Meta announces AI tools to build Horizon games on phones and web

In short: Meta says it will let people create and publish simple games for its Horizon platform using AI prompts, including from a phone.

What happened

Meta announced two new tools for making games for its Horizon social platform. The tools are called Horizon Create and Horizon Studio. Horizon Create is a mobile app, and Horizon Studio runs in a web browser and offers more detailed controls.

Both tools let you describe what you want with an AI prompt, meaning you type what you want in plain words and the software helps build it (like giving directions to a helper instead of writing code yourself). Meta says the tools will be offered in early access. People who want to try them can join a waitlist.

Meta also says it will push these games to a bigger audience than Horizon has had on its own. Published games made with these tools can be recommended on Facebook and Instagram, and people will be able to play them there. Meta says someone scrolling Instagram could tap a clip and join a multiplayer game within seconds, without downloading a separate app.

The company says games that are engaging, stable, culturally relevant, and bring players back will get more reach.

Why it matters

This is Meta trying to make it easier for more people to make games, and to solve a common problem for new creators: getting anyone to actually find and play what they made. It also puts Meta closer to Roblox, which has been adding similar AI-assisted game creation tools.

Source: The Verge AI