Meta burned $19 billion on VR last year, and 2026 won’t be any better

Earlier this month, Meta laid disconnected 10% of the unit for Reality Labs, its virtual world unit, reportedly cutting arsenic galore arsenic 1,000 employees. Now, successful a improvement that seems straight related, the institution has revealed that the portion mislaid galore billions of dollars past year.

On Wednesday, Meta’s earnings report showed that its embattled virtual world concern had mislaid immoderate $19.1 cardinal successful 2025, which is somewhat much than it mislaid successful 2024 (that year, the losses hovered astir $17.7 billion). In its 4th quarter, the portion posted a nonaccomplishment of $6.2 billion, the study shows.

Those losses stood against what the portion generated successful sales: $955 cardinal successful Q4 and immoderate $2.2 cardinal passim 2025.

During the company’s net telephone connected Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg struck a code of optimism for his company’s VR squad portion noting that losses successful 2026 are expected to beryllium precise overmuch the same.

“For Reality Labs, we are directing astir of our concern towards glasses and wearables going forward, portion focusing connected making Horizon a monolithic occurrence connected Mobile and making VR a profitable ecosystem implicit the coming years,” Zuckerberg said, during the call. However, the CEO noted that losses were expected to continue. “I expect Reality Labs losses this twelvemonth to beryllium akin to past year,” Zuckerberg said, portion noting that this twelvemonth would “likely beryllium the peak, arsenic we commencement to gradually trim our losses going forward.”

When Meta announced a pivot toward the “metaverse” successful 2021, the determination was regarded with a definite magnitude of skepticism and, during its archetypal twelvemonth of VR efforts, the institution faced harsh criticism—even being referred to arsenic an “international laughingstock.” Nearly fractional a decennary later, that skepticism hasn’t precisely subsided. As the VR concern continues to suffer wealth and Meta continues an assertive pivot distant from VR and towards AI, it’s unclear what precisely volition crook the ailing concern around.

Last week, CNBC reported that, successful summation to the layoffs, Meta had plans to shutter a fig of its VR studios—another motion that the company’s involvement successful virtual world is waning. The institution besides precocious announced that it would beryllium retiring its standalone Workrooms app—which the institution had pitched to bureau workers arsenic a VR abstraction that could beryllium utilized to clasp meetings.