One of VR’s most popular hits, Gorilla Tag, is shaking things up by permanently adding a level creation mode previously in testing. Dubbed ‘Monke Blocks,’ this feature allows friends to build and then dive into their creations together. In an exciting parallel, the studio behind the budding social VR game Digigods just secured a $2.6 million investment. Both events underscore the growing importance of user-generated content (UGC) in social VR games’ success.
Games like VRChat, Rec Room, Roblox, and Horizon Worlds have all made significant impacts in the VR space. What connects them all is a shared focus on user-generated content. It seems creativity among friends keeps their communities strong.
At first glance, Gorilla Tag may seem like just a straightforward multiplayer game rather than a social VR platform. However, its smooth multiplayer system, allowing players to move seamlessly between lobbies and its open-ended gameplay, has crafted it into both a game and a social playground.
Now, with Monke Blocks officially in the mix, Gorilla Tag is enhancing its social VR credentials by empowering players to both build and explore within their own unique environments.
Utilizing a block-based approach, friends can join forces to construct new levels, with players able to shrink down and explore their own creations as they take shape, adding a whole new layer of fun to the game. While some players work on building at normal size, others can miniaturize themselves to explore the newly crafted levels simultaneously.
To monetize this new aspect, players will have the option to purchase expansion sets of blocks using the game’s premium currency, ‘Shiny Rocks.’ The first available set offers a medieval castle theme and will be priced at 6,000 Shiny Rocks, which translates to about $30.
This focus on ‘build and play’ exemplifies the user-generated content model, now a cornerstone of thriving social VR games, whether seasoned or new.
Another Axiom, the team behind Gorilla Tag, plans to replicate this success with their next title, Orion Drift. This upcoming game will let players explore an expansive playground, setting the frame for creating mini-games and establishing rules at their discretion.
Earlier this year, we highlighted Yeeps’ UGC-centered design, noting it had amassed 360,000 monthly active users. Recently, Squido Studio, developers of the UGC-headlined Digigods, celebrated a $3 million seed investment, backed by multiple investors including Triptyq Capital and Grishin Robotics, as reported by VentureBeat.
Launched in April 2024, less than a year old, Digigods has already captivated 100,000 unique users, and it boasts over 10,600 user reviews with an impressive 4.8 out of 5-star average on the Quest platform. Even in its Early Access phase, it’s primed for rapid expansion upon full release.
While UGC remains the binding thread among leading social VR games, there’s a notable distinction between the old guards and newcomers: player movement.
Old-school social VR titles like Rec Room, VRChat, and Horizon Worlds rely on traditional thumbstick or teleportation methods for movement. Contrast this with newer titles like Orion Drift, Yeeps, and Digigods that favor the arm-based locomotion style, popularized by Gorilla Tag. Thus, Gorilla Tag serves as a bridge from the old-school to the new-wave social VR experiences.
This locomotion method doesn’t just split games by mechanics; it separates their audiences. New-school games, leaning into arm-based movement, tend to appeal to Gen Z players more than their millennial or older counterparts.
