According to Digital Trends, Meta has effectively canceled its initiative to open its Horizon OS to third-party headset manufacturers, a plan first announced last year. The company is now shifting its focus back to developing “world-class first-party hardware and software.” This decision directly impacts its named partners, Asus and Lenovo, whose planned gaming and productivity VR headsets are now in limbo. While a company spokesperson says Meta remains “committed to this for the long term,” the immediate partnership path is closed. The broader vision for an open, cross-device Horizon OS ecosystem is officially on pause.
The Android XR Wrench
So, what changed? Here’s the thing: Google happened. The emergence of Android XR, Google’s ready-made platform for mixed reality, probably threw a massive wrench in Meta’s calculus. Why would a manufacturer like Lenovo or Asus build on Meta’s walled-garden OS when they could use a familiar, open Android-based platform from Google? Meta’s pivot to first-party hardware looks a lot like a strategic retreat. They’re avoiding a head-on platform war they might not win and doubling down on what they control completely: the Quest line. It’s a safer bet, but it’s a much less ambitious one.
Ecosystem Ambitions On Hold
This is a big deal. Meta’s original pitch was about democratization and building a Windows-or-iOS-like ecosystem for VR. That’s all frozen now. Instead of a diverse hardware landscape powered by Horizon OS, we’re getting a clearer bifurcation: Meta’s Quest universe versus everyone else on Android XR (and Apple in its own ultra-premium lane). For the XR market, this consolidation around a few core platforms isn’t necessarily bad—it can streamline development. But for Meta’s broader influence, pulling back from openness feels like a concession. They’re protecting their kingdom instead of trying to expand its borders.
Meta’s New Bet: Entertainment
With the open platform play sidelined, what is Meta’s next move? The trajectory seems to be leaning hard into entertainment as the main Quest selling point beyond gaming. The recent launch of a dedicated Disney+ app for Quest that lets you shift from games to movies is a clear signal. They’re betting the future on the headset as an all-in-one media consumption device. It’s a pragmatic shift. But it makes you wonder: is this focus on a curated, first-party entertainment experience the very reason they got cold feet about letting other companies build hardware for their OS? Control over the experience becomes much harder when the hardware isn’t yours. In the end, Meta’s story is changing from “building the metaverse for everyone” to “perfecting the Quest experience for our users.” It’s a different chapter altogether.
