Meta Launches AI Game Creation Tools for Mobile and Browser in 2026
Games made with Meta’s new AI tools can be recommended and played directly on Facebook and Instagram, letting users enter multiplayer sessions without downloading an app. Horizon Create is mobile; Horizon Studio is browser-based, with early access via waitlist.
Meta announced two new AI-powered game development tools in September 2026: Horizon Create, a mobile app, and Horizon Studio, a browser-based app with more granular controls. Both tools allow users to build games using AI prompts, and interested users can sign up for early access via a waitlist.
The tools are designed to lower the barrier to game creation on Meta’s Horizon social platform. According to Meta, both apps “enable creators to turn any idea into a complete 2D or 3D mobile game, complete with progression systems, balanced difficulty, art direction, multiplayer, and more, then refine every element to their standards.”
A key part of Meta’s strategy is distribution. Games built with Horizon Create and Horizon Studio will be eligible for recommendation on Facebook and Instagram, where they will also be playable directly. “Someone scrolling through Instagram can tap a clip of your game and be in a multiplayer session within seconds, without needing to download an app or being redirected,” Meta said in a blog post. Games described as “engaging, stable, culturally relevant, and keep players coming back” will receive greater reach on those platforms.
The announcement comes as Horizon has historically struggled to gain traction. The Verge reported in early 2022 that the platform reached just 300,000 monthly users. By comparison, Roblox — a competing platform — currently has 123 million daily active users. Roblox is also pushing into AI-powered development, including a mobile feature that lets users generate games with a prompt.
Horizon originally launched as a VR app but has since pivoted to focus primarily on mobile. The new tools extend Meta’s broader pattern of integrating AI across its products. Whether AI-generated games can attract and retain players at meaningful scale remains to be seen, though the Facebook and Instagram distribution pipeline could give Horizon content significantly wider exposure than the platform has previously achieved.