Meta’s ambitions for the metaverse continue to come at a steep price. In its Q1 2025 earnings report, the company revealed a staggering $4.2 billion operating loss from its Reality Labs division—an arm that generated just $412 million in revenue for the quarter.

Reality Labs encompasses Meta’s virtual, augmented, and mixed reality efforts, including consumer hardware, software, and content. This covers devices like the Meta Quest headsets and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Despite the eye-watering losses, the numbers come as little surprise. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made no secret of his long-term bet on the metaverse, pouring billions into the space over the years despite investor concerns. Since Meta began breaking out Reality Labs as a separate business unit in late 2020, it has consistently posted billion-dollar quarterly losses. The segment’s worst quarter came in Q4 2024, when losses reached $4.9 billion. Its best showing—relatively speaking—was in Q1 2021, with a $1.83 billion loss.

The latest figures highlight the ongoing struggle to turn a profit in the extended reality market. Even Apple’s premium Vision Pro headset has failed to spark widespread adoption. But there are bright spots. One of them is Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, which have seen surging popularity.

According to Mobile World Live, Meta CFO Susan Li noted during the company’s earnings call that a slowdown in Quest headset sales had contributed to Reality Labs’ losses. However, this was partially offset by the rapid growth of the Ray-Ban smart glasses, which saw more than four times as many monthly active users compared to Q1 2024.

While still a far cry from profitability, Meta’s smart glasses may hint at a more accessible path to mainstream adoption—compared to the bulky and expensive headsets that have so far struggled to break out of the niche tech enthusiast market.