Rec Room

Rec Room is an operator of a gaming platform dedicated to build a global gaming community. The company's application permits users to play within a virtual sports environment while chatting with others in the same virtual space. Rec Room offers cross-play on different devices, from phones to VR headsets, which allows for a social gaming experience. The game also allows users to develop and play games together.

Rec Room is a game developed in a similar way to competitor Roblox, such that users can download the game for free and use tools to make virtual rooms, objects, and playable games, such as paintball and laser tag. As well, the game offers user and community-generated content that is capable of continuously growing. The game launched on June 2016 on the Steam store for PC and has grown to include several platforms, including iOS, PlayStation, and Oculus, for both 2D and virtual reality play. In talking about the goals for developing the game, Rec Room co-founder and CEO Nick Fajt stated:

Rec Room was founded with the goal of bringing people together and giving them tools to express their creativity. Every day we see the Rec Room community creating friendships, making memories, and launching new digital entrepreneurs.

Although Rec Room launched in 2016 with the aim to be a virtual reality game, the slow movement and adoption of the virtual reality market drove the company to develop the game for other platforms (game consoles, PCs, and mobile devices) in order to increase their user base.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Rec Room experienced a growth of users that found ways to use Rec Room to imitate social contact. This included in-game events with happy hours, birthday parties, math lessons, and one-on-one therapy. CEO Nick Fajt noted that a new room was built by Rec Room users almost every twelve seconds. The user-base of Rec Room tripled since the previous year, with the creation of over 3 million rooms or virtual environments. To reward users, Rec Room introduced more tools, in-game rewards, and UI upgrades through the year.

In December 2020, Rec Room announced the launch of tools that would allow users to earn money by creating content for the game. These features are only available to Rec Room plus members, which pay a monthly subscription fee for in-store discounts, more avatar outfit options, and a monthly bonus of in-game tokens. Users are then able to take items they created and place them for sale; they can also sell keys, which can be used to unlock multiple items or experiences in rooms.

Part of the development of these features is for Rec Room to develop an economy in the game, where a fixed exchange rate from tokens to a hard currency and vice-versa can be established. The features also create a potential for users to support themselves through being full-time creators in the game.

The growth of the community over 2020 has also enabled Rec Room to implement new monetizing models to continue to grow the development company. This has increased the need for employees to moderate the gaming community to ensure the games' happy environments and appropriate behaviors remain. The company expects to use machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to help moderators ensure the rooms stay healthy.