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Rec Room is a virtual reality, online video game with an integrated game creation system developed and published by Rec Room Inc. (formerly known as Against Gravity) playable on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4/5, Oculus Quest 1/2, iOS 12.0 and up, Android 7.1 and up, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X.[1] It was released for Microsoft Windows in June 2016, PlayStation 4 (with PSVR support) in November 2017,[2] Oculus Quest in May 2019,[3] iOS in November 2019, Xbox in December 2020, and Android in August 2021.
| Rec Room | |
|---|---|
| File:Rec Room logo.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Rec Room Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Rec Room Inc. |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 (with PlayStation VR support), Oculus Quest, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Game creation system, massively multiplayer online |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Gameplay
The game may be played with or without a virtual reality headset, specifically a SteamVR headset, OculusVR headset, or PlayStation VR headset. In virtual reality mode, the game uses full 3D motion via the motion capture system of a virtual reality headset and two hand-held motion controllers, which are required to pick up and handle objects in the game world, including balls, weapons, construction tools, and other objects. The hub room (also known as “Rec Center”) vaguely resembles the lobby of a YMCA or other recreational center (thus earning the game's title of Rec Room) with doors that lead to various games and user-generated rooms. Players can explore the space around them within the confines of their physical floor-space, while roaming further by using controller buttons to teleport a short distance, with minimal or no virtual reality sickness. A “walking” mode enables players to move continuously rather than teleporting; however, this poses a higher risk of motion sickness.[4]
Game modes
Rec Room consists of separate built-in multiplayer games, including first-person shooters, cooperative action-adventure games, a Pictionary-like game, six sports games, and a kart racing game. Rec Room also provides in-game tools for user-generated content,[1] which led to the creation of millions of user-generated experiences.[5]
User-generated content
An in-game item called the “maker pen” is used to generate various 3D shapes that can exist in the game world and can be interacted with. These custom shapes can be placed into a number of predesigned rooms. Using the maker pen, players also have access to a number of pre-generated and user-generated game assets, such as furniture, weapons, and sports equipment, which players can place into their rooms. Players can choose to save their rooms and then list them publicly such that other players can find and visit them. Players can also publish smaller creations (called “inventions”) such that other players can find them and place them in their own rooms. Creators of popular rooms and inventions earn weekly dividends of tokens, Rec Room’s main currency. Creators with the Rec Room + Subscription can use the tokens that they earn from selling Premium Inventions, Keys, Room Currency, and Consumable earnings to cash out those tokens for real life money using the Partnered Creator Program. Players can also earn these Special Tokens that can be cashed out from winning maker pen contests and other events in specific. Players can only cash out the specific tokens that they earn from selling and not the tokens that are bought or earned through games. There are many creators in Rec Room who have designed, built, and coded their very own games to help promote Rec Room as a whole.
The maker pen also provides access to a node-based visual programming language, which is based on the dataflow programming paradigm and allows players to add various kinds of animated and interactive elements to their rooms. This feature allows players to create new multiplayer online video games that may be played within Rec Room; thus, the game effectively includes a game creation system.
Development
Seattle-based development studio Rec Room Inc (formerly Against Gravity Corp) was co-founded in April 2016 by Nick Fajt, Cameron Brown, Dan Kroymann, Bilal Orhan, Josh Wehrly, and John Bevis.[6] Prior to that, CEO Nick Fajt worked as a program manager on the HoloLens team at Microsoft. Dan Kroymann worked on the same team after working on the Xbox team. Rec Room Inc.′s CCO Cameron Brown also worked at Microsoft as HoloLens Creative Director.
In 2016 and early 2017, the company raised $5 million in funding for the development of Rec Room and its player community. According to CEO Nick Fajt, the company will keep Rec Room free to download.[7]
In 2017, Rec Room's “Junior Mode” was COPPA-certified by Samet Privacy.[8]
In June 2019, Rec Room Inc. announced that the company raised an additional $24 million over two rounds of funding.[9], and in December 2020, Rec Room Inc. announced additional $20 million in funding.[10] In March 2021, Rec Room Inc. announced another funding round of $100 million with a valuation of $1.25 billion leading to its unicorn status.[11][12]
Reception
Dan Ackerman, writing for CNET, described Rec Room as VR's killer app.[13] In January 2017, Ars Technica reported that trolling and harassment in Rec Room were a problem.[14] In June 2017 MIT Technology Review contributor Rachel Metz described it as a fun and significant example of VR's potential for social interaction, while criticizing its underdeveloped anti-abuse features.[15] Filmmaker Joyce Wong described it as her choice of “most interesting piece of art in 2017”.[16]
References
- ^ a b Sterling, Amy (March 25, 2018). "Visualizations Of The Future: Toward The Oasis". Forbes.com. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
- ^ "Rec Room Coming to PlayStation VR, Open Beta Launches Nov. 21". PlayStation.Blog. November 9, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^ Heaney, David (May 15, 2019). "Rec Room On Oculus Quest Won't Have All Activities At Launch". UploadVR.com. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
- ^ Groen, E.; Bos, J. (2008). "Simulator sickness depends on frequency of the simulator motion mismatch: An observation". Presence. 17 (6): 584–593. doi:10.1162/pres.17.6.584. S2CID 43585717.
- ^ Hayden, Scott (September 14, 2020). "'Rec Room' Exceeds 3M User-created Levels with 40M Monthly Visits, Creator Monetization in the Works". RoadToVR. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ^ "Company Against Gravity". VBProfiles. Spoke intelligence. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Hayden, Scott (February 2, 2017). "'Rec Room' Studio Raises $5M "to continue to build the future of Social VR"". RoadToVR. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ "OFFICIAL MEMBERSHIP PAGE: Rec Room (Junior Mode)". kidsafeseal.com. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ Matney, Lucas (June 12, 2019). "Against Gravity is building a VR World that won't stop growing". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ Matney, Lucas (December 17, 2020). "Social gaming platform Rec Room scores $20 million Series C". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ Matney, Lucas (March 24, 2021). "Rec Room raises at $1.25B valuation from Sequoia and Index as VCs push to find another Roblox". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- ^ Lyons, Kim (March 25, 2021). "Rec Room rides uptick in users during the pandemic to become a VR unicorn". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- ^ Ackerman, Dan (August 12, 2016). "VR finally has its killer app, and it's called Rec Room". CNET. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^ Newitz, Annalee (January 24, 2017). "Welcome to the world of trolling in virtual reality". Ars Technica. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
- ^ Metz, Rachel (June 14, 2017). "Virtual Reality's Missing Element: Other People". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Wong, Joyce (December 27, 2017). "The art of VR: In 2017, filmmaker Joyce Wong found compelling new ways to socialize online". CBC Arts. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
