Horizon Worlds launched in France and Spain today, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrated with an in-app image that’s being described as “eye-gougingly ugly.” Public reaction to Horizon Worlds, which is the platform Meta is using to focus its efforts to build a metaverse, has been almost universally adverse, and it continues to get roasted on social media regularly. As predicted, people were eager to weigh in on the company’s latest blunder.
Why are people roasting Zuckerberg and Horizon Worlds?
Mark Zuckerberg launches Horizon Worlds in France and Spain with an eye-gougingly ugly VR selfie. Meta's metaverse ploy is surely dying in the dark. pic.twitter.com/j0l6yTYye4
— Josh Otten (@ordinarytings) August 16, 2022
As people continue to lose interest in Facebook, the company has tried to pivot to building a metaverse. However, its attempts to do so through Horizon Worlds have come off as goofy and unfocused. Furthermore, Zuckerberg is possibly the worst advocate for his own product, which can be seen in the promo image for the launch of the app in France and Spain.
https://twitter.com/Win98Tech/status/1559914020446027776
Horizon Worlds itself is a novelty blend of VR Chat and Roblox. Unfortunately, it’s less fun and refined than either. The avatars don’t even have legs, which is something that Zuck’s selfie conveniently hides. It’s no wonder that Meta is losing billions on its investments into metaverse development.
can't really explain why but I love how shit the Metaverse looks. every screenshot and clip brings me genuine joy. billions and billions poured into it and this is the result. The Sims but worse, and with nothing below the torso. wonderful stuff pic.twitter.com/PVSsevodad
— Stefan Mohamed (@stefmowords) August 17, 2022
Part of the issue is that Zuckerberg insists on being the public face of Meta. He’s intensely unlikable, and if you’re going to rep a company that makes its living by selling personal data, fomenting political upheaval, and aiding genocide, then you’ve got to have a bit of charm about you.
https://twitter.com/joeljohnson/status/1559924195152257032
Another problem Meta faces is that no one is interested in the corporate definition of a metaverse. The world is so saturated by ads and corporate messaging that companies need to create another universe to target us in. Fortunately, with avatars with less character (and limbs) than a Mii, Horizon Worlds is little more than a curiosity.
