{"id":300736,"date":"2026-01-24T05:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T05:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/300736\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T05:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T05:06:09","slug":"were-going-to-let-vr-be-what-it-is-and-what-it-does-great-says-meta-execs-regarding-quest-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/300736\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We&#8217;re going to let VR be what it is and what it does great,&#8217; says Meta execs regarding Quest changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"elk-bdb5a8ec-8d2c-419e-8342-a864fc9ef9e2\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/>What you need to know<\/p>\n<ul id=\"837ee6ca-3102-432b-b251-fae2d46638c9\">\n<li>Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth explained that Meta is changing focus from first-party development to focus mainly on third-party games for Meta Quest headsets.<\/li>\n<li>Horizon Worlds is now taking a mobile-only approach and will be scaled back from the Meta Quest&#8217;s Horizon OS.<\/li>\n<li>Oculus Founder Luckey Palmer says, &#8220;the narrative that Meta is abandoning VR is obviously false.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"819783b7-0f01-453e-a707-1bc53127f11c\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">In a move that will have lots of <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/tag\/meta-quest\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/tag\/meta-quest\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Meta Quest<\/a> gamers screaming &#8220;HALLELUJAH,&#8221; Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth announced that the company would be paring back its investments into the VR version of Horizon Worlds, a Roblox-like metaverse, and focusing its efforts on smartphone gamers, instead. Meta is even <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/communityforums.atmeta.com\/discussions\/News_and_Announcements\/horizon-feed-being-replaced-by-navigator-starting-in-v85\/1363701\" data-url=\"https:\/\/communityforums.atmeta.com\/discussions\/News_and_Announcements\/horizon-feed-being-replaced-by-navigator-starting-in-v85\/1363701\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">removing Horizon Feed from headsets<\/a> starting with the next Meta Quest software update, v85.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Bosworth went on several interviews this week at Davos, a World Economic Forum summit, detailing Meta&#8217;s next steps for its Reality Labs division. Last week, Meta <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/reality-labs-january-2026-rumored-cuts\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/reality-labs-january-2026-rumored-cuts\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">laid off 1,500 Reality Labs staff<\/a> and announced the closure of <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/meta-isnt-giving-up-on-vr-but-it-just-evaporated-any-goodwill-it-had-left\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/meta-isnt-giving-up-on-vr-but-it-just-evaporated-any-goodwill-it-had-left\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">most of its first-party development studios<\/a> without any official announcement, causing speculation that the company was done with VR.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Bosworth told <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hLfbSqynSnw\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hLfbSqynSnw\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Axios<\/a>, &#8220;we had this integrated concept of where Horizon and VR were the same thing&#8230;.That is a real challenging piece of work to land. There&#8217;s lots of people who put this headset on for different reasons. You want to support all those different use cases. The lack of focus comes at the expense of user experience and a great expense at development cost.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LcSJuHXLUuLMJoJLWqqSGV.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of the Axios interview between Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth and Ina Fried from Axios\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LcSJuHXLUuLMJoJLWqqSGV.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LcSJuHXLUuLMJoJLWqqSGV.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Axios)<\/p>\n<p id=\"c926eba1-3a3f-41d7-a741-d078843d3cfd\">Nearly two years ago, Meta made moves to more deeply integrate Meta Quest headsets with the company&#8217;s Horizon Worlds metaverse. The Meta Quest store became the Meta Horizon store, and free-to-play Horizon Worlds content was prominently placed in front of users instead of more traditional gaming content. The result was a substantial decline in game sales on the Quest, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/quest-developers-are-joining-forces-to-solve-the-vr-visibility-crisis\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/quest-developers-are-joining-forces-to-solve-the-vr-visibility-crisis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">backed up by tons of developer data<\/a> to prove it.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"c926eba1-3a3f-41d7-a741-d078843d3cfd-1\">Many on social media are saying the changes are too little, too late. Several development studios have announced closures lately, some citing broader challenges across the video game market, while others have attributed them specifically to the VR market. <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roadtovr.com\/cloudhead-games-lay-off-70-percent-staff-2026\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.roadtovr.com\/cloudhead-games-lay-off-70-percent-staff-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Even developers<\/a> of games that regularly stay in the top-20 best-sellers <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mightycoconut.com\/blog\/upcoming-changes\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.mightycoconut.com\/blog\/upcoming-changes\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">have announced layoffs<\/a>. Allegedly, more are also <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SadlyItsBradley\/status\/2013775767394463950?s=20\" data-url=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SadlyItsBradley\/status\/2013775767394463950?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">on the way<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to let VR be what it is and what it does great,&#8221; Bosworth continued. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to focus a lot more on the third-party content library and ecosystem that has developed there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.35%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9GiYBHqbVUNdzkifVsHPM4.jpg\" alt=\"Mobile games in the Meta Horizon app\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9GiYBHqbVUNdzkifVsHPM4.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9GiYBHqbVUNdzkifVsHPM4.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n<p id=\"8064c786-c20c-4396-8d7e-094563d06dde\">But according to several interviews I conducted after Meta&#8217;s studio closures on January 13, 2026, Meta let go of several staff who worked with third-party developers and reduced funding to programs like Oculus Publishing. Bosworth wasn&#8217;t asked about this topic in either of the Davos interviews, but has so far failed to comment publicly when asked on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android<\/p>\n<p>Heath&#8217;s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/sources.news\/p\/why-meta-did-its-big-metaverse-layoffs\" data-url=\"https:\/\/sources.news\/p\/why-meta-did-its-big-metaverse-layoffs\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">interview with Bosworth<\/a> revealed that Meta is &#8220;still continuing to invest heavily in this space, but obviously, VR is growing less quickly than we (Meta) hoped.&#8221; We saw this trend <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/smart-glasses-are-eating-vrs-lunch-and-metas-2025-earnings-are-the-proof\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.androidcentral.com\/gaming\/virtual-reality\/smart-glasses-are-eating-vrs-lunch-and-metas-2025-earnings-are-the-proof\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">begin in mid-2025<\/a>, although the Christmas holiday period <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roadtovr.com\/quest-is-outselling-nintendo-switch-2-on-amazon-and-every-other-game-console\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.roadtovr.com\/quest-is-outselling-nintendo-switch-2-on-amazon-and-every-other-game-console\/\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">saw the Meta Quest outsell<\/a> even the Nintendo Switch 2 on Amazon. Even with that success and the success of <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.roadtovr.com\/ug-vr-most-popular-meta-quest-game-michael-murdock-continuum-interview\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.roadtovr.com\/ug-vr-most-popular-meta-quest-game-michael-murdock-continuum-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">several new games<\/a>, Meta looks to be shifting priorities away from first-party development.<\/p>\n<p>As Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PalmerLuckey\/status\/2013099842529005912?s=20\" data-url=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PalmerLuckey\/status\/2013099842529005912?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">said on social media<\/a>, &#8220;Oculus had a strong internal mandate to NOT be Nintendo and instead build things that build the ecosystem. Returning to that is good.&#8221; &#8220;This is not a disaster,&#8221; Palmer followed up with. Meta &#8220;still employs the largest team working on VR by about an order of magnitude. Nobody else is even close.&#8221; Time will tell if that continues to be a good thing.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-09d0e46d-ae07-4ae0-800c-f746b4f9b983\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s best Meta Quest 3S and  Meta Quest 3 deals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What you need to know Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth explained that Meta is changing focus from first-party development&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260],"tags":[18,19,17,82,286,287,288],"class_list":{"0":"post-300736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-virtual-reality","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-virtual-reality","13":"tag-virtualreality","14":"tag-vr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115948341390195967","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}