In a survey, users claimed that they were struggling to find virtual spaces they actually liked, and encountering others in the metaverse was a struggle.
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An embarrassing new article sheds further light on Meta's battle to take the metaverse mainstream — with disappointing user numbers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Horizon Worlds currently has fewer than 200,000 monthly active users — and a target of attracting 500,000 by the end of 2022 has been slashed.
A big problem for Mark Zuckerberg's platform concerns how many users don't return to the app after the first month of use, the newspaper reported.
All of this has contributed to dwindling user numbers — and now, just 9% of the worlds that have been built within this metaverse actually get visited by more than 50 people.
In a survey, users claimed that they were struggling to find virtual spaces they actually liked, and encountering others in the metaverse was difficult.
And even though the headsets are expensive — $399 for the Quest 2, in fact — more than half aren't used after six months, indicating people are giving up on this technology.
Zuckerberg faced scrutiny last week when he unveiled a new headset, the Quest Pro, which will cost an eye-watering $1,499.
This is hugely expensive for everyday users, meaning only a small number of early adopters are likely to dig deep.
Meta responded to The Wall Street Journal's report by explaining that its big bet on the metaverse is a multi-year project, meaning it will take time to get things right.
Indeed, a similar argument has been made over in El Salvador, which is now in its second year of having Bitcoin as legal tender.
With businesses and consumers failing to adopt BTC in meaningful numbers, many crypto firms are on a quest to ensure digital assets are more usable in the Central American nation.
Also last week, The Verge reported that the problems overshadowing Horizon Worlds mean that "even the team building it isn't using it very much."
Leaked memos suggest that the tech giant's VP of metaverse, Vishal Shah, has put the team responsible for this virtual world on "quality lockdown" for the rest of the year.
