The rebranding of Facebook, Inc. to Goal since last year was a bold move by the social media giant that shifted its focus to the “metaverse.” Although Facebook continued to operate under the same name, the company rebranded its line of VR headsets to Meta Quest, formerly known as Oculus.
The metaverse initiative has not been without criticism from other members of the industry, since Apple had already lashed out at Facebook for the commissions it charges creators in Goal. Now, a recent financial report shows Meta’s continuing problems with its new business direction.
In addition to one of the largest social media platforms on Facebook, Goal it also has one of the most successful virtual reality devices in the gaming industry. The Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2 have become popular VR headsets, with Steam integration alongside the Meta app store.
However, a recent announcement by Goal revealed that the price of the Meta headphones would increase by $100 later this year. Now Meta’s second quarter financial report shows that the company is struggling with its vision of the metaverse.
Coupled with the nearly $3 billion loss reported by Reality Labs’ VR division throughout the first quarter of 2022, the second quarter appears to have shown similar results. Meta’s VR branch reportedly lost $2.8 billion through the second quarter of 2022which represents a slight decrease with respect to its losses in the first quarter of the year.
Despite clear losses throughout the second quarter, Goal it continues to boast 1.97 billion daily active users across its various apps, an increase of 3% from last year, with more than 3 billion monthly users.
CEO of GoalMark Zuckerberg remained positive about the company’s trajectory going forward, despite early losses in 2022. Zuckerberg continues to believe in the potential of the metaverse as a “deeper social experience,” and his vision for the platform envisions a potential billions of dollars for the company.
Despite Zuckerberg’s optimism, however, Meta forecasts predict that Reality Labs’ revenue will fall in the third quarter, likely helped by the Meta Quest 2 price increase. there were several employees “who shouldn’t be here.”
