Accelerating VR Development with Agentic Workflows
This video explores how to accelerate Meta Quest development by integrating Unity AI and Meta’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) extensions. dilmerv details how these agentic tools help developers stay in focus by reducing context switching between Unity, IDEs, and documentation. Viewers will see practical demonstrations of rapid prototyping, from setting up VR scenes with natural language prompts to refining complex game mechanics and debugging performance issues. This session was recorded in April 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction to Unity AI and Meta MCP extensions. 01:02 – Introduction to Agentic Workflows in VR development. 04:26 – Overview of the HCOS Developer MCP and agentic tools repository. 08:14 – Exploring Unity's AI offering: Unity Assistant and AI Gateway. 11:13 – Integrating performance profiling and editor tooling. 14:27 – Deep dive into Meta’s extensions for the Unity MCP. 16:09 – Project requirements and setup for VR agentic workflows. 20:23 – Case Study: Iterative prototyping of a Quest pool mechanic game. 25:57 – Adding game polish: Glowing shaders and minimalistic UI. 29:52 – Utilizing the Immersive Debugger with AI voice features. 31:53 – Accessing Horizon OS documentation via semantic search. 33:14 – Live Demo: Activating the Meta XR Simulator and playing a Unity scene. 41:38 – Live Demo: Building and modifying game objects in the Unity Assistant. 48:34 – Live Demo: Integrating Claude with Meta MCP extensions for scene setup. 52:25 – Q&A: Expert advice on prompting strategies and best practices. 🎮 FEATURED IN THIS SESSION ➡️ Unity AI Assistant (Beta) ➡️ Meta MCP Extensions ➡️ Meta Agentic Tools ➡️ Meta Quest hzdb CLI 📚 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ➡️ Developers Blog ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon. 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today.
Intro to Meta Quest Runtime Optimizer | Horizon Start Mentor Workshop
In this video, Start Mentor Sidney provides a comprehensive introduction to the Meta Quest Runtime Optimizer, a diagnostic tool designed to help developers identify and address performance bottlenecks in VR, AR, and MR applications. The talk covers everything from initial setup and system requirements to advanced analysis modes like “What If” testing, offering practical advice on how to integrate these tools into regular development workflows. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 0:00 - Introduction 1:18 - Installation and System Requirements 2:00 - Core Features: Bottleneck Analysis 2:52 - Advanced Testing: What If Analysis 4:29 - Optimization Principles and Diagnostic Work 5:33 - Workflow Integration: Level Development 6:43 - Workflow Integration: Feature Development 7:49 - Workflow Integration: Main Project Integration 🎮 FEATURED IN THIS SESSION ➡️ Meta Quest Runtime Optimizer 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Design with a Retention-First Mindset | Growth Series, Part 4
In this final session of the growth series, Meta Horizon Start Mentor Tevfik discusses how to transition from simply gaining views and installs to building a lasting player base through a retention-first design mindset. The presentation highlights the unique nature of VR as a social space where players return not just for gameplay, but for belonging and self-expression. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction to growth series part 4: Retention-first design 00:43 - Defining the problem: Why growth without retention is just “churn.” 02:44 - VR as a “place”: Understanding why players return to socialize and show off 03:28 - The Retention Triangle: Direction, Identity, and Return 03:48 - Part 1: Direction—Implementing social daily challenges 04:30 - Part 2: Identity—The power of avatars, cosmetics, and visibility 05:41 - Case study: The success of the indie social VR game Blob Town 06:26 - Part 3: Return—Creating habits through weekly resets and update rewards 07:13 - The importance of “Social Moments” and the 3-second reaction rule 08:36 - Practical systems: Using "Drop Codes" to drive returns and community growth 10:55 - The Full Loop: Social moments as the engine for the player journey 12:34 - Action Items: Homework for implementing retention systems in 7 days 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Turn Social Views Into a Lasting Community | Growth Series, Part 3
Are you struggling to turn viral VR views into an active, lasting community? In this session of the Meta Horizon Start program’s Growth Series, Meta Horizon Start Mentor and experienced VR developer Tevfik dives deep into the shift from simple visibility to true player retention in social VR games. Learn why most VR games fail not because they are bad, but because they disappear after the first impression. Tevfik shares a comprehensive five-step system to build a dedicated player base, covering everything from creating roles and moderator grinding to leveraging live streams, content creator programs, and consistent community events. Discover how to transform your VR game from just an experience into a thriving social system. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction and Background in Social VR 01:02 - The Retention Problem in VR Development 01:44 - Shifting Focus to Human Progression and Community 02:27 - Step 1: Creating Identity and “Original Gangster” (OG) Roles 03:55 - Utilizing Early Access and Founders Bundles 04:32 - Step 2: Progression through Moderator Grinding 06:27 - Step 3: Establishing Presence via Live Streaming 07:36 - Step 4: Implementing a Content Creator Program 09:11 - Step 5: Hosting Consistent Community Events 10:01 - Case Study: Breaking CCU Records with a DJ Event 11:07 - Summary: Building Your VR Game as a Social System 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Live Events: Why, When, & How (Start Workshop)
