Rec Room, a popular cross-platform social game aimed at children, hosted its own version of the Olympics dubbed Reclympics following the conclusion of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The event took place from August 14th to September 5th.
Rec Room began as a VR-only application but has slowly opened up its platform and accessibility and more recently a mobile port. Where platforms such as VRChat have extensive content creation tools and user avatars, Rec Room is more focused on being a platform for hosting minigames created by them and the community. Over time, Rec Room has garnered over a million monthly active users and has recently raised another $100 million in financing.
Players participating in the events of Stunt Running, Laser Tag, Archery, Dodgeball, Discus Throw, Ultimate Frisbree, and Paintball earned virtual medals based on their performance as well as clothing for avatars for all those participating and spectating. In addition, there were 8 regions players could choose from and represent during the games.
With Racket NX potentially joining the official Olympics and Rec Room creating their own event, it will be interesting to see the future where sporting and technology mix. Rec Room certainly has plenty of cash on hand from its financing and its free-to-play model with premium membership allows its user base to grow. They have plenty of hiring opportunities currently available as well. With Rec Room providing a gateway to XR content for children, it’s important for businesses to continue using familiar technology to engage them in the future.
