Meta Unveils New Prediction‑Market App ‘Arena’ to Engage Users with Interactive Forecasting

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is developing an app named “Arena” that functions as a prediction market platform, according to insiders who spoke with the New York Times.

The app will let users forecast outcomes across a range of domains—including politics, sports, entertainment, and global events. Rather than employing a cash‑based betting system, the platform is expected to use a video‑game‑style points mechanism, although Meta has not ruled out the possibility of introducing real‑money wagering in the future.

Insiders describe the project as both experimental and a top priority within the company.

The initiative follows the surge in popularity of prediction markets, highlighted by Polymarket’s breakout success during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which attracted billions of dollars in trading volume and brought the concept firmly into the mainstream political dialogue.

Meta had previously trialed a similar service called Forecast in 2020, encouraging users to predict emerging trends during the early stages of the COVID‑19 pandemic. The product was discontinued in 2022.

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