VRChat can now automatically generate fallback version of your PC avatar that mobile users can see.
The feature, called Impostors, arrived with version 2023.4.2 at the start of December and its rollout is starting to bridge the divide between PC and mobile users.
As well as being available on PC with optional VR support, VRChat is also on the Google Play store for Android phones and on the app stores of Meta Quest, Pico 4, and Vive XR Elite standalone VR headsets.
Most PC worlds and avatars are too detailed to run performantly on mobile chipsets though, so VRChat takes a semi-fragmented approach. All worlds and avatars must have a mobile-optimized version if the creator wants standalone headset andphone players to be able to join or see them. Creators can upload two versions of the same content, one for PC and another for mobile.
If a user hasn't uploaded a mobile-optimized version of their avatar, standalone headset and phone users see a mobile fallback avatar instead, which doesn't look anything like the PC avatar.
VRChat's new Impostors feature is a solution for this. With just a few clicks, users can automatically generate a mobile-optimized version of their avatar that closely resembles it - though with lower visual fidelity. The result doesn't look as good as a custom made mobile version of the avatar, but it's far preferable to an unrelated fallback, as it maintains the avatar's core identity.
This impostor avatar will also show on PC when a user's performance settings would block your high-fidelity avatar from being shown.
The impostors system is bridging the divide between PC and mobile users in VRChat, and making them feel a little less left out than before.
