Another nail in the Metaverse coffin: Meta Horizon Worlds is shutting down in three months for VR, but the mobile app will remain
A social platform for some, an annoying bit of bloat on a VR headset for others, Meta is closing down the VR version of Horizon Worlds on June 15, this year. As of March 31, it will disappear from the Quest store, so you have a few short weeks to download it, if you want to give it a go before the big day.
Users of Meta Horizon Worlds on VR were sent an email from Meta clarifying the closure, and stating that the mobile app will stick around. Meta then made an announcement on the community forum and pasted that same announcement into the “Meta Quest and Horizon community” Discord server.
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Meta points to its article “Our Renewed Focus in 2026” as a reason for this change. It notes that Meta is shifting focus and ‘doubling down on VR’, announcing plans to support third-party developers. This article points out the $150 million it invested in VR developers in 2025, but it feels shallow given it closed three VR studios and laid off around 10% of Reality Labs a month prior, and the whole ‘shutting down VR Horizon Worlds’ thing.
In fairness, Meta did say that it would put a new focus on mobile worlds, so the announcement is somewhat in character, and it clarifies that, after June 14, users will be able to “jump into all your favourite mobile-optimised worlds on the Meta Horizon mobile app.”
So, if you like the idea of Meta Horizon Worlds but simply didn’t want to put your headset on to actually go in there, boy, does Meta have you covered. If the only reason you actually ever played it is because you didn’t have many games on your VR headset and felt kinda bored that one time (guilty), then you’re out of luck.
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