Children Aged 13-17 to Enter Metaverse Soon

Meta is planning to open up Horizon Worlds to users aged 13 to 17, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The tech giant revealed that it wants to make the virtual reality-based social platform available to younger users as early as next month.

In 2021, Horizon Worlds was available to users from 18 and above but has since been struggling to keep users coming back to the platform.

Last October, the WSJ reported that Meta cut its goal of reaching 500,000 monthly active users by the end of the year to just 280,000 and that most users don’t return after one month of using it.

In January, only around one in nine users on Horizon Worlds returned to the platform the next month, the WSJ notes.

“Today our competitors are doing a much better job meeting the unique needs of these cohorts,” Gabriel Aul says in the memo obtained by the WSJ. “For Horizon to succeed we need to ensure that we serve this cohort first and foremost.”

Meta spokesperson Joe Osborne tells the WSJ that “teens are already spending time in a variety of VR experiences on Quest” and that the company wants to make sure it can offer a “great experience” in Horizon Worlds “with age-appropriate tools and protections in place.” Meta didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.