Rec Room, the multiplayer VR video game that enjoyed niche popularity with millions of loyal players worldwide, is shutting down. The Seattle-based eponymous developer behind the game announced Monday that the platform will no longer be live on June 1.
The company's decision has caused fans to mourn the departure of the game. It has also raised eyebrows in the video game community as the game was dubbed as an alternative to Roblox and was valued at $3.2 billion in 2021 with over 150 million users.
The company said that its decision was prompted by profitability issues despite the game's significant and loyal user base. But it has not left fans happy, as is evident from the slew of reactions on social media in the aftermath of the closure announcement.
“Sad to see it go. Its how I survived most of covid and was a huge way to feel connected to IRL's I couldn't see due to it. Met some awesome people and some of the best memories ive made on any game ever was on rec room,” one fan wrote.
“This is honestly so sad I grew up with this game a lot and made so many friends/memories during those years,” wrote another.
{{/usCountry}}“This is honestly so sad I grew up with this game a lot and made so many friends/memories during those years,” wrote another.
{{/usCountry}}“Sucks to see the rec room shutting down, made lots of videos on the game and played it for years,” noted one.
“I’m extremely sad to learn that Rec Room is shutting down on June 1st. It was VR’s first social Lego-style experience,” a VR content creator said.
“Rec Room shutting down has left me speechless. Its hard to believe a game I once held so dearly is leaving for good. While the community sucked, and the games were arguably worse, it takes me back to a simpler time whenever I play,” wrote one.
“Rec Room shutting down my heart just shattered,” added one.
What Rec Room Said About The Closure
Rec Room announced the closure of the platform in a statement shared as a blog post on the website. The blog post did not reveal what will happen to the company itself, as Rec Room has been their only offering. The fate of the employees was also not revealed.
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The statement read: "Despite this popularity, we never quite figured out how to make Rec Room a sustainably profitable business. Our costs always ended up overwhelming the revenue we brought in.
We spent a long time trying to find a way to make the numbers work. But with the recent shift in the VR market, along with broader headwinds in gaming, the path to profitability has gotten tough enough that we've made the difficult decision to shut things down."
Though once valued at over $3.2 billion at its peak in 2021 after a series of funding, the company's valuation has since more than halved. Current estimates value the Rec Room at around $1.4billion.