Meta has just launched a new game for Horizon Worlds called Super Rumble, and it’s unlike any other game released for the social VR application. Previously known as Titanborne in beta, Super Rumble is the the first game out of Meta’s in-house studio, Ouro Interactive. It could also herald a new era for the Horizon Worlds platform, one embodied by experiences with better graphics and more complex gameplay. Vishal Shah, Meta’s VP of Metaverse, called the shooter “more than just a new world” and described it as “the next generation of Horizon Worlds” to Janko Roettgers of Lowpass
Roettgers said everyone he played the beta version with “seemed awestruck by the level of fidelity the game offered.” Apparently, that’s because it was built using imported objects, assets and textures, which wasn’t possible in the past. Shah said Meta rebuilt the VR platform’s underlying technology to give it the ability to support higher-quality games and to allow developers to import assets created using third-party tools. The company has reportedly given Ouro and select partners the capability to use the import feature so they could develop new Horizon Worlds games to be released over the next six months.
Shah told Lowpass that the company’s metaverse team has been working on improvements for Horizon Worlds over the past year. “As consumers come to Horizon, we want to make sure there’s a bunch of compelling content that they can find on day one. We’re going to seed the ecosystem, bootstrap it with stuff that we build both in-house, but also with some studios that we’re working with,” he said.
In addition to building an improved version of the platform, the Horizon team has also apparently been developing a mobile app. They’d reportedly finished creating one a year ago but weren’t happy with the result, so they chose to build it again. Super Rumble will be one of the first titles to be available when the mobile app comes out, and Shah said it will feature cross-platform play.
A mobile app with cross-platform capabilities could help Meta reach new audiences who can’t afford or aren’t interested enough to get a VR headset. The company’s VR business unit, Reality Labs, posted a $3.7 billion operating loss in the second quarter of 2023. In all, the division has lost $21 billion since the beginning of 2022 and had to axe some projects last year. A mobile app could make Horizon Worlds more accessible, which in turn could translate into greater revenue.
Shah’s team has been working on other improvements for the VR platform, as well, including investing in generative AI tools for creation. The idea is to give more creators the ability to build new worlds even if they don’t know how to use professional 3D tools. He didn’t tell Lowpass when the mobile app or generative AI tools will be available, though, so we’ll have to wait for their official announcements.