Hosted by Gabe Heiland • March 2026 • Meta Horizon Start Overview In-game live events are a focused set of activities and rewards intended to drive engagement—specifically targeting acquisition, retention, or monetization. While many developers think of massive holiday updates when they hear “live event,” there are actually several low-cost, high-impact ways to run events. In this session, Meta Growth Consultant Gabe Heiland breaks down the six core event types, the best practices for designing them, and how to measure their success. Watch this part: 00:00 The 6 Event Types (Minor and Major) Minor Events (Low implementation cost, habit-forming) Server Booster Event: Data-driven tuning levers like “Double XP Weekend” or boosted crafting rarities. These are very lightweight to set up and are a great first event for a game. They should be rotated weekly at most so players don't become accustomed to the boost. Daily Goal Event: Layering a server-wide goal on top of your existing daily quest system to focus players on a specific mode or activity for a small reward. Leaderboard Event: Injecting competition into your game over a short period. Once the infrastructure is built, these can be reused weekly to drive engagement and monetization, even in single-player games. Major Events (High effort, high return on investment) Community Event: Collective objectives that require social cohesion (e.g., the entire player base must complete 10,000 matches to unlock a reward). These are viewed as very fair but usually require an out-of-game communication channel like Discord. Progression Event: Players fill a progress bar with active play and are rewarded at specific milestones. These ask a lot of players, so they require a cooldown period between runs. Seasonal Event: Massive, highly themed events aligned with real-world holidays. These drive the highest impact but are expensive to produce and carry the risk of only happening once a year. Watch this part: 02:15 Best Practices for Live Events Scheduling and Cadence In VR, a two-week cadence targeting weekend play sessions (aiming for about 4 hours of play per week) has proven highly effective. You want to build predictability to establish trust (players know an event will happen) while using the specific content of the event to provide surprise and delight. A good update rubric to aim for is: Daily: Progress to be made Weekly: Something new to see Monthly: Something new to do Quarterly: Something that changes how they engage Define KPI Goals First Before designing an event, decide if you are targeting acquisition (requires strong theming and key art for social media), retention (requires frequent, focused play sessions), or monetization (often features a competitive element where few players get all rewards). Set clear goals, like “100% of spenders and 20% of non-spenders should finish the event,” to guide your tuning. Lower the Barrier to Entry Players should be able to enter the event immediately after onboarding. The event should be front-and-center upon login, and the first reward moment should happen within minutes of playing. Always end events with a clear wrap-up, paying out any unused event currency. Expand the Player’s Comfort Zone Use events to incentivize trying new characters, modes, or underutilized content. However, avoid “anti-social mandates”—don’t force players to use a character that only one person per match can select, as it prevents friends from playing together. Watch for Exhaustion Player exhaustion happens when high-engagement events run too frequently without breaks. Team exhaustion happens when developers are constantly building bespoke content. To combat both, rotate your event types (alternating high and low effort) and templatize your events so they require minimal changes between reruns. Monetization Should Be an Accelerator, Not a Paywall Paradoxically, ensuring that non-spenders can earn all event rewards through heavy engagement actually improves monetization. When an event feels fair and skill-based, players are more willing to spend money to accelerate their progress. Avoid over-rewarding standard game currencies, and consider offering items that complete a set over multiple events. Watch this part: 08:50 Measuring Success To know if your event worked, you need to track specific KPIs. If you don't have your own in-game telemetry, you can use the pre- and post-event data available in the developer portal. Key benchmarks to watch for: Monthly Active Users (MAU): Strong live events can drive 3× or more MAU compared to surrounding months. Session Duration and Logins per Day: Both should increase during an active event. Day 7/Week 1 Retention: Should spike from your baseline during the event and settle back to normal afterward. Daily Revenue: Can see anywhere from a 1.5× bump for a minor weekend leaderboard up to a 600× increase for a massive holiday event. Content Consumption: The percentage of players who reach the end of the event and claim all rewards. This is your primary guide for tuning future events. Watch this part: 18:50
