Meta Shuts Down Horizon Worlds VR App in June

Mar 22, 2026 20:54

Meta announced plans earlier this year in February to separate 'Horizon Worlds' from their 'Quest VR' platform and focus solely on the smartphone version of the app. According to the plan, Horizon Worlds and its various events will be removed from the Quest Store by March 31st. After June 15th, Horizon Worlds will no longer be accessible through virtual reality headsets.

Meta announced this timeline for withdrawing the VR version of Horizon Worlds in a new post on the company's community forum. This means that after March 31st, VR headset users will no longer be able to visit popular virtual worlds like 'Horizon Central, Events Arena, Kaiju, and Bober Bay.' Following that, after mid-June, the only easy way to access Horizon Worlds will be through the 'Meta Horizon' app for iOS and Android. In addition, the new beta feature 'Hyperspace Capture' is also being removed from Horizon Worlds. As a result, the ability for Quest headset users to create, share, and visit each other's scanned locations of real-life places in 3D will also be discontinued.

Meta stated that users will still be able to create and view Hyperspaces as before. However, the option to share them with others, invite someone, or experience them together will no longer be available.

Technology news site Engadget reported this information about Meta's virtual reality headset. The report revealed that Meta's main blog had hinted at a possibility in its 2026 VR strategy, where dedicated Quest users might be able to use parts of Meta's original VR metaverse. However, the company's plans were not actually like that at all. Seeing users' interest in the mobile version of Horizon Worlds in 2025, Meta decided that it would be logical to completely shut down the VR version in 2026. Although this decision is somewhat contradictory to Meta's reputation as a 'Metaverse company,' the move actually highlights Meta's priorities. As a result, Meta is achieving relatively more success with artificial intelligence (AI) and smart glasses.

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