9 Oct 2025 | Mike Boland

AWE Talks: What's on Meta Horizon's Horizon?

AWE USA 2025

See the summarized takeaways below, along with the full session video. Stay tuned for more video highlights each week and check out the full library of conference sessions on AWE’s YouTube Channel.

Speakers
Jason Rubin, Meta

Key Takeaways & Analysis
– Jason Rubin grew up wanting to make movies, which transitioned to gaming.
   – With vision and dedication, he started a game building career at a young age.
   – This reached a tipping point with the creation of Crash Bandicoot for PlayStation. 
– During this period, he had the chance to try early and primitive versions of VR. 
   – It wasn't quite ready yet, leaving an underwhelming association with the tech. 
– Then, when Brendan Iribe called him to check out Oculus, it took some convincing. 
   – But once Rubin experienced the DK1, he knew that VR would be a powerful force.
   – So he joined Oculus and the rest was history, including 2014's acquisition by Meta.
– Now, he's the only original/former Oculus executive who's still with Meta.
   – There, he has spent time leading the content and games studio division.
   – He now leads all-things Horizon, including the virtual world's vision and execution.
– Though Horizon is relatively sparsely populated today, it has ample potential. 
   – The vision is for a world filled with a variety of games & experiences. 
   – This isn't a game per se, but it includes gaming experiences in a social way. 
– The name of the game according to Rubin is a balance of opennes and structure. 
   – In other words, open-ended experiences are good, but some structure is needed.
   – Without structure, users are confused about what they should do in a virtual world.
   – Some structure, such as themed social areas or predefined games, gives purpose. 
– Road map goals and milestones include integrating AI to reduce friction in creation. 
   – Horizon's value will be a function of the things people build, so less friction is key. 
   – Automation will include things like 3D asset libraries and ability to buld via prompts. 
– Horizon is just getting started developing these things, so there's lots of headroom. 
   – These ambitions will also ride the tailwinds of the rapid growth in underlying AI. 
– Add it all up, and Meta could reach its well-publicized metaverse ambitions. 
   – This may take a while but it's still the vision that Meta is investing in. 

For more color and depth, see the full session below... 




  Want more XR insights and multimedia? ARtillery Intelligence offers an indexed and searchable library of XR intelligence known as ARtillery Pro. See more here.