Edgar Grigoryan: Anatomy of a Collapse – Why Meta's Metaverse Never Became Reality
Anatomy of a Collapse: Why Meta's Metaverse Never Became Reality
Introduction: What Did the Roadmap Promise?
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg presented the world not just with a new company name, but with a detailed roadmap of the future. According to his vision, by 2026 (right around today), the metaverse was supposed to become a fully-fledged digital habitat for humanity.
Key milestones announced in 2021–2022:
Introduction: What Did the Roadmap Promise?
In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg presented the world not just with a new company name, but with a detailed roadmap of the future. According to his vision, by 2026 (right around today), the metaverse was supposed to become a fully-fledged digital habitat for humanity.
Key milestones announced in 2021–2022:
So what went wrong? Why did we end up with service shutdowns and memes about "legless avatars" instead of billions of users? Analysis shows the failure happened along four key dimensions.
Reason 1. Managerial Blindness: "We Don't Use Our Own Product"
The most shocking detail of this story is Meta's top management admitting that the development team did not use their own creation [2].
In September 2024, Meta's Vice President of the Metaverse, Vishal Shah, sent an internal memo that became public. In it, he stated a catastrophic fact: Horizon Worlds developers were not spending time there [2].
"If we don't love what we've built, how can we expect users to love it?" Shah asked, and introduced mandatory measures: managers had to ensure their teams spent at least one hour per week in Horizon [2].
Imagine: the team building a "new reality" is forced to enter it by order of management. This is symptomatic. It means the product was so raw, uninteresting, and inconvenient that even its creators preferred to spend time anywhere but there.
Why did this happen?
A classic corporate trap was at work at Meta: top management approved a top‑down strategy, and people on the ground simply executed tasks without questioning the final value of the product. As Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth later admitted, the metaverse suffered from a "lack of focus," which happened "at the expense of user experience" [3]. Teams tried to boil the ocean instead of perfecting a single scenario.
The most shocking detail of this story is Meta's top management admitting that the development team did not use their own creation [2].
In September 2024, Meta's Vice President of the Metaverse, Vishal Shah, sent an internal memo that became public. In it, he stated a catastrophic fact: Horizon Worlds developers were not spending time there [2].
"If we don't love what we've built, how can we expect users to love it?" Shah asked, and introduced mandatory measures: managers had to ensure their teams spent at least one hour per week in Horizon [2].
Imagine: the team building a "new reality" is forced to enter it by order of management. This is symptomatic. It means the product was so raw, uninteresting, and inconvenient that even its creators preferred to spend time anywhere but there.
Why did this happen?
A classic corporate trap was at work at Meta: top management approved a top‑down strategy, and people on the ground simply executed tasks without questioning the final value of the product. As Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth later admitted, the metaverse suffered from a "lack of focus," which happened "at the expense of user experience" [3]. Teams tried to boil the ocean instead of perfecting a single scenario.
Reason 2. Wrong Direction: Technologism Instead of Human‑Centricity
Zuckerberg is an engineer to the bone. And his approach to the metaverse was typically engineering‑driven: "If we build it, they will come." That direction proved fatally wrong.
Mistake 2.1: Technology for technology's sake
The biggest PR failure came when Zuckerberg posted a selfie of his avatar in front of a digital Eiffel Tower. The internet exploded with laughter: the graphics were on par with the PlayStation 2. For the average person, this became a symbol that the "great future" looked pathetic.
But the problem was deeper than graphics. The very idea of moving all social life into a VR headset proved unviable. Cambridge Professor Per Ola Kristensson conducted an experiment: his team tried to work in VR for 40 hours a week. The result: "You can do it, but you will hate it" [4]. Motion sickness, eye fatigue, inability to drink coffee without removing the headset – these "little things" kill any immersive experience.
Mistake 2.2: Wrong vector inside the universe
The main strategic miscalculation: Meta decided that the metaverse is VR. But users voted with their wallets for something else. When Horizon Worlds finally launched on mobile devices in 2023, it turned out people didn't need a headset. They want to enter worlds from their phone, quickly, for a few minutes, like any other social network.
Bosworth admitted this belatedly: "Building everything twice – once for mobile, once for VR – is a massive cost for the team" [3]. But the choice had been made in favor of VR, which remained a niche product.
Zuckerberg is an engineer to the bone. And his approach to the metaverse was typically engineering‑driven: "If we build it, they will come." That direction proved fatally wrong.
Mistake 2.1: Technology for technology's sake
The biggest PR failure came when Zuckerberg posted a selfie of his avatar in front of a digital Eiffel Tower. The internet exploded with laughter: the graphics were on par with the PlayStation 2. For the average person, this became a symbol that the "great future" looked pathetic.
But the problem was deeper than graphics. The very idea of moving all social life into a VR headset proved unviable. Cambridge Professor Per Ola Kristensson conducted an experiment: his team tried to work in VR for 40 hours a week. The result: "You can do it, but you will hate it" [4]. Motion sickness, eye fatigue, inability to drink coffee without removing the headset – these "little things" kill any immersive experience.