Overdraw Best Practices
Overdraw is a silent performance killer in VR development. In this workshop, Meta Horizon Start Mentor Sidney breaks down what overdraw is, why it drains GPU resources, and how to fix it in Unity. Learn why relying on Unity’s default settings (like a 1KM draw distance) or the SRP batcher isn’t enough to prevent overdraw. Sidney walks through practical, simple solutions including smart level design, utilizing occlusion culling (especially for indoor scenes), and leveraging the Unity Frame Debugger to catch pixel fill issues early in the greybox phase. The session also covers the specific challenges of overdraw in procedurally generated levels. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 00:00 - Welcome & Introduction to Overdraw 00:15 - Speaker Intro: Sidney (Angelsin) 01:14 - Defining Overdraw and the Rendering Pipeline 02:08 - The Performance Impact of Overdraw 02:50 - Unity's Role and Limitations in Handling Overdraw 03:19 - Risks of Mesh Combining and Dynamic Objects 04:03 - Demonstrating Overdraw with Scene and Debug Tools 06:15 - Reducing Overdraw: Adjusting Draw Distance 07:55 - Reducing Overdraw: Occlusion Culling 08:21 - Overdraw Challenges in Procedural Generation 09:10 - Using the Frame Debugger for Optimization 10:10 - Conclusion and Summary of Best Practices 🎮 FEATURED IN THIS SESSION ➡️ Unity Frame Debugger: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/FrameDebugger.html ➡️ Unity Occlusion Culling: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/OcclusionCulling.html 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
The Data-Driven Advantage: A Practical Guide to Optimizing VR Games with Analytics
Discover how a strategic approach to analytics can move beyond “macro KPIs” and unlock actionable, game-specific insights that improve retention and overall product health. In this Meta Horizon Start session, Chong Ahn (Head of Games Growth & Monetization, Meta Reality Labs) explains how to: Build metrics that map directly to your game design (not just DAU/retention averages) Use player segmentation to understand different cohorts (new vs. veteran, spender vs. free, etc.) Identify “why” behind player outcomes by asking the right questions (success/failure rate, matchmaking balance, map routing, causes of death, and more) Turn findings into concrete gameplay adjustments that measurably shift outcomes The session includes a case study from the VR extraction shooter Contractors, showing how focusing on early-match success (and diagnosing bot difficulty + map routing issues) can significantly improve new player outcomes and long-term retention. This session was recorded in March 2026 as part of the Meta Horizon Start program. 🎬 CHAPTERS 👋 INTRODUCTION 00:00 - Introduction: Leveraging VR Games with Analytics 00:13 - The Importance of a Robust Analytics Pipeline 01:00 - Moving Beyond Standard KPIs to Tailored Metrics 01:43 - Foundations for Understanding Player Segments 02:44 - Case Study: New Player Segments in Extraction Games 04:25 - Aligning Data with Game Design and Business Health 06:00 - Case Study: Analyzing Retention in Contractors 08:03 - Identifying Issues in the New Player Funnel 09:22 - Investigating Player Causes 10:18 - Impact of Optimizing Bot Lethality and Map Routing 11:51 - Combining Adjustments for Significant Extraction Rate Increases 13:06 - Net Impact Summary: Increased Matches, Minutes, and Retention 14:02 - Building a Robust Data Pipeline Infrastructure 15:47 - Cost vs. Customization in Analytics Services 📚 RESOURCES ➡️ Meta Horizon Developer Forum: https://communityforums.atmeta.com/category/horizon-developer-forum ➡️ Developers Blog: https://developers.meta.com/resources/blog/ ➡️ Meta Quest Developer Hub: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/documentation/unity/ts-mqdh/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH US Sign up to get the latest news from Meta Horizon: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/newsletter 💡 LEARN ABOUT THE META HORIZON START PROGRAM The Meta Horizon Start program provides intermediate and advanced developers with hands-on support and expert guidance to accelerate app development. Join a thriving community to access the tools and go-to-market resources you need to successfully deploy and grow your app on Meta Horizon OS. Apply to Start today: https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/programs/start
Crafting Social Content Players Want to Watch (Growth Series Part 2)
