Mark Zuckerberg recently shared a selfie in celebration of Meta’s expansion into France and Spain with Horizon Worlds. A graphic showing the boyish CEO staring at a low-resolution model of the Eiffel tower quickly sparked sneers, jeers, and sighs on social media. It’s hard to blame them, isn’t it?
Considering Meta’s influence over our virtual past and present, I understand if you were offended by the image, but perhaps you can find solace in this: Mark Zuckerberg hears you. He sees you. According to him, the metaverse won’t look that crazy. Not for a long time, at least.
His original screenshot isn’t exactly flattering, he admits. This week’s photo was pretty basic. It was snapped very quickly to commemorate a launch. Horizon isn’t just for headsets,” he said, despite being designed for them. I would probably avoid posting quick and dirty screenshots of my company’s digital world if my company were sinking billions into it.
That’s especially true if I’d just announced a $100 price hike for the Quest 2. My opinion, however, is my own.
There are other metaverses that promise better graphics as a way to entice people to join. According to Protocol, Roblox’s product lead Josh Anon said last month that the game’s goal was to “replicate the real world” with its traditionally blocky and low-res graphics.
In the end, though, what you do with graphics matters more than what you do with them. In spite of Meta’s update, Horizon’s visuals won’t matter unless its virtual worlds offer something interesting to see. Here is a tweet dunking on Zuckerberg’s original post that illustrates that point perfectly: