Meta has announced that its Horizon Worlds social and gaming service will no longer be tied to its Quest VR headsets, focusing instead almost exclusively on mobile platforms. The company plans to continue producing VR hardware while emphasizing third-party developers. This move follows significant financial losses and layoffs in its Reality Labs division.
On February 20, 2026, Meta revealed plans to separate its flagship metaverse service, Horizon Worlds, from the Quest VR headset platform and digital store. The company stated it is "shifting the focus of Worlds to be almost exclusively mobile," following the successful launch of a Horizon Worlds mobile app last year that drew new users interested in its social gaming features without the VR component.
This announcement comes amid broader changes in Meta's mixed reality strategy. Reality Labs, Meta's mixed reality division, has reportedly lost $80 billion on investments, according to CNBC. In January 2026, more than 1,000 employees were laid off from the division, which previously employed over 15,000 people. The layoffs primarily affected internal studios developing VR content, games, and experiences, sparing much of the augmented reality work focused on future smart glasses.
Meta emphasized its commitment to VR hardware, stating it will "double down on the VR developer ecosystem." The company highlighted that 86% of the time users spend in VR headsets is with third-party apps. Changes such as removing individual worlds from the VR store aim to improve discovery for third-party developers. "We’ll continue to support the third-party community through strategic partnerships and targeted investments—as we have since the beginning," wrote Samantha Ryan, Meta Reality Labs VP of Content.
While Meta intends to maintain VR storefronts for third-party sales, it is reducing in-house content development. The company's future investments appear directed toward smart glasses and AI technologies, with less emphasis on an all-encompassing metaverse vision.
