--- title: "Wave of Criticism Hits Zuckerberg’s Metaverse for Looking Like Crap" description: "There's no way to sugarcoat it. Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse — into which Meta has been pouring billions — looks unfathomably bad." date: "2022-08-17" modified: "2022-08-18" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/zuckerbergs-metaverse-crap" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "the digest" --- # Wave of Criticism Hits Zuckerberg’s Metaverse for Looking Like Crap ![There's no way to sugarcoat it. Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse — into which Meta has been pouring billions — bot unfathomably bad.]() *\Image: Mark Zuckerberg\* ## Just How There's no way to sugarcoat it, even if we wanted to. Facebook-turned-Meta's Metaverse — into which Meta has been pouring [*billions of dollars*]() — looks bad. Unfathomably bad. Yesterday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to Facebook to post what apparently was meant to be a celebratory screenshot of Meta's Horizon Worlds, a VR game where the digital selves of folks worldwide can gather. The game was just released in France and Spain, and the [ruler of all metamates]() wanted to share the good news. "We're launching Horizon Worlds in France and Spain today!" the CEO wrote, earnestly. "Looking forward to seeing people build immersive worlds, and bringing this to more countries soon." As waves of critics pointed out, the design of this "immersive" world is astoundingly underwhelming. In the cursed screenshot, Zuck's pasty, robotic avatar — the design of which is perhaps a half step above a [Wii Mii]() — is pictured in front of a sparse, sad landscape upon which arbitrarily sized replicas of France's Eiffel Tower and Spain's Tibidabo Cathedral are uncomfortably plopped. In Zuckerberg's defense, VR graphics don't always translate that well to non-VR displays. But whatever *this* is seems like a very far cry from [the Metaverse vision]() that Zuckerberg's been trying to sell — and perhaps most importantly, it looks to be [very behind]() the likes of [digital worlds like Fortnite]() and Roblox, which are already [finding massive success](). https://twitter.com/JohnGeeMcCarthy/status/1559830388930973699 ## Twitter's Take The netizens of Twitter, of course, had a lot to say. "Facebook spent $10 billion on Metaverse projects in 2021," [wrote one user](). "The graphics look like they came out of a computer game developed in 1997." "So as far as I can tell, the Metaverse is just Animal Crossing but you're being hunted by Mark Zuckerberg," [quipped another](). "Billions and billions poured into it and this is the result," [wrote yet another](), who included a photo of a different and equally terrible screen grab of Horizon Worlds in which one can see that, after years of development, [avatars still don't have legs](), "The Sims but worse, and with nothing below the torso. Wonderful stuff." Horizon Worlds does [have a Wendy's somewhere](), so hats off to that. But to call the world in this image "immersive" — well, that's a tough sell. In any case, we wish Zucko all the best at his [Q3 earnings call](). **READ MORE:** [*Does Mark Zuckerberg Not Understand How Bad His Metaverse Looks?*]() \[*Forbes*\] **More on Zuck's cursed Metaverse avatar:** [*New Metaverse Vid Makes Zuckerberg's Hands Look Super Strange*]() ## 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]()