Wagner James Au / New World Notes

2 responses to “Amazing User-Created VRChat Adventure Game World Gets 200,000+ Visits / Favorites… But Only 29 People Paying to Play. Here’s Why.”

1. 

   Martin K.

   December 19, 2024

   No one should be surprised that solo adventure games are difficult to monetize in a free-to-play social VR game. One reason is how cheap some of the classic AAA single-player adventure games are on Steam. Another reason is that the difference between single-player games and multiplayer games is more profound in virtual reality than in flat-screen games due to the experience of co-presence. (One of the key differences is probably virtual eye contact.)
   Yes, you can always improve the monetization of single-player games; but I believe that even the best single-player games will be more difficult to monetize than the best multiplayer games on a social VR platform.
   IMHO, the best solution on such platforms is to offer multiplayer modes, e.g. a cooperative PvE mode for 2, 3 or 4 players in addition to the single-player mode. And, yes, that is usually very difficult if you don’t have it in mind when you start designing a game. And it is a lot of work if the platform does not support it well.
   In fact, the last point might be one of the most important technical features of such platforms: making it as easy as possible to support the development of multiplayer games. And, yes, that’s possible as proven by the original programming language of Rec Room (“legacy circuits” or “CV1”), and, yes, it will cost performance (because everything is synced all the time automatically between all players in the same world), but it’s well worth that price.

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2. 

   HalfTheOfficeMustGo

   December 21, 2024

   There is an absolute glut of these type of games everywhere. No shade on the creator making this experience in VRChat, but VRChat is firstly a social game and not a game adventure platform.
   I’ve always said this: Why would I want to come to a virtual world platform to play a crappy sub-standard game (or popular game copy) when I can just go play the regular game? Why play a Minecraft-clone copy with less functionality, more lag on a Linden-based world when the original is a better experience?
   Secondly, time is better spent anyways as a Unity or Unreal game developer to create a game for sale that might serve the audience that is most interested. It’s not a surprise that games are not monetized or get many tips in worlds where people play Dressup and rather chat.
   Everyone is obsessed with making games as if that will attract users, and us hard-core gamers but it won’t. Virtual worlds are for making what does not exist, creating an experience people WANT to first hang out in, and WANT to explore. The THIRST must be created. If people come to your world, consume it in 30 seconds, and never come back – then it is a failure of the creator’s part (or the platform’s inability) to provide an experience for them.
   I can’t tell you how many worlds and virtual games I’ve explored over the years. Most of them are boring, and amount to a crappy copy of an original, or have about as much interaction as a museum or art gallery.
   Meanwhile, oddly enough a group of friends having fun just being together will stand in a badly designed box level with spartan rooms, abstractly modeled furniture – all made by a beginning 3d modeler (or even not!) and be quite happy.
   There’s enough shooter games and ‘make your own shooter games’ ‘virtual worlds’ out there – but still no increase of enhancing people’s base experience WITH THEIR FRIENDS.

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