Meta Introduces $50M ‘Horizon Worlds’ Content Fund Amid Challenges for VR Studios

Today, Meta unveiled an ambitious $50 million initiative aimed at breathing fresh life into content creation on Horizon Worlds, its social gaming platform. This move comes at a time when many established studios producing standalone VR apps for the Quest are finding it challenging to stay afloat, a predicament Meta attributes to an evolving user base of VR headset aficionados.

Since the Oculus Rift’s debut in 2016, standalone VR applications have been the cornerstone of Meta’s VR ecosystem, nurturing a steady growth of users over time. Despite the ongoing popularity of these self-contained apps in defining Meta’s reality platform, the company now sees potential in crafting a seamless ‘metaverse’—a connected web of experiences—as its path to future success.

Enter Horizon Worlds: Meta’s blueprint for building this metaverse. It doubles as a playground for gamers and a workshop for creators. Users can craft their own content and share it within the Horizon Worlds community. Given Meta’s social media legacy, fostering these interactions is a crucial aspect.

However, despite its availability in the VR space for a while now, Horizon Worlds hasn’t quite hit the user engagement levels Meta hoped for. In response, Meta has expanded access to flat-screen devices like phones and computers, aiming to draw in more participants. This expansion, while broadening the audience, also presents creators with the complex task of catering to both VR and conventional screen users, each with their unique experiences.

Content—or the lack thereof—remains one of the main hurdles in attracting and retaining users in Horizon Worlds. The platform needs to have engaging, replayable activities to entice people to not only give it a try but to keep coming back.

Meta has made initial strides by pulling in creators to develop for the platform and even making its own games within Horizon Worlds. Today, Meta announced a substantial leap forward with a $50 million ‘Creator Fund,’ designed to reward those crafting engaging worlds that attract high traffic and engagement.

As part of this push, Meta introduced a new development tool—the Horizon Worlds desktop editor. This tool enables creators to design more ambitious projects with enhanced speed and efficiency, reminiscent of the workflows utilized by developers building standalone VR apps using platforms like Unity.

These movements align with Meta’s growing belief in Horizon Worlds as vital to its overarching strategy. Be it VR or not, Meta aspires to construct its version of a social gaming juggernaut akin to Fortnite, characterized by extensive reach and enduring player retention.

In communication with teams dedicated to XR and Horizon, Meta’s CTO emphasized the critical need for Horizon Worlds’ mobile version to gain traction, marking it as crucial for the company’s long-term plans.

While the introduction of the creator fund offers significant support to those who believe in Meta’s Horizon vision, it arrives during a challenging period for developers of standalone VR and mixed reality (MR) apps. These apps have long kept Meta’s headsets relevant, and there’s concern that the company’s pivot towards Horizon Worlds comes at their expense.

Meta has overhauled its interface and mobile app to prioritize Horizon Worlds, resulting in some high-quality standalone apps taking a back seat to lesser amateur content. Developers feel this refocus is drawing customers away from their offerings and towards Horizon, where Meta captures a greater share of revenue.

Several established studios specializing in standalone VR experiences have been forced to downsize, attributing the cuts to stagnating performance on Meta’s Quest platform and broader market turmoil in the gaming industry. Even Meta has shut down its own studio focused on high-end standalone VR games.

Despite these challenges, it’s important to acknowledge that Meta hasn’t completely turned its back on standalone VR developers. To date, the company has distributed extensive financial support to foster VR content creation—consider initiatives like Oculus Start that aimed to boost indie developers.

Meta recently set up a multi-million dollar fund to attract new studios to produce MR content for Quest, alongside another for developers creating lifestyle apps for the headset. Nevertheless, some developers remain skeptical. They’re concerned about the long-term viability of the Quest platform, given Meta’s shifting focus—from VR to MR, and now to Horizon Worlds—making it an unpredictable environment for business.

Meta, on the other hand, argues that the downturn for some standalone app developers is not due to its internal strategy shifts but rather a change in user demographics, with a preference emerging for free-to-play apps.

Indeed, there’s evidence supporting this perspective. Despite being free-to-play, the game Gorilla Tag has become a huge VR success, generating over $100 million through in-app purchases. This success is largely attributed to its low entry barrier, crucial in building a robust player base.

Other free-to-play VR games are also gaining ground. Digigods, for instance, recently secured $2.6 million in funding, thanks to player growth fostered by social, free-to-play, and user-generated content.

Meta insists that paid VR apps still hold an essential place within the Horizon ecosystem, claiming its ongoing commitment to support standalone VR content. However, some recent reports suggest the picture might not be quite as rosy as portrayed.