Facebook parent Meta is reportedly planning to include more teen and young-adult users in its fledgling Horizon Worlds metaverse app after working to improve the service’s design.
The app is currently available to users aged 18 and up, and the teen launch could happen as soon as March, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.
According to a memo sent to the team working on the initiative, the new strategy includes opening up Horizon to teens aged 13 to 17.
“Today our competitors are doing a much better job meeting the unique needs of these cohorts,” Vice President of Horizon Gabriel Aul, was quoted as saying.
“For Horizon to succeed we need to ensure that we serve this cohort first and foremost,” he added.
Moreover, Meta spokesman Joe Osborne said that the Meta’s Quest virtual-reality headsets were designed for people aged 13 and up, so it makes sense that the company would plan to introduce experiences for that audience in Horizon.
“Teens are already spending time in a variety of VR experiences on Quest, and we want to ensure that we can provide them with a great experience in Horizon Worlds as well, with age-appropriate tools and protections in place,” Osborne was quoted as saying.
Last year, it was reported that Meta was struggling to gain and keep users on Horizon Worlds, its biggest bet to fulfill its $10 billion metaverse dream.
Nearly a year after Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his metaverse project, internal documents revealed that the company is grappling with “glitchy technology, uninterested users and a lack of clarity about what it will take to succeed”.
