Meta has released its social VR space Horizon Worlds after over a year in closed testing. This is the first major release of its kind since Facebook renamed itself Meta and announced its plans to "build a metaverse".
The app allows users to create their own mini-games on top of the base Meta game — similar to Roblox or other creator-focused apps. Creators will not be able to earn money directly from their worlds.
Instead, Meta put $10 million into a "fund for authors" to reward community creators who win contests. This concept is different from apps like Roblox, where creators can sell their games for in-app currency. However, Horizon Worlds is free to players using the Oculus Quest 2 headset, which is sold by Meta.
Anyone aged 18 or over can create a virtual avatar in the same style Meta uses in their meeting system. “Our vision for Horizon Worlds is to bring to life a creator-friendly virtual space with best-in-class tools for creating social worlds,” Meta said in a statement. "We've spent the past year developing these tools and improving them based on feedback."
Creation tools are built right into the VR game so players can access them without any additional downloads or steps.
Players can fly around their world and place items such as trees to use as building blocks to create their own digital environment. In order to influence the rules of the game, users can use "scripts" — pre-created pieces of code that affect the world around the player.
Similar ideas have already been implemented by other VR developers such as Rec Room, which allows players to create their own "rooms" with games, or VR Chat, which allows the creation of avatar skins and social environments.
Meta says that during the invite-only beta, "thousands of worlds have already been built." They include shooting, platformers, and many other ideas.
Horizon Worlds will be released in the US the day after the announcement of the VR port of “Among Us” and Friday's surprise release of Lady Gaga's expansion pack for fan-favorite Beat Saber, both announced at the Game Awards on Thursday.
At the same awards ceremony, the VR version of the horror game Resident Evil 4, which is exclusive to the Meta Oculus platform, won the award for best VR game.
The app allows users to create their own mini-games on top of the base Meta game — similar to Roblox or other creator-focused apps. Creators will not be able to earn money directly from their worlds.
Instead, Meta put $10 million into a "fund for authors" to reward community creators who win contests. This concept is different from apps like Roblox, where creators can sell their games for in-app currency. However, Horizon Worlds is free to players using the Oculus Quest 2 headset, which is sold by Meta.
Anyone aged 18 or over can create a virtual avatar in the same style Meta uses in their meeting system. “Our vision for Horizon Worlds is to bring to life a creator-friendly virtual space with best-in-class tools for creating social worlds,” Meta said in a statement. "We've spent the past year developing these tools and improving them based on feedback."
Creation tools are built right into the VR game so players can access them without any additional downloads or steps.
Players can fly around their world and place items such as trees to use as building blocks to create their own digital environment. In order to influence the rules of the game, users can use "scripts" — pre-created pieces of code that affect the world around the player.
Similar ideas have already been implemented by other VR developers such as Rec Room, which allows players to create their own "rooms" with games, or VR Chat, which allows the creation of avatar skins and social environments.
Meta says that during the invite-only beta, "thousands of worlds have already been built." They include shooting, platformers, and many other ideas.
Horizon Worlds will be released in the US the day after the announcement of the VR port of “Among Us” and Friday's surprise release of Lady Gaga's expansion pack for fan-favorite Beat Saber, both announced at the Game Awards on Thursday.
At the same awards ceremony, the VR version of the horror game Resident Evil 4, which is exclusive to the Meta Oculus platform, won the award for best VR game.