Owners of Quest 2 VR headsets in the UK will finally have access to Horizon Worlds starting today – and an update coming to the headset this week will make socializing in VR much easier for everyone.
Horizon Worlds is Meta’s growing metaverse platform and Quest 2 UK users (who are 18+) can now download and join it for free. They will join users already accessing the service in the US and Canada.
Like other VR social spaces – such as the thriving VR Chat platform – Horizon Worlds functions as a sort of audio-based chat room. Think Reddit crossed with Clubhouse or Discord.
Instead of sitting at your desk, you and the people you’re talking to will be transported to some distant location, whether it’s a snowy mountain top, a sandy island, or a simple tree house.
If you can’t find the right meeting place, you can also try creating your own venue. You can even collaborate with your friends and use community-created assets and objects to add a special touch to your VR space.
This UK update marks the first major expansion for Horizon Worlds since its launch. Meta likely hopes that this influx of new players will help their metaverse platform continue to grow and thrive, but we’ll have to wait and see how UK players react to that.
Stay tuned for our thoughts and reactions to Horizon Worlds later in the week as new members of our team will be able to experience it for themselves.
The Quest 2 gets a multiplayer update
Whether you’re in the UK or not, Meta will also release its v41 update to all Quest 2 users later this week.
As revealed by Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta) on his Facebook page, the update aims to improve multiplayer experiences in Quest 2. Once installed, friends will be able to meet in the same virtual home environment – the idyllic spaces you first launch when turn on the VR headset.
Once together, you will be able to travel to various apps and video experiences so you can enjoy them as a group. In his demo, Zuckerberg was joined by Alex Honnold (the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo) and the duo watched Honnold’s 360-degree film The Soloist VR.
As his VR avatars watched the film, Honnold explained to Zuckerberg how he tackles free soloing — climbing solo without ropes — and how the climbs in his film compare to those he’s tried in the past. If you are afraid of heights, avoid watching this particular video.
When the update is released, we will likely learn about other apps and videos that will support group viewing. VR multiplayer is one of the best features of Quest 2, so we hope to see Meta continue to expand it further in future updates.