Meta announced it will shut down Horizon Worlds, its virtual reality social platform for Meta Quest headsets, in June 2024. The closure affects the company's flagship social experience designed for its VR hardware ecosystem.

Horizon Worlds was positioned as a key component of Meta's metaverse strategy, allowing users to create and explore virtual worlds while interacting with others in a VR environment. The platform launched as part of the company's broader push into virtual and augmented reality technologies.

The shutdown represents part of Meta's ongoing efforts to streamline its business operations and reduce costs across various divisions. The company has been making strategic adjustments to its product portfolio as it evaluates the performance and market reception of different initiatives.

Meta Quest headset users who have been using Horizon Worlds will need to transition to alternative VR social platforms or other Meta VR applications before the June discontinuation date. The company has not announced immediate replacement products for the social VR space.

The closure comes as Meta continues to invest heavily in VR and AR technologies while also focusing resources on artificial intelligence and core social media platforms. The company rebranded from Facebook to Meta in 2021, emphasizing its commitment to building metaverse technologies and experiences.