Meta’s Metaverse Did Not Get Popularity It Had Hoped for

Nearly a year after rebranding Meta and betting on a metaverse for consumers, the Horizon Worlds project has failed to live up to internal expectations, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Internal company documents, which include employee memos, show that most Horizon visitors typically don't return to the app after the first month, and the user base has steadily declined since the spring.

Meta had planned to reach 500,000 monthly active Horizon Worlds users by the end of 2022, but in recent weeks the company has decided to lower that number to 280,000. In fact, the current number of users is less than 200,000.

there are rarely any girls at the Hot Girl Summer Rooftop Pool Party, and in Murder Village there is often no one to kill,

the Wall Street Journal notes.

According to internal statistics, only 9% of worlds have ever been visited by at least 50 people. Most of the worlds users have never visited at all.

An empty world is a sad world,

the Wall Street Journal adds.

Meta also knows that more than half of the Quest virtual reality headsets that give access to Horizon, priced at $400 or more, are not being used six months after purchase. Users can't find a metaverse they like and can't find other people to interact with. In addition, users complain that the avatars look unrealistic because they don't have legs.

To address the bugs, Meta last month quietly suspended the launch of new features until it improves the current user experience.