Meta pulls the plug on its metaverse for work
16 Jan 2026

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced that it will be shutting down Horizon Workrooms, its virtual collaboration space for workers.

The decision comes after the company rebranded to "Meta," having initially introduced Horizon Workrooms as a virtual space for workers to collaborate.

The company said in a statement that "Meta has made the decision to discontinue Workrooms as a standalone app, effective February 16, 2026."

Meta halts sales of headsets and software services
Fact

Along with discontinuing Horizon Workrooms, Meta has also decided to stop selling its headsets and software specifically for businesses, including "Meta Horizon managed services and commercial SKUs of Meta Quest," effective February 20, 2026. This decision suggests a shift in the company's business strategy.

Recent layoffs and VR game studio closures
Workforce reduction

Meta recently laid off around 10% of its entire Reality Labs division, resulting in over 1,000 job losses.

Alongside these layoffs, Meta has shuttered three VR game studios, having previously closed another studio in 2024.

In addition, the company has stopped development on Supernatural, a popular VR fitness app.

It has also reportedly gutted the studio behind Batman: Arkham Shadow.

Meta's future plans for the metaverse
Strategic shift

Despite the recent setbacks, Meta is still committed to developing the metaverse.

However, the company plans to focus on mobile phones instead of fully immersive VR headsets.

This change in strategy was hinted at by CTO Andrew Bosworth, who said in a memo that the company's Horizon team would "double down on bringing the best Horizon experiences and AI creator tools to mobile."

Horizon Workrooms to shut down abruptly
Data deletion

Horizon Workrooms will be shutting down on February 16, with all data associated with the platform being deleted.

Meta has suggested users try Arthur, Microsoft Teams and Zoom Workplace instead.

The company also said that the Meta Quest Remote Desktop app will remain available for those wanting to use multiple virtual monitors in their headsets.