Meta Plans 30% Cut to Metaverse Budget as Reality Becomes Less Virtual: Bloomberg

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Meta Plans 30% Cut to Metaverse Budget as Reality Becomes Less Virtual: Bloomberg Horizon Worlds and Quest are facing layoffs as Meta retreats further from its $70 billion bet on virtual reality, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. By Helene Braun , AI Boost | Edited by Sheldon Reback Dec 4, 2025, 4:32 p.m. (Greg Bulla/Unsplash) What to know : Meta is considering cutting up to 30% of its metaverse division’s budget in 2026, with layoffs expected to follow, Bloomberg reported. The company’s virtual reality unit, including Quest headsets and Horizon Worlds, is likely to face the steepest reductions. Slower-than-expected industry adoption and shifting tech priorities have pushed Meta to scale back its once-flagship investment in the metaverse. Meta (META) may be pulling back even further from the metaverse it once bet its future on. Executives are discussing budget cuts of up to 30% at the company's metaverse division in 2026, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the talks. The unit includes Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social virtual reality (VR) platform, and its Quest headset unit. The cuts would include layoffs, the report said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly asked all departments to find 10% in cost savings, a standard request during recent budget cycles. But the metaverse team was asked to go deeper, Bloomberg said, in part because the broader tech industry has not embraced the metaverse as fast or as fully as Meta once expected. The biggest reductions are expected to fall on the virtual reality group, which accounts for the majority of metaverse-related spending. Horizon Worlds is also likely to see cuts. Meta shares rose 4% on Thursday following the report. The stock is up over 10% year-to-date. The metaverse refers to a collection of interconnected virtual worlds where people can work, play, and socialize using digital avatars, often through virtual reality headsets. At its peak, the idea captured Silicon Valley’s imagination and companies scrambled to stake out real estate in VR spaces, buy up blockchain-based assets and pitch new tools for a fully immersive internet. Meta leaned in harder than anyone. The company rebranded from Facebook to Meta in 2021, committing tens of billions of dollars to what Zuckerberg called the “next frontier” of computing. But user adoption fell short, and the tech world shifted focus. Apple moved toward spatial computing with the Vision Pro, Microsoft scaled back its own mixed-reality plans, and AI became the new battleground. Meta’s metaverse group belongs in the Reality Labs division at the company, which has lost more than $70 billion since the start of 2021, Bloomberg said. Meta Metaverse AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You $4B Bitcoin ETF Outflows in Oct-Nov Reflect Basis Trade Unwind, Not Capitulation: Research Analyst By Omkar Godbole | Edited by Jamie Crawley 10 minutes ago Recent outflows from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs were driven by specific arbitrage trade closures, not widespread institutional panic. What to know : Recent outflows from U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs were driven by specific arbitrage trade closures, not widespread institutional panic. 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