Mesh for Teams 2025 - update, reality

What has happened since then? - Mesh roadmap 2024/25

Functionalities 2025 at a glance

• Workshop layouts & breakout rooms facilitate training and onboarding.

• Audio sharePresenters can record audio tracks from videos or demos.

• Room branding without code: Walls, banners and 3D assets can be customized directly in the mesh editor.

• Operation without VR headset remains possible; if you want to dive in, use Meta Quest 2/3/Pro. meta.com

Hardware pivot - end of HoloLens & focus on partner devices

Microsoft discontinued the production of the HoloLens 2 at the end of 2024 and officially confirmed in February 2025 that no more XR hardware of its own is planned; support will only continue until the end of 2027. 

Consequence: The Meta Quest will become the "reference headset" for mesh meetings, while industrial customers (e.g. US Army IVAS) will be supplied by partners such as Anduril in future.

Reality check 2025: the cooled metaverse hype

After three years of buzz and massive investment, disillusionment is setting in:

• Meta Reality Labs totaled by the end of 2024 68.9 billion USD lossCTO Andrew Bosworth gives the Metaverse "another year to prove itself". 

• Many companies are postponing VR pilots or focusing on tangible ROI cases (training, remote support) instead of major events in the "metaverse".

Why companies still rely on mesh

Renowned customers such as Takeda, Accenture, BP or Mercy Ships use Mesh for global onboarding, management training or virtual shipyard tours. The business case lies less in the "metaverse dream" and more in Travel and event costswhich can be reduced by up to 30 %.

Outlook & recommendations for 2025

1. Pilot instead of big bangStart with a workshop scenario (< 50 participants) and measure engagement KPIs.

2. Planning the hardware mixAllow desktop participation, offer VR headsets as an option.

3. Refresh contentUse the no-code branding to adapt rooms to your CI.

4. SecurityCheck the simplified firewall setup (from v5.2501) for external events.

5. Hype vs. benefitsCommunicate clearly that Mesh is a Productive tool is - not a sci-fi metaverse.