So far, Meta has not lived up to the “metaverse-first” billing that accompanied its October 2021 name change. The company’s Horizon Worlds platform has eaten up funding even as its user base atrophies.
Despite those difficulties, Meta might be able to secure a partnership that would help it fulfill its metaverse-first mission. According to The Verge, Roblox could arrive on Meta Quest VR headsets by the end of the year. The deal would align Meta with a game platform that brings millions of players into virtual environments every month.
Neither Roblox nor Meta is offering much insight about the potential pact just yet, but the sandbox game previously considered a deal with Mark Zuckerberg and co. As TechCrunch noted, Roblox CEO and Co-Founder Dave Baszucki said Quest makes “perfect sense for Roblox” during a 2021 earnings call.
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There’s no question the deal would make sense for Meta, too. Roblox has established itself as a leading company in the metaverse. Last year, a study found that 68% of consumers, and 88% of consumers between the ages of 13 and 25, engage with metaverse platforms. Many of those experiences came through games like Fortnite and Roblox, where virtual worlds feel natural. Other tech companies, such as Spotify, have already employed Roblox as they make their own contributions to the metaverse.
Roblox is already compatible with several VR headsets, including HTC Vive and the Meta-owned Oculus Rift. If it does in fact come to the Quest library, it will become easier to play in VR, since gamers would no longer need to connect their computers to access the headset version of Roblox.
After pivoting back to video about a year ago, Meta is in search of a clearer direction for its future. It recently laid off 11,000 employees in search of “leaner” operations. A Roblox partnership could provide some stability, at least as far as metaverse user numbers are concerned.
Roblox could use a win, too. The company’s most recent earnings report revealed a total of 58.8 million daily active users, but despite that big number, Roblox still fell short of financial expectations.
