spatialcomputing.info

Meta released a new Desktop Editor for Horizon Worlds in preview, giving world creators a Unity-style game development platform for the first time. The PC-based editor is designed to be more robust, and make world creation easier and higher quality than its previous Quest-native VR editor, which Meta says it’s now deprecating.

Meta needs broader reach to make Horizon Worlds a success, which it ostensibly hasn’t found on Quest thus far. While the company made its metaverse platform accessible to mobile and desktop in 2023, bringing non-VR users to the platform for the first time since its initial beta launch in 2021, the maker-centric platform is still largely a VR-first experience. But that appears to be changing.

The newly released Desktop Editor allows developers familiar with traditional game engines, such as Unity, to create and publish worlds. Meta says in its developer resources “the VR creation tools … are legacy tools. We strongly recommended moving your development process to the Desktop editor and other PC creation tools.”

Granted, Horizon World creators can still preview scenes in VR while tethered to the desktop-based editor, although it’s not a prerequisite. In short, Horizon Worlds users don’t need a VR headset, and now, neither do world creators.

This follows a report earlier this month of a leaked memo from Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, who said the mobile version of the app “absolutely has to break out for our long term plans to have a chance.”

More recently, Meta announced last week it’s launching a $50 million fund to boost content creation in Horizon Worlds, aiming to drive engagement as self-contained VR studios struggle.

Moreover, Meta’s strategy signals it’s not only doubling down on Horizon Worlds by tossing out more money to developers and giving them tools they’re mostly already familiar with, but it’s also looking to seize a rapidly growing cohort of younger Quest users. Younger players tend to favor free-to-play content and socially-driven experiences—something Meta likely hopes to capture with Horizon Worlds.