Meta used its Meta Connect 2026 stage on September 24 to introduce two development tools built around artificial intelligence, both aimed at its Horizon platform. The pair, Horizon Create and Horizon Studio, are designed to let people describe a game in plain language and have it assembled for them.
The two tools differ mainly in where they run and how much control they offer. Horizon Create is a mobile app, while Horizon Studio runs in a browser and provides more granular controls for creators who want to adjust the output rather than accept it as generated.
Two Paths Into the Same Platform
According to Meta, both tools enable creators to turn ideas into complete 2D or 3D mobile games. The company says those games can include progression systems, balanced difficulty, art direction and multiplayer support, and that creators can refine every element.
Neither tool is available immediately. Meta placed both in early access and opened a waitlist for people who want to try them before a wider release.
Games That Live Inside the Feed
The distribution plan is perhaps the more consequential part of the announcement. Games built with these tools can be recommended on Facebook and Instagram, and they are playable on both platforms without downloading anything or being redirected elsewhere. In other words, the games live natively in the social feeds where people already discover content.
Meta says a user can tap a clip and join multiplayer within seconds. The company also says that engaging, stable and culturally relevant games will receive more reach, a statement that doubles as a quality bar for the creators it hopes to attract.
A Platform Still Searching for Its Audience
The tools arrive at a moment when Horizon is still trying to establish itself. The platform launched as a VR app and later pivoted to focus primarily on mobile. Its user numbers illustrate the challenge: Horizon reached 300,000 monthly users in early 2022.
For comparison, Roblox, a similar platform, reports 123 million daily active users. That gap is not lost on anyone watching the space, and it explains why Meta is eager to lower the barrier to creating something people might actually play.
Competition From Roblox and Google
Meta is not alone in betting on AI-assisted game development. Roblox is also pushing into AI-powered development and already offers a mobile feature that lets users generate games from a prompt.
Google’s Project Genie represents a different approach. It creates brief but empty AI-generated interactive experiences, according to reporting by Jay Peters, who also expressed skepticism about whether AI-generated games can be engaging. Peters noted that Meta’s tools may produce games with video game elements, unlike Project Genie’s output.
That distinction matters. A game with progression, difficulty balancing and multiplayer is a more ambitious target than a short interactive demo, and it is also harder to get right. Whether AI can reliably produce that kind of experience is the open question the early access period is likely to test.
What Comes Next
Meta’s broader strategy of integrating AI into many products provides the backdrop for this announcement. Horizon Create and Horizon Studio are the latest expression of that strategy, and their success will depend on whether creators sign up, build something worth playing and find an audience in the feeds where the games will appear.
