• Facebook CEO’s Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse is one that is “open” and “interoperable.”
• In an effort to get there, Facebook will join with the likes of Microsoft for work tools and games.
• Facebook executives admitted to the popularity of YouTube among apps for its Quest headsets.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs his expensive bet on the metaverse to work, and now he’s talking up and partnering with rival companies to support that outcome.

Facebook’s annual Connect developer conference this year once again focused on the metaverse. To get the metaverse in the hands of more people, Facebook revealed new partnerships on Tuesday with other major names in tech, like Zoom, Accenture and notably Microsoft and its gaming subsidiary Xbox.

The company also gave a shout out to the popularity of an app from longtime rival Google. Andrew Bosworth, Facebook CTO and head of Reality Labs, said “one of the most popular apps” in the app store for its Quest 2 VR headset is YouTube VR. He added that the “YouTube team is working to make the experience even more social” for Quest headset users. 

The companies have for years competed directly on various aspects of the consumer internet, notably advertising, video, streaming, and more. But at this year’s Connect, Zuckerberg and other executives said they want to build an “open” and “interoperable” immersive virtual world, versus one that operates only with its own apps and products.

“I strongly believe an open and interoperable metaverse will be better for everyone,” Zuckerberg said at the conference. “I see our role as not just helping to build this open ecosystem, but making sure it wins out in this generation of the internet.”

Facebook debuted a big partnership to make Microsoft’s 365 suite of tools available in Quest 2 and the new, much more expensive Quest Pro – a boon to Facebook’s attempts to make the metaverse something people use for work.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at the conference that he’s “excited for what’s to come” with Microsoft work tools from group meetings to calendars and Xbox Cloud games being available on Quest headsets. Microsoft shuttered its own headset project earlier this year amid turmoil in its metaverse division.

Besides Microsoft, Facebook teamed up with Zoom and Accenture. Zoom will be accessible early next year through Horizon Workrooms, one of Facebook’s active metaverse platforms. Accenture, which also has a large deal with Facebook to provide hourly workers, will continue to use Facebook headsets for certain training courses. 

Facebook, which last year changed its name to Meta, has a long way to go to make a widely-used metaverse a reality. Reality Labs is losing billions of dollars every year. Employees are confused about projects. Wall Street is impatient. The company’s stock fell another 4% on Tuesday, hovering around a low for the last year. Meanwhile, growth of its core social apps has slowed, along with growth of revenue, creating a likelihood of layoffs. 

Are you a Facebook/Meta employee or someone with insight to share? Contact Kali Hays at [email protected], on secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267, or through Twitter DM at @hayskali. Reach out using a non-work device.