Meta's Horizon Worlds is losing users and remains largely unexplored
Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse dream is struggling, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal. Horizon Worlds, Meta's virtual reality (VR)-based social app is reportedly finding it hard to hit its target monthly active users. The app is struggling on other fronts as well, including user retention rate and quality issues. Meta recently announced that legs are coming to Horizon Worlds.
Why does this story matter?
Meta isn't having the best of times with its metaverse gamble. The new report saying its VR app is losing users isn't going to help improve investor, market, and user confidence. The company's shares have already taken a beating in the market, losing $700 billion in value since last September. Is this simply starting trouble or will metaverse fulfill its potential?
The app's monthly active users have seen a sharp decline
The user base of Horizon Worlds is constantly declining, according to internal documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal. In February, the app hit 300,000 users. It has only around 200,000 monthly active users at the moment. The company expected to reach 500,000 by the end of this year. It has now adjusted its goal to 280,000 active users.
Users are not visiting most of Horizon Worlds' 10,000 worlds
Meta's Horizon Worlds has over 10,000 worlds. However, 50% of users reportedly only visit about 9% of spaces. Most worlds are not even visited once. An internal document said, "an empty world is a sad world."
Most users don't return after one month
Horizon Worlds has been losing users steadily since spring. Another aspect that is reportedly worrying Meta is the user retention of the platform. As per internal documents, most users don't return after a month. The company's Quest VR headsets are also facing the same issue. The headset's retention rate has consistently dropped. Over 50% are not used after just six months.
App is under 'quality lockdown' till the end of 2022
Horizon Worlds has been facing several quality issues. Meta has stopped updating the app with new features for the time being. The app is under a "quality lockdown" until the end of this year. During this time, the company will try to solve the app's bugginess. Meta has admitted that the app's bugs and stability issues prevent users from experiencing its magic.