Hosted by Tevfik • March 2026 • Meta Horizon Start Overview As developers, we often assume that posting game updates or announcing new features will naturally excite our community and attract new players. The reality is that standard development content rarely travels far online. To achieve true organic growth, your game needs to be more than just fun to play—it needs to be fun to watch. In this session, VR developer Tevfik explains the core principles of “watchability” and how to design mechanics that naturally encourage players to create and share clips of your game. Watch this part: 00:00 The Problem with Traditional Updates When you push an update, the real question isn’t “What feature did we add?” but rather, “Would someone send a clip of this update to a friend?” If the answer is no, your game will struggle to spread on social media. Successful social VR games recognize that their community is their most powerful marketing engine, and they design their gameplay to fuel that engine. Watch this part: 01:00 What is Watchability? Watchability is the secret sauce that turns gameplay into shareable content. Watchable gameplay consistently creates moments that are: Surprising Emotional Funny Chaotic When these four elements combine, players naturally want to hit record. Watch this part: 01:45 Designing for Clips: Three Key Elements 1. Social Chaos Unpredictable player interactions create the best content. Mechanics that lead to physics accidents, unexpected teamwork, hilarious betrayals, or genuine panic (like monsters that kill you instantly) result in players screaming and laughing. These moments are incredibly entertaining for viewers, not just the players experiencing them. 2. Emotional Reactions VR is a uniquely powerful medium for content creation because player reactions are highly visible through avatar body language. When a player experiences panic, laughter, or surprise, viewers instantly understand the emotion of the moment. Strong avatar expressiveness amplifies this effect. 3. The Stage Effect Great social VR environments function like performance stages. By providing the right tools and spaces, players will naturally perform stunts, tell jokes, complete challenges, and create memorable social moments. They transition from simply being players to becoming content creators inside your game. Watch this part: 04:00 Building the Viral Loop and The Watchability Test When you successfully implement watchable mechanics, you create a powerful viral loop: A unique gameplay moment occurs -> A player records a clip -> The clip spreads online -> New players discover the game -> The community becomes your marketing engine. Before you spend time developing and shipping a new mechanic, run it through the Watchability Test: “Would someone clip this? Or would someone send this moment to a friend?” If the answer is yes, that mechanic has strong viral potential and is worth your time. Remember, your game isn’t just competing with other VR titles—it’s competing with everything else on the internet for a viewer’s attention. Watch this part: 06:15
🛠️Build Your Social Media Foundation | Growth Series, Part 1
Hosted by Start Mentor Tevfik • March 2026 • Meta Horizon Start Overview Many developers “build silently,” then launch with no audience. Just like an app, social media is something you can plan, build, and keep refining. This workshop is about building a repeatable social media foundation for VR games—starting early, posting consistently, and turning attention into a community (especially via Discord). Timestamp: 0:00 The 5 Key Mistakes (and what to do instead) Mistake #1: Starting social media too late What it looks like: You see your social media and promotion as a final step of development rather than a separate project you're developing. Many developers follow the classic flow of build → launch → promote. Why it's a problem: Your development phase is already full of moments people want to follow—progress, surprises, failures, “first time it works.” What to do instead: Create accounts at Day 0 and start sharing your development progress immediately, even if it's rough. This helps community members feel like they're a part of your development process. Mistake #2: Only posting “big updates” What it looks like: You focus entirely on development, waiting until major milestones or entire portions of your game are complete to post. Why it's a problem: Most social media algorithms reward consistency over occasional posts and engagement spikes. Long gaps hurt your momentum and discoverability on most platforms. If you wait too long between posts getting your game just right, you may sacrifice your ability to organically reach new potential players. What to do instead: Post small updates frequently and consistently. Establish a sustainable schedule for yourself and add posts in between if you have more to share. Mistake #3: Trying to be everywhere What it looks like: You create accounts across as many social media platforms as you can, either reusing content or trying to generate new content for each platform. Why it's a problem: Each platform behaves differently and appeals to a slightly different community, and maintaining consistency on too many different surfaces often leads people to spread their resources too thin. What to do instead: Start focused. Think