Microsoft mops up Mesh after another metaverse misfire
(2025/12/02)
- Reference: 1764696915
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/12/02/microsoft_mesh_axed/
- Source link:
As of December 1, mixed reality collaboration platform Microsoft Mesh is no more, and Redmond has directed customers to immersive events in Teams.
The [1]writing has been on the wall for Microsoft Mesh for some time. After a lengthy stint in preview, the service became generally available in 2024 as a 3D world where users could hold meetings and events.
The [2]plan was that users could select a 3D environment and an avatar for themselves then, rather than perch on a kitchen table or grab the first hot-desking spot, immerse themselves therein.
[3]
While neat, there was also a clear overlap with Teams, which also had the option to join an immersive space (if enabled) or participate in a custom immersive space in Mesh itself, so was there really a need for a separate standalone service? The answer appears to be no.
[4]
[5]
Microsoft had already announced Mesh's retirement as a standalone platform and December 1 marked the end. Users can no longer attend Mesh events via the Mesh PC or Quest apps, the mesh.cloud.microsoft website is decommissioned, and the "Immersive space (3D)" view in Teams and the ability to join a Teams meeting through the Mesh Quest app are also disabled.
The functionality has now been built directly into Teams. Hosting an immersive event requires a qualifying commercial Teams license and a Teams Premium license. Co-hosting or attending needs a standard Teams license.
[6]Apply here to win a Microsoft Ugly Sweater. It's uglier than ever
[7]Zig quits GitHub, says Microsoft's AI obsession has ruined the service
[8]Windows 11 needs an XP SP2 moment, says ex-Microsoft engineer
[9]Microsoft appears to move on from its most loyal 'customers' – Contoso and Fabrikam
The killing of Microsoft Mesh in standalone form represents the end of an era for Microsoft. It doesn't seem long ago that CEO Satya Nadella was promoting the idea that Microsoft might become a leader in immersive environments. After all, it had the HoloLens. There were mixed reality headsets. It had even won a [10]$22 billion contract for the former from the US Army.
However, as Nadella appeared to drink deep from the AI cup, the company's metaverse ambitions never caught on. It [11]gave up on the US Army project and [12]threw in the towel on the HoloLens in 2024. In June 2025, the company told users it would be pulling the plug on Mesh in favor of Teams on December 1.
[13]
Immersive events in Teams differ from what was previously possible in Mesh. For example, Teams supports up to 16 people joining an immersive Teams meeting like scrums or standups. Mesh supported up to 330 people – more along the lines of a town hall.
While elements of the immersive experience linger on in Teams, the lofty goals of Mesh's virtual spaces never really caught on and certainly have no place in the Copilot company of today. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftteamsblog/immersive-events-in-microsoft-teams-now-generally-available/4468628
[2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/09/26/microsoft-mesh-enters-preview-in-october-including-a-new-teams-experience/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/microsoft_ugly_sweater_competition/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/zig_quits_github_microsoft_ai_obsession/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/01/windows_needs_another_xp_sp2/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/01/microsoft_contoso_fabrikam_zava/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/microsoft_us_army_hololens_contract/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/12/microsoft_gives_up_army_ivas/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/02/microsoft_hololens_2_dead/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The [1]writing has been on the wall for Microsoft Mesh for some time. After a lengthy stint in preview, the service became generally available in 2024 as a 3D world where users could hold meetings and events.
The [2]plan was that users could select a 3D environment and an avatar for themselves then, rather than perch on a kitchen table or grab the first hot-desking spot, immerse themselves therein.
[3]
While neat, there was also a clear overlap with Teams, which also had the option to join an immersive space (if enabled) or participate in a custom immersive space in Mesh itself, so was there really a need for a separate standalone service? The answer appears to be no.
[4]
[5]
Microsoft had already announced Mesh's retirement as a standalone platform and December 1 marked the end. Users can no longer attend Mesh events via the Mesh PC or Quest apps, the mesh.cloud.microsoft website is decommissioned, and the "Immersive space (3D)" view in Teams and the ability to join a Teams meeting through the Mesh Quest app are also disabled.
The functionality has now been built directly into Teams. Hosting an immersive event requires a qualifying commercial Teams license and a Teams Premium license. Co-hosting or attending needs a standard Teams license.
[6]Apply here to win a Microsoft Ugly Sweater. It's uglier than ever
[7]Zig quits GitHub, says Microsoft's AI obsession has ruined the service
[8]Windows 11 needs an XP SP2 moment, says ex-Microsoft engineer
[9]Microsoft appears to move on from its most loyal 'customers' – Contoso and Fabrikam
The killing of Microsoft Mesh in standalone form represents the end of an era for Microsoft. It doesn't seem long ago that CEO Satya Nadella was promoting the idea that Microsoft might become a leader in immersive environments. After all, it had the HoloLens. There were mixed reality headsets. It had even won a [10]$22 billion contract for the former from the US Army.
However, as Nadella appeared to drink deep from the AI cup, the company's metaverse ambitions never caught on. It [11]gave up on the US Army project and [12]threw in the towel on the HoloLens in 2024. In June 2025, the company told users it would be pulling the plug on Mesh in favor of Teams on December 1.
[13]
Immersive events in Teams differ from what was previously possible in Mesh. For example, Teams supports up to 16 people joining an immersive Teams meeting like scrums or standups. Mesh supported up to 330 people – more along the lines of a town hall.
While elements of the immersive experience linger on in Teams, the lofty goals of Mesh's virtual spaces never really caught on and certainly have no place in the Copilot company of today. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftteamsblog/immersive-events-in-microsoft-teams-now-generally-available/4468628
[2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/09/26/microsoft-mesh-enters-preview-in-october-including-a-new-teams-experience/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/microsoft_ugly_sweater_competition/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/zig_quits_github_microsoft_ai_obsession/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/01/windows_needs_another_xp_sp2/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/01/microsoft_contoso_fabrikam_zava/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/microsoft_us_army_hololens_contract/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/12/microsoft_gives_up_army_ivas/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/02/microsoft_hololens_2_dead/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS9vlHuukYlQ4dvL8Gy3JwAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
ComicalEngineer
I completely agree that Teams is clunky and pretty horrible to use, but it works passably well on my laptop.
The only thing I don't understand is why anyone (other than a 12 year old) would actually want a 3D avatar in a meeting.
Anonymous Coward
I don't have a camera, so I use an avatar!
I do think that many of the gestures are not suitable for meetings - apart from the yawn and watch tapping ones!
Which, last time I look had been removed!
All we want ….
FirstTangoInParis
… is a tool to talk one to many and possibly to decency other. That’s it. The service can barely support that as it is, and even my works PC struggles with that (despite 16 Gigathings of memory and some ludicrously over specified processor; one used to be able to run video calling over ISDN with a 50 MHz Sparc processor, so why all these gigahertz, hmm?). The rest of it? Go play some First Person Shooter game instead. I think there are sometimes meetings I’d like to take weapons to, just to help the meeting reach a conclusion in good time.
Teams is completely unfit for any purpose. Other than turning the surface of my Macbook into a subtrate for frying eggs.