--- title: "Zuckerberg’s Lifeless Metaverse Avatar Is Comically Different From the One He Advertised" description: "Zuckerberg's metaverse, seen in the viral screenshot of Meta's VR game Horizon Worlds, seems to lack any real vision at all — and that's concerning." date: "2022-08-19" modified: "2022-08-19" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/metaverse-different-advertised" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "the digest" --- # Zuckerberg’s Lifeless Metaverse Avatar Is Comically Different From the One He Advertised ![Zuckerberg's metaverse, seen in the viral screenshot of Meta's VR game Horizon Worlds, seems to lack any real vision at all — and that's concerning.]() *\Image: Meta/Futurism\* ## Dawn of the Metamates Last October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced sweeping changes at the company that would rename it Meta and give it a new "North Star": a headset-heavy, AR-forward metaverse which, as the founder [explained in a series of videos and digital renderings](), would eventually become an "even more immersive" and "fully embodied" internet. In many of these modelings, the chief metamate appears as a stylized yet realistic Zucko avatar, moving through complex spaces with lifelike shading. Indeed, this has been part of his core sell — his vision has been centered in a capacity for realism, likely in order to appeal to the masses. Sure, you can become a beetle and go play chess in space, but you can also be yourself, and do normal things like go to work and visit family. But fast forward almost a year [and several billions of dollars]() later, and Zuckerberg's metaverse, as pictured in a [now-viral screenshot]() of Meta's VR game Horizon Worlds, doesn't just look far from that original vision — it seems to lack any creative vision at all. Zuck's avatar is lifeless and vacant, and comparing the imagined metaverse to the current one, it's hard not to wonder where all these billions have gone. https://twitter.com/rachelmetz/status/1560024268133453825 ## Billboard City To be fair, Zuckerberg never said that his metaverse would be done by now. But you don't necessarily need the [advanced VR products]() that he aspires toward to make something interesting. The avatars can't have legs yet? We can deal. This world, though, is so void of life or character, or any guiding aesthetic at all, that it doesn't just feel rudimentary. It feels foreboding — especially considering that a bland, lifeless backdrop might be the perfect space for just about anyone to throw a billboard. "I've played enough Horizon Worlds to tell you that the missing legs quickly cease to matter," [wrote Zack Zweizen for *Kotaku*](). "But the lack of style and the cold, dead aesthetic never goes away." We'd like to imagine that if we want to just opt out, we can. But Zuckerberg, whose tentacles are already wrapped around pretty much everything digital, isn't intent on just rebuilding his own platform. He wants to reconstruct the *internet.* And how many of us, really, can genuinely opt out of that? **READ MORE:** [*Mark Zuckerberg's Soulless Metaverse Avatar Has Me Worried About Our Digital Future*]() \[*Kotaku*\] **More on Zuckerberg's ugly metaverse:** *[Wave of Criticism Hits Zuckerberg's Metaverse for Looking like Crap]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()