Mistake 2.2: Wrong vector inside the universe
The main strategic miscalculation: Meta decided that the metaverse is VR. But users voted with their wallets for something else. When Horizon Worlds finally launched on mobile devices in 2023, it turned out people didn't need a headset. They want to enter worlds from their phone, quickly, for a few minutes, like any other social network.
Bosworth admitted this belatedly: "Building everything twice – once for mobile, once for VR – is a massive cost for the team" [3]. But the choice had been made in favor of VR, which remained a niche product.
Reason 3. Poor Execution: A World That "Kicks Out" Users
The technical execution of Horizon Worlds was so bad that it killed even the small audience that tried to stay.
Developer forums are full of desperate posts. One creator, who had poured his soul into his virtual nightclub, wrote in 2025:
"People just get kicked out of worlds for no reason. This kills worlds. A well‑known, awesome developer checked my world – said everything was optimized perfectly. But people still crash out. The sound systems are just a nightmare, they crash half the visitors" [5].
And this is not an isolated complaint. Users complained about:
·Constant crashes (so‑called "coining out") [5]
·Performance problems even on optimized worlds [5]
·Analytics system failures (the creator's time counter got "stuck" for a week even though people were actively visiting) [5]
·Poor quality recommendation algorithms that couldn't find interesting content for new users
In official documentation, Meta acknowledged that algorithms rank worlds by four parameters: appeal, visit quality, returnability, and technical characteristics. But in practice, technical failures nullified all creator efforts.
The technical execution of Horizon Worlds was so bad that it killed even the small audience that tried to stay.
Developer forums are full of desperate posts. One creator, who had poured his soul into his virtual nightclub, wrote in 2025:
"People just get kicked out of worlds for no reason. This kills worlds. A well‑known, awesome developer checked my world – said everything was optimized perfectly. But people still crash out. The sound systems are just a nightmare, they crash half the visitors" [5].
And this is not an isolated complaint. Users complained about:
·Constant crashes (so‑called "coining out") [5]
·Performance problems even on optimized worlds [5]
·Analytics system failures (the creator's time counter got "stuck" for a week even though people were actively visiting) [5]
·Poor quality recommendation algorithms that couldn't find interesting content for new users
In official documentation, Meta acknowledged that algorithms rank worlds by four parameters: appeal, visit quality, returnability, and technical characteristics. But in practice, technical failures nullified all creator efforts.
Reason 4. Unwanted Stories: "A Noisy Room for Children"
The harshest truth about Meta's metaverse is that nobody needed it. Not in the sense that people don't need virtual worlds – Fortnite and Roblox are thriving. But rather, Horizon Worlds did not offer scenarios that were in demand.
Mistake 4.1: Who is the target audience?
The platform tried to be "for everyone," but ended up being for no one. There was no killer app. Unlike Rec Room, which focused on games and teen communication, or VRChat, which became a haven for anime fans and furries, Horizon Worlds was a strange, empty space without a clear identity.
Analysts point to a problem of algorithmic sorting: the platform started recommending content that most active users liked. And the majority, it turned out, were children and teenagers [6]. As a result, creators making content for adult audiences got no traffic, left, and the platform turned into a "noisy children's room" from which everyone else fled.
Mistake 4.2: Crushing monetization
Meta, whose business is built on advertising, tried to profit from creators in the clumsiest possible way. The company announced it would take 47.5% of revenue from in‑world sales [7]. That's higher than Apple's commission (30%) and Google's (30%), which have been criticized for years for their "platform tax."
Put yourself in a game developer's shoes. You can go to Roblox, where the audience is 80 million daily active users, or to Fortnite, or to VRChat. Or you can go to Horizon Worlds, where there are fewer than 200,000 users [6], the platform is buggy, and Meta takes almost half your revenue. The choice is obvious. The creator ecosystem never formed.
The harshest truth about Meta's metaverse is that nobody needed it. Not in the sense that people don't need virtual worlds – Fortnite and Roblox are thriving. But rather, Horizon Worlds did not offer scenarios that were in demand.
Mistake 4.1: Who is the target audience?
The platform tried to be "for everyone," but ended up being for no one. There was no killer app. Unlike Rec Room, which focused on games and teen communication, or VRChat, which became a haven for anime fans and furries, Horizon Worlds was a strange, empty space without a clear identity.
Analysts point to a problem of algorithmic sorting: the platform started recommending content that most active users liked. And the majority, it turned out, were children and teenagers [6]. As a result, creators making content for adult audiences got no traffic, left, and the platform turned into a "noisy children's room" from which everyone else fled.
Mistake 4.2: Crushing monetization
Meta, whose business is built on advertising, tried to profit from creators in the clumsiest possible way. The company announced it would take 47.5% of revenue from in‑world sales [7]. That's higher than Apple's commission (30%) and Google's (30%), which have been criticized for years for their "platform tax."
Put yourself in a game developer's shoes. You can go to Roblox, where the audience is 80 million daily active users, or to Fortnite, or to VRChat. Or you can go to Horizon Worlds, where there are fewer than 200,000 users [6], the platform is buggy, and Meta takes almost half your revenue. The choice is obvious. The creator ecosystem never formed.
