Rec Room, a virtual reality, online video game, and game creation system that can be played on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Oculus Quest, iOS, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X, was first launched in June 2016. Since then, the platform has grown exponentially.
A month ago, Rec Room reported it had registered two million annual users. Now, the platform is up to one million monthly active users. This past weekend alone, Rec Room hosted 45,000 concurrent players. Its success is largely due to the fact that it’s free, supports all major headsets and can be played with or without a VR headset.
In VR mode, Rec Room uses full 3D motion through the motion capture system of a VR headset and two hand-held motion controllers, allowing players to pick up and handle objects such as balls, weapons and construction tools.
The platform also supports a number compatible non-VR devices, such as PS4/PS5, Steam, iOS, and Xbox, where it’s ranked as the number one free game. Aside from first-person shooters, cooperative action RPGs, a charades-like game, and six sports games, Rec Room also features in-game tools for user-generated content.
According to Rec Room Designer Shawn Whiting, the percentage of VR users is relatively small, yet Rec Room has drawn a significant number of players across all platforms. “Our VR daily active users spend an average of 2.7 hours in Rec Room when they visit. Quest 2 is about half of our VR users [and] VR growth has been amazing the past few months,” he told Road to VR.
Despite its success, Rec Room is not resting on its laurels. Last month, the platform raised an additional $20 million in a Series C round of funding led by Madrona Venture Group. Current investors, such as First Round Capital, Index, Sequoia and DAG, also took part in the round.
In 2021, the company plans to expand its creation tools. So far, more than one million users have accessed creator tools, constructing 4 million unique rooms on the platform. In addition, Rec Room hopes to increase creator payments up to an estimated $1 million by year’s end.
Source: Road to VR