--- title: "Remember Zuckerberg’s Cherished Metaverse? Now He’s Firing the People He Hired to Build It" description: "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's dream of creating virtual worlds continues to be a disaster. Over 100 workers were fired from its Reality Labs." date: "2025-04-26" modified: "2025-04-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/zuckberberg-metaverse-layoffs" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "horizon worlds" - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "quest" - "vr" --- # Remember Zuckerberg’s Cherished Metaverse? Now He’s Firing the People He Hired to Build It ![Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's dream of creating virtual worlds continues to be a disaster. Over 100 workers were fired from its Reality Labs.]() *\Image: Meta\* Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's dream of creating virtual worlds in which we can hang out with our friends, attend work meetings, and play games [has been a disaster]() for a while now. The company has lost billions of dollars on its Reality Labs division, which was tasked with building out the billionaire's vision for the "metaverse" — a concept that had such a hold on Zuckerberg a few years ago that he [renamed the entire company Meta]() back in 2021. Now, [*The Verge* reports](), Meta is laying off [even more employees]() in the division — this time pummeling the folks working on its lineup of Quest VR headsets and apps. "Some teams within Oculus Studios are undergoing shifts in structure and roles that have impacted team size," Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton told *The Verge*. "These changes are meant to help Studios work more efficiently on future mixed reality experiences for our growing audience, while still delivering great content for people today." According [to *Bloomberg*](), more than 100 people across its Reality Labs division are being laid off, representing only the latest round of job cuts. For years, Zuckerberg was hellbent on turning the concept into a reality. But despite having spent tens of billions of dollars on the tech, reality remains woefully behind his ambitions. While the company's [Ray-Ban smart glasses]() have sold better than Zuckerberg expected, Meta's lineup of VR headsets has seen sales slump over the years, indicating waning interest in the tech. As of February, the company had [lost nearly $70 billion]() over the last few years, with extremely little to show for it. A 44-second ad for the company's Horizon Worlds VR app earlier this year [was so terrible]() that the company deleted it following widespread mockery. The company's virtual worlds, once pitched as a place for work meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, [have been overrun by underage children]() or turned into [lifeless ghost towns](). In early 2023, Zuckerberg [seemingly bowed to the pressure](), announcing that Meta would be pivoting to AI, a change that in many ways marked the first nail in the coffin for the company's VR efforts. At the time, the CEO [made noticeably few mentions]() of his metaverse, suggesting he had cut his losses and moved on, [investing billions]() in AI instead. Which leaves the question: could Zuckerberg's latest obsession suffer the same fate as his last passion project? Tech [investors]() and [executives]() alike have remained highly wary of an [impending AI bubble](), with astronomical spending far outstripping demand. Is AI the future, the same way Zuckerberg's metaverse was once seen as the future as well? During an investor call in January, Zuckerberg [promised]() a "pivotal year for the metaverse." But whether that's a positive pivot toward bleeding less money, or a restructuring pivot as he spins the concept down, remains to be seen. **More on the metaverse:** *[Zuckerberg's New Metaverse Ad Is So Bad That the People Who Created It Must Be Secretly Trying to Humiliate Him]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()