The metaverse now looks to be officially beginning to take shape, as the first game to take advantage of virtual spaces, Horizons World, has now been officially released, and the big question on everyone's lips is whether it's free-to-play or not.
Here's everything you need to know, including what the game is and if it'll be coming to other regions.
Is Horizon Worlds Free To Play?
In short, yes. Horizon Worlds is a free-to-play title as long as you've got an Oculus Quest 2 headset and you're aged over 18 and in either the USA or Canada. It was going to be the case that the game could be played on the original Quest, but support for it is ending in January.
This contrasts with other long-standing VR games like Beat Saber and Superhot VR that both cost around £25 each.
Some games do have demos, but full VR gaming experiences for free look to be quite rare. Horizon Worlds looks to challenge that notion.
What Is Horizon Worlds?
Horizon Worlds is the first social VR experience game from Meta, the firm formerly known as Facebook. It allows players to create a virtual avatar that will inhabit various user-created worlds and also build up their own interesting environments.
It also allows users to create their own games within these virtual worlds that other players can then partake in. Meta has said that the game's beta had seen the likes of platforming and shooting games developed within its confines.
This notion of a social VR space is arguably the first key step in realising the vision for the metaverse which the brand outlined at Facebook Connect a few weeks ago. With Horizon Worlds, it makes that concept a partial reality.
Could Horizon Worlds Be Coming To Other Regions?
As things stand, Horizon Worlds is only available to those aged over 18 in the USA and Canada, but it would make sense for Meta to bring the platform to other locations as time passes, such as the UK.
There's been no official word on when this could occur, but opening up the platform to other regions within the coming months would both allow for more worlds to be created and also for more users to experience the early sketches for what the metaverse could become.
Horizon Worlds is the latest addition to the Quest 2's already large games library and comes in the wake of announcements of other cool titles like Among Us VR and Cities VR, which will both be released for Meta's current main headset.
We'll be back with you soon with more VR news, guides and info, so be sure to check back in with us soon, and don't forget that the Meta Quest 3 could be on its way if you're looking to try out the next generation of VR when the headset's release date does come around.
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