THE Roblox-like the VR title Games room is stopping after operating for a decade. The free social game is shutting down because the developers “never really figured out” how to make it profitable, despite attracting 150 million players.
“We spent a lot of time trying to find a way to make the numbers work,” the team wrote in a blog post. “But with the recent shift in the virtual reality market, as well as broader headwinds in the gaming industry, the path to profitability has become difficult enough that we have made the difficult decision to close the doors.”
The closure officially takes place on June 1, but the platform is already making serious changes. Starting today, users will no longer be able to make friends, create new accounts or subscribe to the premium service. However, many features locked behind that subscription paywall will be free by June.
The developers also allow users to download some of the assets connected to the rooms they have created. This could, in theory, allow them to port their creations to other platforms in the future. Snapchat owner Snap has already purchased a bunch of Games room assets and some employees will join the social media company, according to a report from GeekWire.
Games room first appeared in 2016, years before the standalone Meta Quest entered the VR scene. It was a huge success on the PSVR platform before being ported to other hardware. There is even a traditional version of the game available for non-VR platforms. Just like Robloxthis allows people design their own spaces to hang out.
VR is currently in a difficult situation. Meta was an industry leader, but the company laid off hundreds of people from its Reality Labs division. This is the team that makes VR/AR hardware and software. It was reported that instead the company was dedicate more money to ongoing AI efforts. Sony’s PSVR2 was also not a huge success.
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/rec-room-a-roblox-style-vr-game-is-shutting-down-154350384.html?src=rss