about where your ideal community would spend most of their time online and what types of content tend to do well in those spaces, then tailor your content to those platforms. For example, you might use platforms like Youtube and Tiktok to promote short-form content and Discord for a community home. Once you've developed a rhythm on these platforms, consider branching out to include 1 or 2 others, but don't try to win every platform at once. Mistake #4: Posting like a company What it looks like: You tend to use more formal or corporate language in your social media or dev blog posts. For example, when you post an update, you may use "we" when referring to yourself or your development team. Why it's a problem: Posting like a company, especially when you're a solo developer, creates distance between you and your community. Using more personal language allows your community to feel they're a part of your development journey and gives them incentive to follow along for the ride. What to do instead: Use "I" to talk about your progress and achievements, be transparent about your team size, and talk directly to your players. Mistake #5: Waiting for perfection What it looks like: You tend to over-edit videos or wait for "polished" content or development milestones in order to post, and as a result, you post less often. Why it's a problem: As we covered in Mistake #2, delaying posts can hurt your discoverability on many platforms, but this goes deeper than just your discoverability. Most people drawn to short-form content are more interested in a few compelling seconds over a more in-depth and polished milestone video. Authentic, fast clips often outperform overly produced content, especially when you’re still early in development–bugs, prototypes, and experiments are compelling. What to do instead: Post more frequently and lower the bar for your production. Timestamp: 0:45 What Do I Post? If you’re stuck on ideas, the answer is simple: your dev work is the content. Examples Gameplay clips (even early) Bugs/funny moments Prototypes and tests Concept art drops Screenshots of new scenes/features “Then vs now” progress comparisons Workflow tip: even a few images (e.g., a new monster or asset) can become a short video using simple templates. Timestamp: 4:38 Platform and Format Advice Frequency (especially when starting from zero) Posting once a day is a strong baseline early on, because attention compounds—and it’s harder to get discovered when your account is empty. Format Choices On-screen text, voice, face-cam, avatars are all great ways to capture attention. What matters most is establishing clarity fast. A strong video often communicates its main idea within the first 10 seconds. Personal vs “Official” Accounts Generally, it’s good practice to have a dedicated, game-focused account that clearly communicates to the audience that you are speaking as the official voice of your project (e.g., GameNameOfficial). You can also choose to run a second “personality” or “experiment” account for looser, more creative posts. While operating both accounts does mean more work, operating both types of account allows you to lean into the type of content we discussed in Mistake #5, which can increase your reach. Discord: Convert Attention into Community Views and followers are not the same thing as a community. The goal of your social media presence should be to land people somewhere more persistent. A community Discord is an excellent place to establish a “home base” where players can stick around, talk to each other, and build momentum with you. Workflow tip: Converting social media followers into Discord members is especially powerful–community members can help the server feel alive and even share the operational load. For more information on building a strong foundation on Discord, see Tevfik’s previous session here. Time Management and Getting Help Moderation: Recruit player-moderators, trusted community members can take on moderation responsibilities. Editing support: If you’re finding that video editing is increasing your workload, consider finding a helper like a friend or family member, or adding a video editor to your team. Having someone to manage your social media for you can reduce the amount of time you spend task switching and can free up a considerable amount of your time, letting you focus on the parts of game development that you enjoy. Tooling: If you’re struggling to edit down longer footage into clips or decide which clips would be interesting, consider using AI clipping tools like OpusClip which can generate shorts from raw footage with minimal video editing lift. Practical Outreach on TikTok Spend time in your niche: Start real conversations with other developers in your space by commenting on their posts and videos. TikTok enables more direct early interaction through comments and DMs, especially before your account is large enough to enable direct links in your posts. Recap Don’t build silently–share your process to build your audience while you build your game Start social early Post small updates consistently (not just big milestones) Don’t try to be everywhere—start with TikTok + YouTube Post like a human (use “I” rather than “we”) Don’t wait for perfection—bugs/prototypes are good content Focus on converting followers into Discord members Homework: post something today (or create the account today and begin training the algorithm by watching and engaging with your niche)
