Gorilla Tag & VRChat Set Usage Records In VR Headsets
The Rise of Virtual Reality: A New Era of Immersive Entertainment
As the world continues to evolve, so does the way we experience entertainment. Virtual reality (VR) has become a staple of modern entertainment, offering an immersive experience that transports users to new and exciting worlds. With the rise of VR, people are now able to escape the confines of reality and explore new dimensions, all from the comfort of their own homes.
Setting Records in VR Headsets
In recent times, VR has seen a significant surge in popularity, with millions of people around the world using VR headsets to experience immersive entertainment. On New Year's Eve, nearly 150,000 people spent the holiday in VRChat worlds, a majority of them in headset while setting a concurrent user record as the calendar changed from 2025 to 2026 across the United States. Then, last Saturday January 10, 2026 at 10 a.m. Pacific, Another Axiom's planet of apes received an off-world visitor and broke their own record too.
The moment when around 110K people logged in simultaneously in Gorilla Tag was a testament to the power of VR. The alien's arrival in Gorilla Tag was preceded by a long build-up of lore that kicked off with the sighting of a green dot visible to everyone in the sky. According to Another Axiom, more than 110,000 people put on their headsets at the same time to witness the green comet collide with the planet, a moment executed as a once-in-a-lifetime live event hosted exclusively in virtual reality. More than 1 million unique users accessed Gorilla Tag in headset from Friday to Sunday, according to Another Axiom.
The Modern Version of Must-See TV
"Live Events are the modern version of Must See TV," wrote Jake Zim, Another Axiom Chief Marketing Officer. Virtual worlds are becoming important and reliable destinations for the adults and teens up at midnight partying like it's 2050 in VRChat, and kids gathering a few weeks later to witness a comet in Gorilla Tag as well as countless more dipping in and out of other virtual worlds.
VR Is Science & The Metaverse Is Fiction
VR was around as an idea with "presence" and its relationship to focus studied as a concept for years by researchers before Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook. To put a finer point on it, the metaverse is science fiction and virtual reality is studied in science. Author Neal Stephenson wrote of the metaverse in Snow Crash while William Gibson wrote of the cyberdeck in Neuromancer and both are impactful works of science fiction today.
Meanwhile, in actual real-world VR headsets, researchers recently worked out the user interface that would let robots make actual deliveries to a person in headset without disturbing them from their virtual environment. If VRChat and Gorilla Tag were cities, or public venues, then virtual reality in 2026 is already regularly accommodating roughly 100,000 people per place at one time. They're not all in the same exact room in each locale, but the people who go to these places (usually on the weekend) experience a sense of togetherness something like what other generations in a different century felt spotting Hale-Bopp in the sky together, or singing karaoke and counting down to midnight in a happy room with friends.
The Health of the Ecosystem
"Gorilla Tag itself, and I think the VR ecosystem, is reliant on a low-cost headset that is parent-trusted and kid-friendly and sold in the toy aisle," Zim said over a voice call. "The health of the ecosystem is driven by the audience that is spending on the platform, and that audience is the younger audience, the Gorilla Tag audience."
The Future of VR
Last weekend, Apple broadcast a whole live Lakers game from some of the first Apple Immersive VR cameras bringing Vision Pro owners closer than courtside seats. Later this week in Walkabout, a new mini golf theme park will release representing the creative output of a couple dozen artistic souls who complete the full loop of VR as an engine of creation. They build courses together in headsets more like chefs in the kitchen than architects making blueprints, even if their output is still architecture.
Former Oculus CTO and technical adviser to Meta John Carmack once sat with a triple monitor setup behind him and explained to VR's biggest believers what might be ahead for Meta's next few years trying to brute force the creation of a metaverse:
"Setting out to build the metaverse is not actually the best way to wind up with the metaverse...the metaverse is a honeypot trap for architecture astronauts," he warned. "Mark Zuckerberg has decided now is the time to build the metaverse....my worry is we could spend years and thousands of people possibly and wind up with things that didn't contribute all that much to the ways that people are actually using the devices and hardware today...we need to concentrate on actual products rather than technology, architecture, or initiatives."
Conclusion
As VR continues to evolve and become more mainstream, it's clear that the future of entertainment is looking bright. With the rise of VR, people are now able to experience immersive entertainment in ways that were previously unimaginable. From live events to interactive experiences, VR is changing the way we experience entertainment and is opening up new possibilities for creators and consumers alike.
As we look to the future, it's clear that VR will continue to play a major role in shaping the entertainment industry. With the continued advancements in technology and the growing popularity of VR, it's an exciting time to be a part of this industry. Whether you're a creator, a consumer, or just someone who loves to experience new things, VR has something to offer everyone.
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Source: https://www.uploadvr.com/vr-headsets-weekend-getaways/
