What you need to know
- Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said in a leaked memo that 2025 will decide if the metaverse is a game-changer or a total flop.
- Bosworth isn’t sugarcoating it—either Horizon Worlds takes off, or it could be the end of the road.
- Reality Labs is under major pressure to sell more headsets and actually get people hooked on mixed reality, especially on mobile.
Meta is pouring a ton of resources into AI, but it’s still betting big on the metaverse. The problem is, the metaverse hasn’t really taken off or shown it’s worth the hype yet.
Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, says 2025 is the make-or-break year for the metaverse. In a leaked internal memo (via Business Insider), he hinted that Reality Labs’ work in mixed reality will either be seen as groundbreaking or a total flop, calling it a potential “legendary misadventure.”
Bosworth adds that Meta is sticking with the metaverse, including Horizon Worlds, through 2025. But after that, Meta needs to see real results and better performance to keep the cash flowing.
Reality Labs, Meta’s VR arm, has gobbled up tens of billions in funding, but VR still hasn’t hit the mainstream or lived up to its hype. The latest blow came after Reality Labs dropped another $5 billion in losses last quarter, showing just how tough it’s been to turn this ambitious project into a win.
Bosworth’s take on Horizon Worlds is pretty telling—it’s either going to be a game-changing win or a total faceplant. And honestly, it sounds like he’s leaning more toward the “this could go really wrong” side of things.
Even with Meta’s deep pockets, there’s only so much cash it can burn—something Bosworth made clear in his memo. He called out the urgent need to boost sales and ramp up engagement, especially in the mixed reality space. He also doubled down on Horizon Worlds needing to crush it on mobile.
Even though 2024 was Reality Labs’ best year yet, Bosworth admits it still hasn’t made a big splash in the real world. He gave a nod to the team being leaner after layoffs and praised the wins with Meta’s Ray-Bans and AI projects. But he’s betting on the smaller crew to be quicker, sharper, and more effective.