Meta's Metaverse Bet Hinges on a Phone Screen

In 2026, Meta’s ambitious vision for the metaverse faces a decisive test. The company is preparing to launch its struggling social platform, Horizon Worlds, on mobile devices. This move, reported by Business Insider, is a tacit admission that after years of development and tens of billions spent, the virtual reality experience alone has failed to attract a mainstream audience.

Since its public launch in 2021, Horizon Worlds has been plagued by low user numbers, poor retention, and a buggy experience. Even Meta’s own employees have reportedly been reluctant to use it. The platform’s virtual spaces, intended to be bustling creator hubs, often sit empty. The division responsible, Reality Labs, lost over $16 billion in 2023.

The strategy now is to meet people where they already are: on their phones. While Meta has sold an estimated 20-25 million Quest headsets, billions own smartphones. A mobile version would offer a simplified, 2D interface for socializing and attending events, similar to how platforms like Roblox operate. The goal is to build an audience that might later be drawn into the full VR experience.

Investors, who have watched this costly bet with skepticism, have recently been pacified by Meta’s roaring core advertising business. With stock prices high, pressure on the metaverse division has eased, giving CEO Mark Zuckerberg room to continue his long game.

The challenge is steep. Meta must create a mobile experience compelling enough to compete with established apps, not just feel like a diluted VR demo. It must also solve a core problem: creators need users, and users need content. A mobile influx could break that cycle.

If it fails, the mobile push will raise serious questions about the foundational idea behind the company’s 2021 rebrand. Meta has the money and resolve to keep trying, but 2026 will reveal if it can finally build a virtual world people actually want to visit.