Meta is working on a web version of Horizon Worlds

Meta has announced that, after a surprisingly long wait, they’re finally developing a version of their metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds, for the web. 

Given the company’s name, Meta is obviously keenly invested in the future that the metaverse promises to be, however, surprisingly, the company has long been lagging behind many of its competitors when it comes to ease of access. 

Since launching in late 2021, Meta’s metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds, has required users to own a virtual reality headset if they wanted to access the promised future of social interaction and recreational spaces. For better or worse, it won’t be staying that way forever, as we now know that a web version of Horizon Worlds is in the works. 

In a recent thread on Twitter, Meta’s CTO, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, confirmed the existence of the previously barely rumoured “web version,” while defending the company’s recent monetization strategy that takes an insulting 47.5 percent of each transaction from creators on the platform. 

Throughout the thread of tweets, Bosworth claimed that the current monetization strategy isn’t actually all too bad, as once the fabled web version of Horizon Worlds launches, the platform fee will only be 25%, due to avoiding the Quest Store that also takes a 30% cut. According to Bosworth, this is “a much lower rate compared to other similar world-building platforms.”

https://twitter.com/boztank/status/1514666741183311872

Alongside the web version of Horizon Worlds that is in development, Meta is also reportedly building a version of the platform for mobile devices and even potentially game consoles. Speaking to The Verge, a spokesperson for the company said that there were “no timing details to share at this time” however.