Meta Opens Its Virtual World App To The Public In Another Step Into Metaverse
Image via Meta
Meta, after rebranding from Facebook in October, may have just made the biggest step towards its vision of the metaverse to date.
The company has announced that its virtual-reality universe, ‘Horizon Worlds‘, will be open to anyone based in the US or Canada over the age of 18. Previously, this was only available in beta to a select group of Oculus VR users who had received invitations. As of Thursday, users don’t need to be invited in order to join.
In Horizon Worlds, users will adopt their own avatar in order to be able to traverse everything the world has to offer—all in virtual reality, of course.
As well as being able to interact with other users through their avatars, users will also be able to play games such as Arena Clash, an iteration of 3v3 laser tag.
Image via Meta
Experiences like cruising down the river on a triple-deck riverboat and flying on a magic broom are also ways a day can be spent exploring the new digital world.
These aren’t the only potential ways the world can be enjoyed; Meta has also announced that it will be launching new mechanics and templates creators can use to develop their own games and experiences for Horizon Worlds. These can then be shared with the community to play.
Image via Meta
Several safety options are detailed in a blog post published in August 2020. One example of is a personal Safe Zone, accessed through the wrist menu, for users to step away from the situation in VR before taking action such as muting or blocking another user.
Horizon Worlds is available to download on Quest 2, with support for Quest 1 ceasing in January 2022. This might not yet be the metaverse that the company has been vying towards, but it’s a pretty big first step.
[via CNBC, images via Meta]
Also check out these recent news
