• by Colin Kirkland , July 2, 2024

Looking to become an industry leader in both generative artificial intelligence and metaverse gaming, Meta is attempting to develop a generative AI strategy for its virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) game offerings, including Horizon Worlds, according to a new job posting by the tech giant.

Meta’s “Emerging Tech (GenAI)” job posting on LinkedIn requires someone to “formulate a vision and strategy for how to build the next generation of content through Generative AI,” with the chosen applicant expected to look “across multiple platforms and envision a broader future for what we could do in our 1P [first-party] studios, our 2P and 3P relationships, and the broader game industry.”

The company's primary focus will be on Horizon, Meta's metaverse gaming hub that utilizes its developing VR hardware, but may also develop generative AI experiences for non-Meta platforms such as mobile and PC.

Meta says it believes it can “dramatically improve workflow and time-to-market by accelerating content creation” through the development of new tools and/or partnerships with external game creators and vendors.

The new role would also require a research component, in which prototypes are developed around new consumer experiences “where entirely new types of gameplay could be created,” like games that “change every time you play them.”

Meta admits that this is “a nascent area,” in that the vague experiences it is envisioning, which fuse the concept of prompt-based AI generation with a gaming mindset, are not yet possible, but has decided that the idea has enough potential to justify a thorough pursuit.

The initiative elicits a resounding tone of the company's risky metaverse investments and overall company rebrand from Facebook to Meta. After sinking billions into its Reality Labs sector and worrying stakeholders, the tech giant has won back trust with its recent generative AI advancements, including its Llama large-language-model and automated Advantage+ ad tools.

By merging generative AI with its metaverse gaming and virtual world-building ambitions, Meta is trying to elucidate its foray into new-generation gaming for the majority of consumers, and stakeholders, who are not sold or overly supportive of the Horizon platform.

A pivot in its gaming strategy could also result in the sale of more Meta Quest VR headsets, although it will still be “years” before the company makes money from generative AI, according to a statement made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in April.