Stephenson Declares VR Headsets A Dead End

Neal Stephenson wrote that head-mounted VR displays have become a dead end and that smartphones will continue to dominate immersive experiences, in a post reacting to Meta's recent decision to wind down Metaverse work after reportedly spending about $80 billion. He cited social visibility, privacy concerns, low headset sales, and platform fragility, and argued multiplayer games like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft better reflect the current metaverse.