- Leaked memo from Meta’s CTO teases a big year for Reality Labs
- Meta could launch several AI wearables, and new mixed-reality apps
- The memo says 2025 will decide if Reality Labs’ efforts “will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure”
Following Mark Zuckerberg’s comments about 2025 being a “defining year” for Meta’s smart-glasses plans, a leaked internal memo apparently penned by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth is teasing some big things for the XR and AI tech its Reality Labs division is working on.
Shared by Business Insider, the memo is reportedly titled “2025: The Year of Greatness” and was sent to Reality Labs staff in November last year. It’s quite long, and features a fair bit of corporate motivational speak which isn’t all that relevant here, but here’s a snippet from the beginning of the leaked memo – I’ve highlighted some important text I’ll be discussing more below:
“Next year is going to be the most critical year in my 8 years at Reality Labs. We have the best portfolio of products we’ve ever had in market and are pushing our advantage by launching half a dozen more AI powered wearables. We need to drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board but especially in MR. And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long term plans to have a chance. If you don’t feel the weight of history on you then you aren’t paying attention. This year likely determines whether this entire effort will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure.”
So we might see six AI wearables, a tentpole mixed-reality title, and a serious Horizon Worlds push. Starting with that final highlighted section however, which raises the prospect of failure on the part of Reality Labs failure, it should be noted that Bosworth’s comments aren’t as overly dramatic as they seem.
While Reality Labs posted its highest-ever revenue of $1.08 billion in Meta’s recent quarterly earnings report, it also posted its biggest ever loss at $4.97 billion. The division has been hemorrhaging cash since 2020 in the pursuit of developing XR and AI tech, and Bosworth’s comments suggest that Meta and its investors finally want to see a return on their investment. Thankfully for Reality labs, the memo also teases how that might happen.
Taken literally, Bosworth’s “half a dozen” comment suggests that Meta has six AI wearables up its sleeve – and it sounds like they’re set to launch this year. If that’s correct, this is significantly more than expected.
Based on leaks and teases we were expecting two 2025 hardware launches, maybe three at a push: the third-gen Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses teased by Mark Zuckerberg (which could include a display), Oakley versions of its existing second-gen AI smart glasses, and perhaps Oakley versions of its third-gen specs.
Beyond these we’d heard that Meta was developing some kind of smartwatch/wristband to control its glasses, and even camera-equipped earbuds – marking wearables four and five off our list – however, the earbuds weren’t expected to land anytime soon. Meanwhile the wristband was believed to be more of an add-on than a full-on AI wearable, so perhaps there are even more unknown AI Metra gadgets set to launch.
Based on what we think we know about Meta’s release schedule our money is on Bosworth not just talking about 2025 releases – as we know that Meta has other glasses on the way, including the consumer versions of its Meta Orion AR glasses – and that he was using “half a dozen” as a synonym for ‘several’ rather than a precise figure for Meta’s output. Given that the line is taken from a leaked internal memo rather than an official statement it’s not so important for Bosworth to speak precisely, which is why we’re leaning this way.
If, however, Meta is indeed releasing more glasses than expected, our best guess is that we’ll either see Ray-Ban and (the rumored) Oakley joined by a third brand adapting Meta’s smart glasses tech into their designs; or that, rather than the third-gen smart glasses and display-equipped specs being one and the same product, it could be they’re different devices, to give the line both a high-end and affordable refresh.
The year of mixed reality
Mixed reality – which has an app on a VR headset blend real-life and virtual elements into a single experience – has been on a major upswing since the launch of affordable full-color mixed-reality headsets like the Meta Quest 3.
Unfortunately, beyond some fun and innovative, but admittedly limited, experiences in the likes of Starship Home and Infinite Inside, as well as some delightful mixed-reality modes in larger VR titles, there’s yet to be a tentpole MR game or app in the same way as the main campaigns of VR titles Asgard’s Wrath 2, Batman: Arkham Shadow, or Resident Evil 4 VR.
Bosworth’s comments suggest that Reality Labs is helping to publish some major mixed-reality releases this year that get closer to making MR feel as fully realized as VR. Admittedly, these experiences likely won’t be on the scale of something like Batman: Arkham Shadow – given that MR titles are inherently more limited by the player’s space – but an MR Focus, and some AA-level MR titles (vs meta’s AAA-quality VR games) could be incoming, and I’m excited to see what 2025 has in store beyond what we know about already (including games such as Laser Dance, which are looking awesome already).
Horizon Worlds reborn
Since its launch, Horizon Worlds hasn’t really been much to write home about – in fact I wasn’t entirely aware that it had even launched on mobile yet. I only use it about once or twice a year to check out some concert in VR before letting it gather dust on my virtual game shelf. But I do know that Meta has been working on expanding the scope of Horizon Worlds, with not only player-made but game developer-made worlds for users to explore, and I’m cautiously optimistic that the game might finally feel like a complete package – which I can’t say was how I felt when it was first released.
Meta is likely hoping that its metaverse platform can steal away some of the success of the massively popular Roblox and Fortnite, with which Horizon Worlds shares several similarities, and more emphasis on Horizon Worlds’ mobile port would help to reach audiences who have yet to buy a VR headset.
It’s been somewhat surprising to see Meta fail so miserably so far with Horizon Worlds given its social media-focused history with Facebook and Instagram, but perhaps 2025 is the year it finally turns the metaverse around. I’m cautiously optimistic that it might finally make the platform into something I care about, but I’m not holding my breath.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
