Image: Meta
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If good marketing isn’t possible, no marketing could be the best marketing. Or maybe it’s a really clever viral campaign?
Meta has recently announced the further launch of the Horizon Worlds proto-metaverse in Europe. The platform was launched in France, among other countries, which prompted Meta to post a photo of Mark Zuckerberg’s Horizon Worlds avatar in front of a miniature Eiffel Tower, with consequences.
“A legless knock-off Mii”
Zuckerberg’s avatar selfie of the Eiffel Tower is causing quite a stir on the internet because the scene looks so listless and joyless, even sterile. This is probably exactly the image that many associate with Facebook and its founder anyway. Meta should be wondering if Zuckerberg really is the best ambassador of the metaverse era. The response to his announcements so far speaks rather against it.
Back to the reason: online magazine Kotaku calls Zuckerberg’s avatar a “legless imitation of a Nintendo Mii with some really weird buttons and dead body eyes.” Techcrunch writes: “Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch with an unattractive photo and noted that it plans to expand the platform to more countries. “A Forbes writer fundamentally questions Zuckerberg’s aesthetic understanding. PCGamer calls Horizon Worlds a” worse version of Second Life “based on the screenshot. The reason is also currently a joke magnet on Twitterfor example presented as a retro game for N64.
– ????,? ?????? (@joeljohnson) August 17, 2022
To be honest, this is the most animated Mark Zuckerberg has ever seen pic.twitter.com/YruCjPsx0P
– Gianmarco (@GianmarcoSoresi) August 16, 2022
Mark Zuckerberg launches Horizon Worlds in France and Spain with a creepy VR selfie. Meta’s metaverse ploy is surely dying in the dark. pic.twitter.com/j0l6yTYye4
– Ordinary things (@ordinarytings) August 16, 2022
There are many more examples. Even under Zuckerberg’s Facebook post on the EU launch, normally Meta’s stronghold praise, mockery and criticism are at the top of the list.
Get more with little effort
Of course, there are technical reasons why Horizon Worlds looks the way it does. For example, to make it work on as many devices as possible. However, I have the impression that people are less bothered by the graphics of Horizon Worlds – many have no access anyway – than by the aesthetics of this listless, feature-free screenshot. This could have easily been avoided.
Now, Meta may be doing a lot of work on Horizon Worlds, but at least at the current state of the art, they’re not betting much on the platform, but rather on what might come out of a future iteration – some days away.
This would explain why Meta Horizon Worlds communicates rather haphazardly and without much marketing effort. Why invest in good communication if the current product can still inspire only a few enthusiasts?
The answer to this question is given by the reactions above.
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