Mark Zuckerberg responds to metaverse memes with a redesign

New York(CNN) Mark Zuckerberg, in response to a torrent of critical memes mocking the graphics of Meta's newest project, has heard his critics -- and changed his selfie.

Zuckerberg debuted Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality social app, in France and Spain earlier this week, sharing a somewhat flat, goofy digital avatar posed in front of the Eiffel Tower and rolling green hills.

The internet immediately jumped in, mocking what many users viewed as (hopefully) preliminary graphics for a venture that Meta has spent at least $10 billion in the last year.

New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose compared the graphics to "worse than a 2008 Wii game" on Twitter. Slate used the term "buttcheeks." Twitter was less kind: "eye-gougingly ugly" and "an international laughing stock" popping up.

Many compared the Metaverse design to early 90's graphics and pointed out how lifeless and childish the Zuckerberg selfie looked. It quickly won the designation "dead eyes."

Well, Zuckerberg has apparently seen the memes, because on Friday he announced there are major updates coming -- along with new avatar graphics. On Facebook and Instagram, Zuckerberg posted a photo of his more advanced-looking avatar.

"I know the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic -- it was taken very quickly to celebrate a launch," Zuckerberg wrote in the caption, adding the graphics in Horizon "are capable of much more" and promising that it will be "improving very quickly."

Zuckerberg added he will share more details at Connect, the company's annual conference, which took place in October last year.

Facebook planned to spend at least $10 billion in 2021 on Facebook Reality Labs, dedicating significant resources toward its augmented and virtual reality products and services in last year's third quarter results.

Horizon Worlds, from Meta for the Quest headset, is already available in the US, Canada and United Kingdom.