According to Gaylor and Joudrey, who founded VRChat in 2014, some of that confidence comes from the platform\u2019s\u00a0ability to consistently bring in record numbers of visitors across Quest, SteamVR, Pico headsets, PC, and mobile devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast New Year\u2019s Eve, nearly 150,000 people were in VRChat at the same time\u2014celebrating a worldwide event for yet another year. Most of those folks had visited us for New Years multiple times before, but for some, it was their first time,\u201d the studio founders say. \u201cIt\u2019s been three months since, and we\u2019ve broken that user record twice since then. Our latest record? Nearly 160,000 people in VRChat at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
While those sorts of events periodically bring in usership peaks, it\u2019s what people buy once they\u2019re in VRChat that matters. And its creator economy is booming, the founders say.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only that, but our creator economy, avatar marketplace, and first-party stores are all growing. Creators like Studio TrickForge, spookyghostboo, and nawty have made VRChat a place where they can create amazing communities, experiences, and identities, all while earning for their hard work. We onboard more creators every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, the platform rolled out its\u00a0centralized marketplace for avatars<\/a> and virtual items in mid-2025, which uses its in-game currency, VRChat Credits. Prior to this, users mostly bought and sold avatars through third-party markets, such as\u00a0Booth\u00a0or\u00a0Gumroad, essentially making for a new revenue stream VRChat could tap into.<\/p>\n Gaylor and Joudrey say however one of the biggest reasons VRChat\u00a0is still kicking in a time of market headwinds is its communities.<\/p>\n \u201cOur community is the thing that makes VRChat different from every platform that has come and gone. You create worlds that defy imagination. You build avatars that embody expression and identity in ways never seen before. You welcome strangers into your communities, make them feel at home, and often change their lives for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n This follows some pretty worrying signals from the broader VR gaming segment. It was revealed in January that Meta is making a\u00a0monumental shift in its priorities<\/a>\u00a0as a supporter of VR gaming, as its Reality Labs\u00a0XR division has shifted focus to AI and smart glasses.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Meta has closed nearly all first-party VR studios and cancelled a number of in-progress games, such as an unannounced\u00a0Batman: Arkham Shadow\u00a0sequel<\/a>\u00a0from Sanzaru Games, an unannounced\u00a0Harry Potter VR game for Quest<\/a>\u00a0from Skydance Games, and a major project from Moss developers Polyarc<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vrchat-avatar-market.jpg\"){kind=avatar}
<\/a>VRChat Avatar Marketplace | Image courtesy VRChat<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/vrchat-2026.jpg\")
<\/a>VRChat Historical Peak Concurrents \u2013 Steam Version | Image courtesy SteamDB<\/p>\n