It is either the “year of greatness” or the year of a “legendary misadventure” for the Metaverse, says the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Meta, Andrew Bosworth. According to the CTO, 2025 will be a “critical year” to determine the future of the Metaverse. The technology company foresees that 2025 will be a good year for its hardware and software dedicated to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences, as previewed during Meta Connect 2024, held at the end of last September.
In the months prior, it had been adding updates to its Meta Quest headsets, such as the Travel Mode, to play games and watch movies during airplane trips. Later, an update was launched aimed at improving pairing with a Windows computer or hand-tracking systems. Moreover, in the AR department, Meta partnered with Ray-Ban to launch its smart glasses last year. Moreover, this year, Meta is planning to push Horizon Worlds for mobile.
2025: A critical juncture for the Metaverse
Now, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, has commented within the company that this is the “most critical” year of his eight years as a member of Reality Labs to demonstrate the Metaverse’s capabilities and determine whether it is visionary work or just a fad. In a document shared among employees, the company executive noted that the division responsible for developing VR and AR equipment and software plans to launch half a dozen portable devices powered by AI. “We need to drive sales, retention [of users], and engagement across all areas, but especially in this one (mixed reality), Bosworth highlighted in this document, in which he also mentioned the mobile version of Horizon Worlds.
“Horizon Worlds for mobile needs to break through strongly for our long-term plans to have a chance,” Bosworth underscored. He recently announced the reorganisation of Reality Labs, a change that came months after the restructuring of this department, which is now composed of two major groups. One is dedicated to the Metaverse, and the other is to wearable devices. Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, also recently revealed his AI plans for 2025 a week ago, warning company employees to “fasten their seat belts” for an “intense year.” This make-or-break approach has lead Meta to have to roll back some features, such as AI profiles on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The Metaverse loses buckets of money
In its latest financial statement, Meta’s Reality Labs unit reported its best quarter with US$1.08 billion in revenue (for its fourth-quarter earnings). However, the mixed-reality-focused division also recorded its biggest-ever quarterly operating loss, US$4.97 billion. In total, the Metaverse bet has cost Meta more than US$60 billion in investments since 2020. Nonetheless, and despite the considerable investments, Meta remains one of the most profitable companies in the world, as the business generated US$48.39 billion and US$20.84 billion in Q4 2024 (Up 21% and 49%, respectively).
