Strategic retreat! Meta (META.US) urgently scales back the VR front, reallocating resources entirely to AI and smart glasses.

Zhitong Finance APP noted that Meta (META.US) announced that Quest headset users will no longer be able to access Horizon Worlds. This is a virtual destination where people can gather and play games through cartoon avatars, and this move marks the latest contraction of the so-called “metaverse” vision strategy that Mark Zuckerberg once regarded as central.

On Tuesday, the company stated that starting June 15, consumers will no longer be able to create, publish, or update virtual reality worlds on Meta Quest headsets, nor access Meta Horizon Worlds through the device. Users can still access these virtual worlds via the Meta Horizon mobile app.

In a blog post, Meta mentioned that the company is “shifting the focus of Worlds almost entirely to mobile”—indicating upcoming changes.

Prior to this move, the team responsible for headsets and virtual reality products (the Reality Labs division) had already faced layoffs. In January of this year, Meta began cutting 1,000 jobs in that division and closed some virtual reality game and content studios.

At that time, Andrew Bosworth, the Chief Technology Officer leading Reality Labs, stated in a letter to employees that Meta would primarily focus on mobile experiences rather than fully immersive virtual worlds accessed through headsets.

Mark Zuckerberg’s push for the metaverse—an effort that once deeply convinced him and even led to Facebook being renamed Meta—has long been scrutinized by investors and child safety regulators. Years after the rebranding, after investing hundreds of billions of dollars, the company has shifted its spending toward the rapidly advancing artificial intelligence race.

At Reality Labs, resources have shifted from VR games to wearable products capable of advancing Zuckerberg’s AI ambitions, including Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.