The maker of the virtual reality success ‘Rec Room’ has received $24 funding from Index and Sequoia. The mission of developing a virtual reality social arena has seen a significant amount of venture capital investment over many years. Despite the rise of many contenders, Rec Room from Against Gravity has been a standout example of creative success for gaining a foothold in the niche marketplace, whilst developing a business with VR headset-equipped users conversing with each other.
The Seattle-based company gave an exclusive interview revealing its $24 million acquisition following two funding rounds. Sequoia led the Series A funding for the studio, whilst the recently concluded Series B funding round was spearheaded by Index Ventures. Various other reputed investors were part of these two rounds, including Maveron, Acequia Capital, Anorak Ventures, First Round Capital, DAG Ventures and Betaworks.
The funding round details were not revealed by Against Gravity. According to a reliable source, the startup was expected to raise a Series B funding capital of $15.4 million, which would raise its post-funding valuation to $126 million. The startup has chosen not to comment on the valuation.
The popularity of Rec Room as a game does not match up to that of various console game titles. Yet, the game has a considerable appeal for VR users, due to the diverse gameplay it offers and compatibility with various hardware choices. Users of Rec Room have the ability to create their own experiences, also known as ‘rooms’. These spaces can be accessed by other participants of the game. Rec Room ‘rooms’ can easily be built by people who do not require any coding skills. Users build their spaces within the game itself, and can even collaborate with other users to do so.
Rec Room is expected to have upwards of a million user-created rooms on its platform. Some spaces include adventure pursuits, clubhouses, shooting games, sports games, and escape rooms.
Competitors like Linden Labs, the company behind Second Life, has ventured into VR enabling users to create realistic environments that are static in nature. Against Gravity has gone a step further by focusing their efforts on dynamic game modes that encourage interactions of users, while laying less stress on graphical ingenuity.
Against Gravity, founded in 2016, operates with a dedicated workforce of 35 employees who work on development and maintenance of Rec Room. The gaming experience is available across a wide selection of platforms, with iOS support expected in the near future that outlines the potential of gaining a larger base of players.
The creators of Rec Room have not been too assertive in their monetisation efforts so far. According to Nick Fajt, CEO, user-generated content can help the company explore potential opportunities in the future, encouraging users to utilise tokens for character upgrades and much more. Fajt spoke to TechCrunch, expressing that the concept of users charging tokens from other users to environments is appealing.
With the $29 raised in funding, Against Gravity will make greater strides in the VR marketplace.
