Rec Room, a popular virtual reality game, is shutting down after a decade of operation. The free-to-play social game, which attracted 150 million players, will cease to exist due to its inability to turn a profit. According to the game's developers, they struggled to find a way to make the game financially sustainable, despite its massive player base. The team admitted that the recent shift in the VR market and broader challenges in the gaming industry made it difficult for them to stay afloat.
The shutdown of Rec Room is a significant blow to the gaming community, particularly those who have invested time and effort into creating content for the platform. The developers are allowing users to download some of the assets connected to their created rooms, which could potentially enable them to port their creations to other platforms in the future.
Snapchat owner Snap has acquired some of Rec Room's assets, and some of the game's employees will be joining the social media company. Rec Room first appeared in 2016, years before the standalone Meta Quest entered the VR scene. It was a massive hit on the PSVR platform before being ported to other hardware, and a traditional version of the game is also available for non-VR platforms.
The shutdown of Rec Room serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by gaming companies in the VR market. Despite its massive player base, the game was unable to turn a profit, highlighting the difficulties of sustaining a successful gaming business.
When Rec Room's developers say they "never quite figured out" how to make the game profitable, that means the VR market is still a high-risk, high-reward space for game developers. The fact that a game with 150 million players couldn't turn a profit suggests that even the most popular VR titles are struggling to find a sustainable business model. This has significant implications for Nigerian game developers, who are increasingly looking to the VR market as a potential area for growth.
