The highly anticipated mobile version of Meta's Horizon Worlds, the social VR platform, might soon be available. This information surfaced in Janko Roettgers' Friday's Lowpass newsletter.
The company has been working on a mobile edition of Horizon Worlds, a metaverse social platform exclusive to Quest VR devices so far. Meta developed a functioning version last year but held back on launching it, as it felt more like a VR game adapted for mobile than a genuinely mobile experience, as stated by Meta's metaverse VP, Vishal Shah.
While Shah refrained from providing a definite release timeline, he did mention that Super Rumble, a shooting game newly introduced inside Horizon Worlds, will be one of the first games beta tested for the mobile platform. The game reportedly boasts superior aesthetics, thanks to its use of imported objects, assets, and textures. This asset import feature will initially be accessible to a select group of developers before being gradually rolled out to more.
In its current form, Horizon Worlds has not seen resounding success, with user numbers under 200,000 in October. In contrast, Meta's Threads managed to attract over 100 million users within days. Threads' performance is not a fair comparison, however, as it is a free app for smartphones while Horizon Worlds requires a Quest VR headset. Still, the vast disparity in user numbers between the two platforms is noteworthy.
The launch of Horizon Worlds mobile could enable Meta to better compete with social gaming giants like Fortnite and Roblox. Interestingly, while Horizon Worlds eyes mobile platforms, Roblox is exploring VR, having just launched an open beta on Quest headsets.
