Founded in 2016, the Seattle-based Rec Room Inc. has seen meteoric growth in the last five years with a successful Series C funding round in 2020, and lots of new features up for release.
The company was initially envisioned as a platform where creators could build multiplayer content, and users could come together for entertainment, work, commercial and professional interactions. At its core, Rec Room is a VR gaming platform, but there are plenty of non-gaming use cases as well. In December 2020, Rec Room raised a whopping $20 million in a Series C round led by Madrona Venture Group, bringing their total funding to almost $50 million.
Recently, Rec Room also announced that it intends to pay more than $1 million to content creators in 2021. It successfully crossed the $1 million monthly active user mark in January of 2021, which is an impressive threshold for virtual reality applications. Interestingly, the average user spends 2.7 hours on the platform whenever they visit, a marker of its capability to engage and retain attention.
Let us now assess some of Rec Room’s key features and its promise for the future.
What Are the Key Features of Rec Room?
Simply put, Rec Room is an immersive world where you can build and play multi-player games. There are already millions of rooms available on the platform, and these rooms are monetisable through the sale of in-room inventions, keys, and other 3D assets.
Cross-device compatibility
One of the biggest advantages of Rec Room is that it is compatible with a wide range of devices, both VR and non-VR. You can access games in Rec Room using an Oculus or Steam headset. You could also login via Xbox, PlayStation, or even an iOS device. Rec Room has mentioned that non-VR consumption on Rec Room has steadily gained momentum.
Scale
As we already mentioned, Rec Room has successfully hosted more than 1 million active VR users every month. Along with this, it is capable of at least 45,000 concurrent players, making it scalable for large groups of players around the world. The platform has a certified Junior Mode so that kids can play in Rec Room safely.
A massive community
Rec Room has a massive community of creators and users, spread across social media, Discord, and online forums. There is even a community Wiki, where you can learn about the ins and outs of the different tools, upcoming events, and purchasable creator assets.
Monetisation
Rec Room recently announced that members would be able to exchange in-game tokens for cash, at the rate of $400 per million tokens. Rec Room players have a very real chance of earning money through the platform, and content creators will be paid as well.
What Are the Benefits of Using Rec Room?
The biggest benefit of Rec Room is the community support and engagement it offers. You can participate in regular contests, attend learning events, and even purchase merchandise to show off your elite player status.
How Much Will It Cost?
Rec Room is free to play, with in-app purchases. There is also a Plus membership, which is required for monetisation.
