• by Colin Kirkland , August 28, 2023

Despite recent reports of Meta's $36 billion virtual metaverse world platform having less than 1,000 daily active users, the tech giant is moving forward with plans to launch Horizon Worlds on mobile and web.

Over the weekend, Meta shared a teaser of the experience and invited people to apply to join the waitlist for the closed beta test.

“We are slowly rolling out worlds to mobile and web users as we ensure a great experience on mobile and web,” the company stated on the registration site, explaining that a virtual reality world called Super Rumble is coming soon to both mobile and web, with “more worlds coming soon.”

"Super Rumble" is an arena-style shooter game from Meta’s first party studio Ouro Interactive. As the first world available on mobile, Super Rumble is also the only Horizon world to utilize the platform's soon-to-launch creator tools, 3D asset importing and TypeScript, notes a report by Upload.

Meta is still in an early stage of mobile and web development for the virtual reality gaming platform, adding that while more worlds become available, “not all content will be available to all people” as they continue to test the experience.

While Horizon Worlds will be available on Android phones through the existing Meta Quest app, the web-based version is the only way iPhone users will be able to access the app. This is likely due to Apple's rule that prevents apps acting as game platforms.

By bringing the struggling app to mobile and web devices, Meta will have a better chance at expanding the Horizon Worlds audience as well as its long-term goals for further metaverse development and widespread VR adoption. 

Meta has also made headlines with the upcoming rollout of its Quest 3 VR headset, set to drop this fall. By launching the next-gen headset alongside the Horizon mobile app, Meta is pushing for the attention of curious VR gamers and mobile users.