Meta is now using “mixed reality” as an umbrella term to mean both MR and VR.
Direct confirmation of this was given earlier this month on X by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, and we’ve already started seeing this new terminology usage across Meta marketing and communications.
Bosworth provided the public clarification in response to John Carmack’s take on his leaked memo about the direction of Meta Reality Labs in 2025. Carmack particularly objected to what he read as an overfocus on mixed reality, virtual content blended with a passthrough background. But Bosworth clarified that “MR” in this context was being used in place of MR/VR, referring to the entirety of Quest and Horizon OS across all content types.
NB: we use MR instead of MR/VR now. The term covers both for us internally.
— Boz (@boztank) February 5, 2025
The term “virtual reality” and “VR” are now almost entirely absent from the main Quest section of Meta’s website, including both the Quest 3 and Quest 3S product pages. The only mention we could now find is “Enter Gotham City in fully immersive VR” in reference to Batman: Arkham Shadow, though elsewhere the game is marketed as “Discover the fun of mixed reality and get Batman: Arkham Shadow included with your purchase.”
In describing the capabilities of Quest headsets, Meta now seems to refer to VR as simply “immersive experiences”.
And take this recent Meta blog post about Quest games. Despite 11 of the 12 games mentioned taking place only in fully immersive VR, with no passthrough, Meta titled the post “Step Into Quest: Embrace the Wonder of Mixed Reality With These Immersive Games”.
Look too at Meta’s terminology for developers signing up for Connect 2025. You can be an AI developer, an Augmented Reality developer, a Mixed Reality developer, or ‘Other’ – there’s no option for Virtual Reality. Because VR is now considered a subset of mixed reality by Meta.
Meta’s VP of MR/VR, Mark Rabkin, is stepping down in March due to family health issues. His successor hasn’t been announced yet, but given Meta’s new terminology usage, they will presumably be titled VP of MR.
Multiple developers have told UploadVR they find the new terminology confusing, because it can make it unclear whether Meta is talking about mixed reality in the umbrella term sense or mixed reality in the sense of content that uses passthrough. Quest users too are finding it harder to decipher Meta’s public communications.
Some argue that Meta should use “XR” as the umbrella term, but this would include transparent AR from glasses, which will be a separate product category from Quest and Horizon OS. Meta is looking for a term to distinguish these, instead of using “VR/MR”. And, for now at least, despite the confusion it may cause, the company has settled on “MR”.
