Another metaverse is set to die in June

Remember the metaverse? I do, occasionally, when circumstances conspire to remind me. It will never not amuse me that there were two schools of thought during those heady days: Self-proclaimed super-genius Mark Zuckerberg renamed his whole damn multi-billion-dollar company after it, and PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon called bullshit. Guess who was right? (Hint: Not Zuck.)

Like a heart continuing to beat after the brain has gone silent, the multiverse of metaverses has quietly persisted, but bit by bit, those organs are starting to shut down too. Meta said in March that the VR version of Meta Horizon Worlds is closing in June, and now vtuber agency Hololive has announced that its metaverse project Holoearth is going away too.

"Since launching Holoearth we continued operations with the support of many users, but after careful consideration regarding the ability to provide service into the future we arrived at this decision," the Holoearth team said in the shutdown announcement (via Delisted Games). "We offer our sincerest apologies for being unable to meet the expectations of everyone who supported us, and we deeply appreciate everyone who found enjoyment through Holoearth.

"It is our hope that the myriad of experiences in Holoearth, the bonds formed among users, and the time spent in this world will remain with everyone as cherished memories. While the time remaining until the end of service is short, we hope you can continue to enjoy the world of Holoearth until the final moment."

The concept of Holoearth as a more immersive way for fans to interact with vtubers sounded interesting, and the popularity of Hololive—one of the biggest vtuber agencies in the world—gave it at least the potential to be a viable moneymaker, which was of course the real point of the whole thing. But it was somewhat limited, too: As we noted in 2025, for instance. Holoearth split vtuber audiences, which regularly number in the thousands, into instanced rooms of 50, which would commonly fill up quickly. Such relatively small groups might have also diminished the feeling of being in the midst of a big community of fans, one of the big attractions of Holoearth in the first place.

"Holoearth was created with the theme of 'another world,' and has strived to be a place where talents, creators, and users can connect and make new experiences that transcend the boundaries of the virtual dimension," Holoearth project lead Ikko Fukuda said. "The time you spent there, along with each encounter and memory, are precious to us, and will remain with everything involved in this project. Furthermore, the technologies and learnings cultivated through Holoearth will live on in Hololive Production's future efforts, helping pave the way to new experiences.

"There may have been some shortcomings on our part along the way—but even so, we are grateful that everyone continued to visit, enjoy, and support the world of Holoearth."

Well, that's certainly nicer than what we got from the Meta Horizon Worlds shutdown.

The "final moment" for Holoearth will arrive on June 28, when the service will be shuttered outright. Sales of the premium HoloCoin currency have already been halted, while the sale of "Holoearth premium items" and user-made items will end on June 3. Non-premium items will remain up for grabs until the service shuts down. Any Holocoin or Creator Points that are unused when Holoearth goes offline will be refunded.

When a pirated version of early access survival game Subnautica 2 started going around before its release, some took to bragging about dodging the game's $30 price tag directly in the official Discord channel.

"Thanks for pirating a game that I've spent years working on," game design lead Anthony Gallegos replied to one such self-reported pirate. "I'm disappointed that you'd do that when it's kind of how we make our living. I hope you rethink your life choices."

A subset of users on the r/piracy subreddit responded harshly to the designer's expression of disappointment, with some claiming that he must be fabulously wealthy. "This is like a man in a solid gold suit spitting at a homeless person," decided one poster.

It's obviously no surprise that the denizens of r/piracy approve of piracy, but the hostility was surprising. Even diehard pirates can understand that it is not endearing to brag about pirating someone's game to their face, and the perception that regular employees of a game studio are swimming in cash is naive. Gallegos is rather far removed from a music industry exec suing Napster kids in the 2000s.

It didn't help that there is persistent confusion about Krafton's failed attempt to get out of a $250 million payout that it may owe developer Unknown World's founders and CEO, some of which could be distributed to others at the studio—we lack details.

In another comment on the official Discord channel, Gallegos straightened out the record a bit.

"Just to be clear, pirates are gonna do their thing. We were all kids once. Money and the economy is very hard. I get it," wrote the designer. "It wasn't the piracy that bothered me. It was the people that flagrantly walked in here and wagged it in the faces of people who were waiting to play legitimately. That was the part that aggravated me. That and the Reddit responses that keep talking like i'm a millionaire. I'm very much [not]. I don't own a home. I rent.

"There's a lot of misinformation going around and we just wanted the best launch possible for our people. All that to say, I understand and thank you for supporting the studio ultimately. I cannot condone piracy, but I get why people do. I would much rather people buy the game, try it for an hour, and return it than go play it illicitly."

This prompted a second, more sympathetic thread on r/piracy, in which users discussed the Discord bragging as a breach of pirate etiquette, or a narcissistic need for validation.

"Going into the server to brag you're playing a leaked game is such a shitty move," reads one of the top comments.

"Just pirate and play, there is no need to make a moral crusade," says another.

One person summed up their attitude as: "I'm someone who just wants free shit. The taunting is completely unnecessary."

Subnautica 2 launched on Thursday for $30 in early access, which feels like a sensible price to me based on my experience so far. There's plenty I think could be improved, and the full world and story isn't there yet, but it's good fun and offers some lovely undersea vistas.