Facebook is making a new virtual reality sandbox universe, with an effort called Facebook Horizons, exclusively for Oculus headsets.
Debuted at Oculus Connect 6, Facebook's developer conference for all things Oculus, Facebook Horizons is essentially an ambitious new virtual reality experience that's getting comparisons to Minecraft and Ready Player One's virtual world of the Oasis. It's going to be a replacement moving forward for Facebook Space and Oculus Rooms VR.
Basically, it works like this: Users will enter a gigantic playground, where they can do whatever they want. They can build their own virtual worlds and explore worlds other users have created. They can build and create their own games even, without any coding needed. Or they can just hang out and chat with their friends online. Users are able to create their own avatar to customise their looks, too.
Now is a good time to bring up the main take away from this experience: The avatars don't have legs. Everyone is just a floating torso in Horizons. There appears to be a giant area, too, where you can mingle about before jumping into "telepods" to head off on an adventure, whether that's exploring a created world with cute-looking creatures or playing a game against others.
Among the games previewed: An aerial combat game, while another has users compete in laser tag on the moon. There was also some type of fun group painting event shown in the reveal. Eventually, there will be user-created games.
If Facebook Horizons works, it could be revolutionary, though we're sceptical. It's both a social space to talk to your friends and a multiplayer gaming platform.
Horizon is launching in early 2020 in closed beta for Oculus Quest and Rift.
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