Seattle-based Against Gravity is working on what is perhaps VR’s most important app.
Rec Room connects players across all headsets that make use of two full motion hand controllers, including Rift, Vive, PlayStation VR as well as headsets from Acer, Samsung, Lenovo, HP and Dell. Some VR software like Altspace and EVE: Valkyrie have enabled cross-play before across several headsets, but Rec Room’s multiplayer is likely to have wider reach being free and offering access to a whole bunch of fun and easily accessible activities — like paintball, charades and questing.
The game is in a beta testing phase and on Steam it carries an “overwhelmingly positive” rating after more than 1,800 reviews. Its launch on PSVR (PlayStation store link), and coming soon to the Windows Store, represents an important moment in VR’s road toward mainstream. Rec Room can become the free VR meeting place that brings together friends who bought different headsets. VR often gets criticism for being a solitary experience, but part of the reason for that is there’s no easy way for people inside different headsets to experience something fun together. Fun social VR can be one of the most compelling reasons to use a VR headset and Rec Room’s availability for free on so many devices can help lots more people have those experiences together. In other words, with Rec Room, VR headset owners have more reasons to use their gear.
Rec Room launches in open beta on the PlayStation Store today in North America, South America and the EU. It does not require PlayStation Plus to play. Against Gravity will be running an AMA on r/PSVR starting at 10 am today.
Update: Additional context added.
