Quest 2 VR headset owners in the UK will finally get 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 burgeoning metaverse platform and Quest 2 users in the UK (who are over 18) can now download and jump into it for free. They’ll join users already accessing the service in the US and Canada.
Much like other virtual reality social spaces – such as the thriving VR Chat platform – Horizon Worlds acts like a sort of audio-based chatroom. Think Reddit crossed with Clubhouse or Discord.
Rather than sitting at your desk though, you and the people you're chatting with will be transported to some far-off location, be it a snowy mountaintop, a sandy island, or a simple treehouse.
If you can't find the right hangout spot, then you can also try making your own. You can even collaborate with your friends and use community-created assets and objects to add some flair to your VR space.
This UK update marks the first major expansion for Horizon Worlds since its launch. Meta likely hopes this influx of new players will help its metaverse platform continue to grow and thrive, but we'll have to wait and see how UK players react to it.
Look out for our thoughts and reactions to Horizon Worlds later in the week as new members of our team get to try it out for themselves.
The Quest 2 gets a multiplayer update
Whether you’re in the UK or not, Meta will also be rolling out its v41 update to all Quest 2 users later this week.
As revealed by Mark Zuckerberg (Meta’s CEO) on his Facebook page, the update is aimed at improving multiplayer experiences on the Quest 2. Once installed, friends will be able to meet up in the same virtual home environment – the idyllic spaces that you first boot into when you turn on your VR headset.
Once together, you’ll then be able to travel into various apps and video experiences so you can enjoy them as a group. In his demonstration, Zuckerberg was joined by Alex Honnold (the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo) and the pair watched Honnold’s 360-degree film The Soloist VR.
While their VR avatars watched the film, Honnold explained to Zuckerberg how he approaches free soloing – climbing alone without any ropes – and how the climbs in his film compared with those he has attempted in the past. If you’re at all afraid of heights then you might want to avoid watching this particular video.
When the update launches, we’ll likely learn about other apps and videos that will support group watching. VR multiplayer is one of the best features on the Quest 2, so we hope to see Meta continue to expand on it more in future updates.
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