Meta is abandoning its pioneering virtual reality meeting space, Workrooms, as part of a broader consolidation effort within the company. The move marks a significant shift towards integrating its Horizon platform, which is now touted as a robust hub for productivity apps and tools.
In an era of rapidly evolving tech landscapes, Meta's Reality Labs division has faced significant financial challenges since 2021, with losses estimated to exceed $70 billion. In response, the company has opted to rebalance its investments, diverting resources away from metaverse pursuits towards more established markets like wearables, such as its AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses.
As part of this restructuring, Meta is discontinuing Horizon managed services, a subscription-based service that facilitates the management of Quest headsets for organizations. Furthermore, the company's decision to close three of its VR studios underscores the growing complexity and uncertainty within the metaverse space.
In essence, Workrooms, launched as an immersive virtual reality environment where teams could collaborate in a novel setting, is no longer deemed necessary with Horizon's capabilities on offer. As users prepare for the app's demise, Meta has set a deadline of February 16, 2026, by which point they will be able to access their data within Workrooms or download it if needed.
In an era of rapidly evolving tech landscapes, Meta's Reality Labs division has faced significant financial challenges since 2021, with losses estimated to exceed $70 billion. In response, the company has opted to rebalance its investments, diverting resources away from metaverse pursuits towards more established markets like wearables, such as its AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses.
As part of this restructuring, Meta is discontinuing Horizon managed services, a subscription-based service that facilitates the management of Quest headsets for organizations. Furthermore, the company's decision to close three of its VR studios underscores the growing complexity and uncertainty within the metaverse space.
In essence, Workrooms, launched as an immersive virtual reality environment where teams could collaborate in a novel setting, is no longer deemed necessary with Horizon's capabilities on offer. As users prepare for the app's demise, Meta has set a deadline of February 16, 2026, by which point they will be able to access their data within Workrooms or download it if needed.
. seems like horizon is trying to fill the gap but idk if its gonna be enough to compete with other productivity tools out there 
. anyway, 70 billion losses is straight up crazy 
, wonder what went wrong for them 
.
it's not like they didn't invest enough in the thing - $70 billion isn't cheap! 
. It was actually kinda cool back in the day when you could hang out with colleagues in a virtual reality space. But I guess times have changed and they're trying to streamline things 
. The thing is, Horizon's getting pretty solid now, so it makes sense for them to focus on that instead of metaverse stuff 
. Still, it's gonna be weird seeing Workrooms just fade away 
. Anyone know what'll happen to the data from all those virtual meetings? 
but anyway back to this meta thing... so they're closing down workrooms because horizon is supposed to be the better version now? that's kinda weird, i thought workrooms was like the ultimate virtual meeting space 
Workrooms was actually kinda cool in a weird way... who wouldn't want to hang out with their team in a VR environment? 
But I guess that's just too radical for Meta 
. Not sure if that's gonna fly, but we'll see... Fingers crossed someone else picks up the VR torch 
. They need to cut losses & focus on wearables where profit margins are higher 
. but honestly, i think its not surprising considering how much money they've lost on metaverse stuff. its just a big experiment that didn't quite work out 
. and imo, meta is being super smart by focusing on wearables instead - who needs VR when u have smart glasses? 
. I guess you can't have everything at once, right? The Horizon platform is still solid, but it's just not the same as having a dedicated space like Workrooms 
. It's been a bit of an experimental phase for them, and with the metaverse space getting increasingly saturated, they gotta focus on what's working 
. But, it's sad to see Workrooms go 
... I've heard some great collaborations happen in that space 
. Workrooms might not be around, but it's still a reminder that even the most promising ideas can have a limited shelf life 
. It's up to us as consumers & users to make sure we're not just holding onto things out of nostalgia, but actually using what makes sense for our needs 
hope people get their data before it's too late 
️
.
I loved using workrooms for virtual team meetings with my friends and family... it was like we were all in the same room even though we were thousands of miles apart. now i'm not sure what's going to happen to those old connections we made 