Mark Zuckerberg has officially pulled the plug on the metaverse, ending an era that cost Meta nearly $80 billion and produced little more than a sparsely populated virtual world. The company announced that Horizon Worlds will be removed from the Quest VR store by March’s end and taken offline in VR entirely by June 15. A mobile-only app will be the sole survivor of what was once Meta’s most ambitious project.
The metaverse push began in October 2021 when Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook as Meta in a dramatic signal of the company’s new direction. He envisioned a digital universe where people would gather, shop, and collaborate through customizable avatars. His public statements were full of optimism, and the company backed the vision with billions in annual investment.
But Horizon Worlds never attracted the critical mass needed for success. Monthly active users reportedly never climbed above a few hundred thousand, making the platform more of a curiosity than a cultural phenomenon. The financial toll was severe, with Reality Labs recording cumulative losses of nearly $80 billion from 2020 through early 2025.
The writing had been on the wall for months. Meta began slashing Reality Labs headcount in January, eliminating over 1,000 positions in the division. The company simultaneously began redirecting investment toward artificial intelligence and smart glasses, signaling where its priorities now lay.
Public reaction to the announcement ranged from amusement to frustration. Critics questioned why so much capital was poured into a platform that failed to attract meaningful engagement, while others noted the humanitarian alternatives that $80 billion could have funded. Zuckerberg’s metaverse is now history — expensive, ambitious, and ultimately unwanted.