Metaverse Review: Horizon Worlds
In this post, we’ll be exploring the good and the not-so-good of the Meta-owned Horizon Worlds and why it may or may not be where you should consider establishing a presence for your brand. Horizon Worlds, formally known as Facebook Horizon, was released to the public in December of 2021, making it relatively young in the metaverse landscape. Horizon Worlds is a metaverse on the rise, with over 300,000 MAU and 10,000 plus user-generated worlds reported in its first few months. Let’s explore why…
What is the platform about?
Horizon Worlds is a free-to-play virtual reality game developed by Meta (formerly Facebook) as part of their $10 billion investment and strategic shift into the metaverse. In February of 2022, Meta reported that Horizon Worlds had over 300,000 MAU and over 10,000 user-generated worlds, which is impressive growth in such a short period of time. That said, when compared to metaverse incumbents, Roblox and Rec Room, Meta has a long way to go to match their activity. Bucking the trend of many of the newer Metaverses, Meta elected to eschew the blockchain in favor of a more traditional approach.
What makes the platform unique?
The most obvious thing that sets Horizon Worlds apart from its competitors is that Meta, the thirteenth largest company in the world by market cap (with a current market capitalization of ~US$430 billion), owns it. To put this in perspective, Roblox, one of the leading metaverses, has a market capitalization just shy of US$25 billion, 17 times less than Meta. One cannot ignore this kind of backing, even if Meta’s size advantage is due to its ownership of products like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, rather than the success of Horizon Worlds. Adding insult to injury, Meta also owns Oculus, which in Q4 of 2021 held an 80% share of the VR headset market, giving them a distinct advantage over their competitors in VR gaming.
Why should brands consider it? What makes it relevant for brands to consider? What are the opportunities?
The short answer as to why brands should consider Horizon Worlds is that Facebook (read “Meta”) owns it, which, as mentioned above, gives it a decisive advantage over its competitors. Horizon Worlds has impressive momentum, as demonstrated by its rapid growth, and it has the financial prowess needed to reach Meta’s lofty goals. One example is the $10 million creators fund Meta established to entice external creators to build within the platform; a drop in the bucket for Meta equates to 3.5% of the total VC investment into Rec Room ($294M to date). Another reason to consider Horizon Worlds is, ironically, why you should also take pause, and that is Oculus. As noted, Meta owns the runaway market leader for VR headsets; however, support for Horizon Worlds is limited to only the latest Oculus headsets, limiting its total available market.
Rating
Engagement
4 — Meta is striving to build a metaverse where users can play complex games, and interactions feel natural. Still, as with many new platforms, it will be up to the community of creators to push the boundaries of what is possible based on the tools that Meta provides.
Immersiveness
3 — Only available on Oculus, Horizon Worlds does a decent job immersing you into the game. However, I had difficulty suspending reality due to the still somewhat clunky graphics and often hamfisted controls.
Social Interactivity
3 — Users can interact with each other directly in Horizon Worlds and choose to hear “garbled” speech if they want to keep the experience of a rich world while avoiding the possibility of being exposed to troublesome language and/or harassment. This harmful content has been an issue for Horizon Worlds from the beginning.
Centralization
2 — As of February 2022, Horizon Worlds had over 10,000 worlds built by external developers, where ownership of the intellectual property technically belongs to the creator. However, Meta still runs the show, making Horizon Worlds far from decentralized. My suggestion is if you want to know what your rights as a creator truly are, read the fine print.
User Generated Content Creation
4 — Horizon Worlds will go as far as creators take it, and thus far, Meta is keeping up their end of the bargain with regular updates to provide creators with more tools to enrich their worlds. Meta has never seen a tool they didn’t want to make proprietary; as a result, platform analytics are limited to their provided dashboard, putting you at their mercy when trying to understand your visitor’s behaviors.
Economics
4 — Meta has begun allowing creators to monetize their worlds. As of writing, only users in Canada and the United States can make purchases in Horizon Worlds; however, creators anywhere can create digital assets to sell. As a creator, you earn 52.5% after Meta takes their commission, which includes a 30% platform fee (the same as they charge to their competitors) and a 25% fee on the remaining amount. While this may seem excessive on the surface, to put it in perspective, creators on Rec Room earn 7% after the company passes 30% onto the platform and keeps 90% of the remaining for themselves.
Partnerability
5 — Horizon Worlds has shown its commitment to partnerships with the creation of its $10 million creators fund, as well as recent collaborations with heavyweights like Jordan Peele, who created a robust experience based on his movie Nope.
Want to learn more about other metaverses, find our other reviews in our State of the Metaverse post.
Apply Digital solves complex problems with well-executed digital solutions for some of the most respected brands in the world. We help our clients gain a competitive advantage and delight users with expertly executed digital solutions. Learn more about our services at www.applydigital.com.
