This is supposed to be a “pivotal” year for the metaverse, according to the company that spearheaded the concept, Meta, even renaming the entire company after the idea. But if you want to check in on its flagship product, Horizon Worlds, you will quickly understand why this division of the company has lost nearly $70 billion over the last few years.
The following is a new ad for Horizon Worlds, where the characters have at least grown legs now compared to its original iteration, but it is still exceptionally far off from the large-scale overhauls Mark Zuckerberg previously promised, and is about as awkward as a virtual world can get. The idea here is about a “Valentine-less support group”:
Looking at something like this, which is apparently the current state of Meta’s VR universe, it is absolutely impossible to imagine a world where this kind of thing is ever going to succeed. And it almost seems like Meta might even know that at this point. Here’s what Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said last month as the year began:
“We have the best portfolio of products we’ve ever had in market and are pushing our advantage by launching half a dozen more AI powered wearables. We need to drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board but especially in MR. And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long term plans to have a chance.”
Here’s Where Trump’s Government Layoffs Are—As Firings At FAA Begin
Banks Including JPMorgan Chase And Morgan Stanley Reportedly Cutting Back DEI References—Here Are All The Companies Rolling Back DEI
DOGE Is Seeking Access To Critical IRS System That Holds Taxpayer Data—Here’s What To Know
How on earth could this break out in any meaningful way on any device? Who is something like this actually for? Even VR enthusiasts are likely to want to play actual video games rather than…whatever this is, and VR remains a relatively niche market as a whole. This is Meta’s grand vision of a shared universe, PS2-era characters flailing their arms around in unfunny ads. I have browsed more videos on the Horizon Worlds page and they’re all this bad. At worst, they’re even misleading, showing characters in thumbnails or pre-rendered videos with avatars that look far better than they do in the world itself. I’m serious, please watch any video on this page which features in-world footage, and tell me it’s not baffling that this is the best content they can show.
Horizon Worlds
Meta
It feels like destiny at this point that Meta is going to throw all this away in favor of pumping more money into AI, which, for all AI’s massive problems, is likely to yield more meaningful results than this. It’s frankly unbelievable they let things get to this point.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
发表回复