Leaked Theater Environment in Quest Suggests Meta Might Target Social VR’s ‘Bigscreen’

Okay, so picture this: Meta’s been playing around with this idea of a home theater for Horizon OS. It’s supposed to turn your Quest into a mega screen setup. They whispered about it back in January, but now we hear it’s also about bringing people together, making it kinda like VR’s Bigscreen. Yeah, folks sharing popcorn over VR.

Now, there have been a few hit-or-miss attempts to make these social viewing apps work seamlessly, but eh, nothing’s really stuck. Even Mark Rabkin, the Horizon OS and Quest VP, who probably had a million things on his plate, tried wrangling a cinema vibe out of pixels and lights, but then he peaced out. How far was Meta really looking to jump with this? Maybe now we’ve got a clearer picture. Or maybe it’s still fuzzy—like when your WiFi acts up and buffers at the worst moment.

So, funny thing, a buddy named ‘lukegotbored’ stumbled into this beta version of the theater scene on the Quest. I guess it’s kinda like when you wander into an open lobby of a multiplayer game and just hang out. Meta seems to be building a virtual theater, stacking it on this Horizon Worlds/Home 2.0 thing. I’m curious if it really does the Bigscreen vibe justice.

But yeah, Bigscreen’s cool because it lets you hang out and stream all sorts of stuff like Pluto TV. And hey, you can even share your personal favorite clips, although I bet Meta might freak out over the whole “legal” thing. Bigscreen brushes it off, all “you do you,” which is chill. Meta though? Might be a whole brigade of moderators ready to hit pause if you stream any ol’ thing.

Think about it: Bigscreen’s a bit of a rebel, doesn’t directly offer unlicensed stuff, but it’s not slamming doors on it either. This little loophole? I wonder if Meta’s ready to cozy up to that idea. Doubt it.

This theater idea, with Meta diving into familiar territory again—like they’ve done before. Remember Guy Godin’s Virtual Desktop? Meta cherry-picked from that playbook too. First, they were like, “Nah,” but then—surprise—they just added something similar themselves. Happens, you know?

Anyway, Connect 2025’s around the corner on September 17th. Will they spill more about this theater thing? I’ll be glued to the updates. Meanwhile, I’m off to rewatch that scene where the dog says, “I love you.” Trust me, if you’ve seen it, you know.