Meta’s VP of Horizon social VR Vivek Sharma leaves the company to explore other career opportunities

• Vivek plans to leave Meta.
• He will leave the company to explore an unrelated career opportunity, a spokesperson said.
• Horizon became a meme after Mark Zuckerberg uploaded a screenshot of his dead-eyed avatar.

Meta’s VP of Horizon social VR, Vivek Sharma, is leaving. He is departing Meta to explore an unrelated career opportunity, according to spokesperson Bryan Pope.

Horizon’s departure of Vivek Sharma is unsettling. Meta’s metaverse, with Horizon as a centrepiece, became a meme last week. Mark Zuckerberg uploaded a screenshot of his dead-eyed avatar in Horizon Worlds to celebrate its launch in France and Spain. The image quickly became an online joke. A few days later, Zuckerberg revealed more detailed avatar concept drawings, but the damage was done. A Snapchat filter parodies Zuckerberg’s meme-ified face.

Meme moment and Sharma’s resignation are probable blips for the company’s metaverse ambitions. Meta has new hardware, including a VR headset that Zuckerberg indicated would launch in October. This week, Quest released Meta accounts that enable you to use a headset without logging into Facebook. The metaverse is expensive so far. Reality Labs lost $2.8 billion last quarter.

Pope said Sharma’s team will report to Meta VP Vishal Shah.

“We’re thankful for Vivek’s contributions across our Marketplace, gaming and metaverse teams over the last six years and we wish him well,” Pope said in a statement. “Thanks to his leadership, the Horizon product group has built a strong team with an ambitious vision and it is just getting started. Meta continues to be a source for developing great leaders, and we’re excited to see what Vivek accomplishes in his next chapter.” Sharma didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

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