported to be $81.8 billion in 2025.
Ryan described their efforts to "truly change the game" as follows:
We’re in a strong position to deliver synchronous social games at scale, thanks to our unique ability to connect those games with billions of people on the world’s biggest social networks.
Ryan pointed to the growing number of monthly active users, the more than 2,000 new mobile-only worlds, and the increase in in-world purchases as early yet positive signs from this new venture into mobile.
She also highlighted the potential for Horizon creators to transform their worlds into "real businesses," with Meta's $50 million Creator Fund hoping to grow the creator community in Worlds.
We grew mobile MAU over 4x in 2025, and creators are finding success on the platform. In fact, four creators have hit the $1 million milestone in lifetime revenue, and nearly a hundred earned six figures last year.
Meta will continue to invest in the mobile-only Worlds space with the introduction of Meta Horizon Studio and Meta Horizon Engine, which will improve the appearance and load speed of the next generation of mobile worlds. Access to Horizon Studio will also be expanded in the coming months.
The move signals a larger shift in Meta's strategy, with the company laying off approximately 10% of its Reality Labs division and shutting down three VR studios, among other things, at the start of 2026 alone.
Ryan confirms these are monumental changes; however, they remain committed to VR and believe experimentation is the bedrock of the company's foundation.
Meta's pivot will no doubt encounter competition, with many reports suggesting Fortnite and Roblox being their biggest rivals in a saturated social and gaming mobile scene where experiences play an important role in deciding where people go.