“We are working on a product that has not found its market.” It is with this euphemism that Vishal Shah, head of Facebook’s metaverse (called Horizon), alerted his team in a note last September, published by the US site The Verge. The document is addressed to his teams, whom he criticizes for not liking their own product.
At the heart of Facebook’s strategy, the metaverse takes the form of a 3D virtual reality video game called Horizon, which offers an open world where Internet users can find their family members or colleagues. A concept that, as Facebook itself admits, does not seem convincing. Horizon launched in France in August 2022, despite the absence of a French translation and much teasing about its design.
forced love
A fortnight later, he announced more enforcement measures, requiring metaverse division managers to make sure their teams use Horizon at least once a week, even if it means mobilizing their friends for it.
“All of us should aspire to fall in love with Horizon Worlds,” says the Facebook executive, who acknowledges numerous negative comments related to stability problems and errors from testers and users.
For The Verge, Facebook did not deny the nature of these internal memos, stating that the company “is always making improvements and acting on feedback from its community of creators.” “It’s a multi-year journey and we’re going to continue to improve what we’re building.
For Facebook, which estimates that the metaverse will take a decade to show its potential, this project is one of the main engines of growth in the face of multiple controversies surrounding its applications (Facebook and Instagram) and fierce competition from TikTok.
Source: BFM TV