📰What’s New in Meta XR SDK v85 | Start Mentor Workshop
Hosted by Quentin Valembois (Valem) • March 2026 • Meta Horizon Start Overview (what v85 focuses on) Meta Horizon OS v85 includes updates across: Building Blocks (including Multiplayer + AI Building Blocks) Mixed Reality (new Spatial Test Framework and Scene-less MR support) Locomotion updates (input mapping + revised control scheme) What’s coming next (FrameSync) Watch this part: 00:00 Building Blocks (Unity): faster setup, less boilerplate Building Blocks are modular, drag‑and‑drop capabilities for Unity projects that can automatically configure project settings and required components (e.g., passthrough, hand tracking, MR setup, etc.). The intent is to let you focus on the code that’s unique to your experience. What to take away: Building Blocks = the “fast path” for adding platform features correctly. They can handle annoying setup details (settings, manifests, component wiring). Watch this part: 01:07 Multiplayer Building Blocks: Photon Fusion 2.1 support What’s new in v85 Multiplayer Building Blocks now support Photon Fusion 2.1, unlocking newer Fusion features for Start devs who choose Fusion as their networking provider. Fusion 2.1 highlights: Forecast Physics Object Send Priority Large Data RPCs (Fusion used to have a small payload limit—large data RPC expands what you can send) Custom Tick Rates Faster Host / Master Client Switching Configurable AOI (Area of Interest) Player Unique ID When you drop a Multiplayer Building Block (e.g., auto matchmaking), you can choose provider: Unity Netcode for GameObjects, or Photon Fusion (now v2.1 supported) Also, voice chat support in the Building Blocks flow is tied to Fusion in the demonstrated setup. Watch this part: 02:19 AI Building Blocks updates: more accurate boxes + image segmentation What’s new in v85 AI Building Blocks improvements: More accurate 3D bounding boxes for object detection overlays 2D Image Segmentation option appearing in the tooling Watch this part: 06:45 “Scene-less Mixed Reality”: why it matters The problem with relying only on Scene Model/room setup Scene Model (room scan) is powerful, but can be: Overkill for simple MR interactions (e.g., “place one object on a surface”) Not runtime-updated (doesn’t naturally account for small moving objects in the moment) The v85 direction: more seamless MR workflows The workshop emphasizes using depth-powered environment raycasting to collide against real geometry without requiring a full scene model workflow. Key concept: Environment Raycast uses depth sensing to “hit test” the real world, enabling placement and interaction without scene model dependency. Watch this part: 08:27 What’s new for Scene-less MR in v85: Scene-less World Lock World Lock (and what changed) World Lock keeps virtual content stable in physical space even when the user recenters. Previously, this was tied to scene model workflows. What’s new in v85 Scene-less World Lock—world-lock behavior that works without requiring a scene model. Why it’s a big deal: It moves MR closer to “drop in/runtime MR” without asking users to preconfigure a full room scan for basic anchoring behavior. Watch this part: 12:11 Debugging MR got a major upgrade: Spatial Test Framework Before: Immersive Debugger The Immersive Debugger can help you inspect/tweak MR-related settings in a build and visualize MRUK data (mesh, collisions, navmesh overlays, etc.). New in v85: Spatial Test Framework (MRUK tests) The Spatial Test Framework brings automated testing principles (Unity Test Framework) into MR workflows by letting you run tests across multiple room prefabs/scene configurations. What it enables: Automatically validate your MR logic across many room layouts (bedroom, office, living room, etc.) Reduce manual “try it in 20 different spaces” testing Write your own tests by extending the MRUK test base class (as demonstrated conceptually) Watch this part: 18:50 Locomotion: input mapping + revised control scheme v85 includes an update to locomotion documentation and recommended patterns around locomotion input mapping, focused on making multiple locomotion systems work more cleanly together (especially avoiding input conflicts like “UI ray + teleport ray at the same time”). What’s new: Revised Control Scheme Watch this part: 26:24 More to come: FrameSync on Meta Horizon OS FrameSync is as an upcoming/important performance-related development, aiming at: More consistent smoothness Fewer still frames Lower motion-to-photon latency Watch this part: 29:24 Quick reference Photon Fusion 2.1 “What’s new” (from slide): https://doc.photonengine.com/fusion/current/getting-started/preview-2-1/whats-new-2-1 Locomotion input mapping doc (from slide): https://developers.meta.com/horizon/design/locomotion-input-maps/ FrameSync blog (from slide): https://developers.meta.com/horizon/blog/framesync-meta-horizon-os Environment Raycast example video (from slide): https://youtu.be/r9gedHRY0rc
