Since its launch in just two countries, Meta's Horizon Worlds platform has reached 300,000 users in total, according to The Verge. Of course, there is a certain trap in this number, since Meta has also included the Horizon Venues platform in its count; a separate app for events, concerts, sports and comedy.
Horizon Worlds is a virtual reality platform that was initially launched for users in the United States and Canada. It is currently the purest foundation of the metaverse, offering an ambitious world where you can explore or create your own spaces. Of course, you can also interact with other users; and it is because of them that Meta has taken measures to prevent harassment in Horizon Venues and Horizon Worlds.
As announced by Meta, more than 10,000 worlds have been created in Horizon Worlds. There is also a private group for creators on Facebook with more than 20,000 members; an amount that will probably grow as this platform is distributed throughout the rest of the world. Of course, access to both worlds is free, but if you want to enter you will have to get a virtual reality headset Oculus 2.
Metaverse Meta has not included Horizon Workrooms users in its count; another of the platforms where users can hold their meetings using virtual reality technology. However, the number of users has grown ten times its amount since the launch of the three platforms at the end of 2021.
Meta spokesman Joe Osborne confirmed the figure, saying it included users of Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues, a standalone app for attending live events in VR that uses the same avatars and basic mechanics. The figure does not include Horizon Workrooms, a virtual reality conference experience that is based on an invitation system.
The Verge
The metaverse has a long way to go
However, although the numbers may be encouraging for the company, the Meta metaverse still has a long way to go. Currently the economy of Meta is supported by its social media and communication platforms; with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp as flag bearers. However, if the company wants to make the metaverse the core of its business, it will have to get many more people onto the service.
Furthermore, platforms like Facebook are already losing hundreds of thousands of young users every day; transitioning to other platforms with more appealing content for their age group. Meta dropped out of the list of the 10 largest companies in the world recently; and recorded a stock market drop of 230,000 million dollars, as a result of Facebook losing active users for the first time in its history.
So while 300,000 users might seem amazing, for a company the size of Meta, it really isn't. The company is currently selling the metaverse idea to its nearly 3 billion Facebook users; a figure that makes 300,000 people feel like an anecdotal number on the Meta lists.
However, regardless of the current horizon, Meta has plans to invest 10,000 million dollars this year in the development of its metaverse. An investment that, by the way, puts Mark Zuckerberg in the spotlight for all the risks involved in betting everything on the metaverse; And it is that Facebook already seems to have lost its “bulletproof” status in the eyes of users and investors alike. However, only time will tell.
