Mark Zuckerberg is now pinning the future of Facebook to the metaverse, even changing his name to Meta. Apparently Meta's ambition to realize the metaverse world has started to bear fruit.
In Meta's internal meeting this week, Meta's Chief Product Office Chris Cox revealed the growth of Horizon World users. This is Meta's main VR platform that can be accessed using the Oculus Quest headset.
Cox said that since Horizon Worlds launched to all Quest users in the United States and Canada in early December 2021, its monthly user count had increased 10 times to 300,000 people.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed the report, and said the number includes users of Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues, separate apps for participating in virtual events. But that number doesn't include the number of users of Horizon Workrooms, another Meta app for holding virtual meetings using VR.
Horizon World is Meta's most ambitious virtual reality project. The project was first launched in 2019 under the name Facebook Horizon and the beta version was released shortly thereafter.
The platform is often confused with Minecraft or Roblox, as users can explore in existing virtual worlds or build their own. The user can appear as the avatar of his choice but only with the upper body.
This application can be used for free but can only be accessed using an Oculus Quest headset. Meta previously said that there are currently 10,000 worlds built on Horizon Worlds, and the Facebook group for creators already has more than 20,000 members.
It's time. 10,000 worlds have already been created. Drop in and play, build or just hang out. The possibilities are endless. pic.twitter.com/VWc83PkuDV
— Horizon Worlds (@HorizonWorlds) February 16, 2022
Given that Horizon Worlds is only a few months old, it's still too early to see if the platform's rapid growth will continue or if they can keep their users going.
Meta is also still struggling with many technical problems related to his virtual world. Such as the many reported cases of harassment, and technical problems during the Foo Fighters virtual concert at Horizon Venues.
But the growth is quite solid considering that this platform can only be accessed using the Oculus Quest headset, with the latest version of Quest 2 priced at USD 299.
But Zuckerberg said Meta plans to bring Horizon Worlds to mobile by the end of 2022 to bring the metaverse experience to more platforms.
"So, while the most immersive experience will be in virtual reality, you'll also be able to access this world from the Facebook or Instagram apps, and possibly a lot more," Zuckerberg said in Meta's latest financial report.