Reason 5. Blindness to Trends: How Meta Missed the AI Revolution
Perhaps the most ironic part of this story is the timeline. Zuckerberg announced a total company restructuring around the metaverse in October 2021. And a little over a month later, in November 2021, OpenAI quietly launched ChatGPT [8].
By 2023, it was clear: the future was not bulky headsets and empty virtual worlds, but generative artificial intelligence that integrates into everyday applications. While Meta was spending tens of billions building a "digital paradise," the world switched to neural networks that write texts and draw pictures.
Meta had to play catch‑up. The company created a Superintelligence Lab, bought the AI platform Moltbook, but lost years and the initiative [8]. As one analyst aptly put it, "the metaverse became a victim of artificial intelligence."
Perhaps the most ironic part of this story is the timeline. Zuckerberg announced a total company restructuring around the metaverse in October 2021. And a little over a month later, in November 2021, OpenAI quietly launched ChatGPT [8].
By 2023, it was clear: the future was not bulky headsets and empty virtual worlds, but generative artificial intelligence that integrates into everyday applications. While Meta was spending tens of billions building a "digital paradise," the world switched to neural networks that write texts and draw pictures.
Meta had to play catch‑up. The company created a Superintelligence Lab, bought the AI platform Moltbook, but lost years and the initiative [8]. As one analyst aptly put it, "the metaverse became a victim of artificial intelligence."
What Remains? Conclusions and Lessons
The closure of Horizon Worlds and Workrooms in early 2026 [1] is not just a corporate failure. It is the collapse of an entire paradigm.
The closure of Horizon Worlds and Workrooms in early 2026 [1] is not just a corporate failure. It is the collapse of an entire paradigm.
The main lesson of this story: you cannot force a technology onto a market that is not ready for it, no matter how beautiful the utopia. Zuckerberg was not wrong that metaverses will someday become part of life. He was wrong about the timing and the approach.
Now Meta is pivoting to Ray‑Ban smart glasses – a product that solves specific, understandable tasks: shooting video, listening to music, interacting with an AI assistant [9]. The glasses don't require users to change their lifestyle, put on a bulky headset, or endure motion sickness. They just make everyday things a little more convenient.
That is the main takeaway: technologies win not when they are the most ambitious, but when they are the most convenient and solve real problems. Zuckerberg's metaverse didn't solve any problems – it was the problem, which users were asked to solve at the cost of time, money, and discomfort.
$80 billion – the price of this lesson for Meta [10]. Expensive, but perhaps it will allow the company not to repeat the mistake with AI and smart glasses.
Now Meta is pivoting to Ray‑Ban smart glasses – a product that solves specific, understandable tasks: shooting video, listening to music, interacting with an AI assistant [9]. The glasses don't require users to change their lifestyle, put on a bulky headset, or endure motion sickness. They just make everyday things a little more convenient.
That is the main takeaway: technologies win not when they are the most ambitious, but when they are the most convenient and solve real problems. Zuckerberg's metaverse didn't solve any problems – it was the problem, which users were asked to solve at the cost of time, money, and discomfort.
$80 billion – the price of this lesson for Meta [10]. Expensive, but perhaps it will allow the company not to repeat the mistake with AI and smart glasses.
Sources
1. Meta announces closure of VR version of Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms – Reuters, March 2026
2. Vishal Shah's internal letter to Reality Labs employees – The Verge, September 2024
3. Andrew Bosworth interview on focus problems at Meta – Bloomberg, January 2025
4. University of Cambridge study on working in VR (Prof. Per Ola Kristensson) – Cambridge University Press, 2025
5. User complaints about crashes and bugs in Horizon Worlds – Reddit r/OculusQuest, 2024–2025
6. Horizon Worlds active audience analytics – CNBC, February 2026
7. Data on Meta's commission for creators (47.5%) – The Information, April 2024
8. Timeline of ChatGPT launch and Meta's reaction – TechCrunch, 2023–2025
9. Ray-Ban Meta sales data (7+ million units) – Meta Q4 2025 Earnings Report
10. Interview with former Meta employee Vasuman Moz – Business Insider, March 2026
1. Meta announces closure of VR version of Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms – Reuters, March 2026
2. Vishal Shah's internal letter to Reality Labs employees – The Verge, September 2024
3. Andrew Bosworth interview on focus problems at Meta – Bloomberg, January 2025
4. University of Cambridge study on working in VR (Prof. Per Ola Kristensson) – Cambridge University Press, 2025
5. User complaints about crashes and bugs in Horizon Worlds – Reddit r/OculusQuest, 2024–2025
6. Horizon Worlds active audience analytics – CNBC, February 2026
7. Data on Meta's commission for creators (47.5%) – The Information, April 2024
8. Timeline of ChatGPT launch and Meta's reaction – TechCrunch, 2023–2025
9. Ray-Ban Meta sales data (7+ million units) – Meta Q4 2025 Earnings Report
10. Interview with former Meta employee Vasuman Moz – Business Insider, March 2026
© Edgar Grigoryan
Control Systems Design Bureau & EWA
Control Systems Design Bureau & EWA