VRChat Android Smartphone Downloaded Over 10,000 Times in First Week

In case you missed it, VRChat launched the Alpha version of its Android mobile app last week. (User-made tutorial above.) It's already been downloaded 10,000 times, though to be honest — given VRChat's user base of 5-10 million active users — on first glance, I'd have expected a larger download rate. Then again, the Android app is basically the Quest 2 version of VRChat, which means lower graphics quality and less interactivity options.

Then again (again), VRChat will need to get the mobile version right to grow the user base beyond its hardcore user base primarily composed of VR owners. Like I mention in Making a Metaverse That Matters, VRChat's user base was originally 30% VR-based, but that fairly quickly changed:

As VRChat’s growth continued, another surprising trend emerged. 

In 2019, VRChat the company reported that 30% of its daily users wore an HMD. 

By 2022, however, the founders tell me that ratio had reversed, with 70% of active users wearing HMDs. 

[VRChat founders] Graham and Jesse attribute that to Meta’s debut of Quest 2 headsets in the interim.  “They offered users a (relatively) affordable way to get into VR. While we were (and are) still experiencing PC-based growth, that of course has lots of limitations.”

VRChat, in other words, has effectively become one of the few killer apps of consumer VR, with daily usage outstripping hit VR games like SuperHot and Beat Saber. (Ironically, Meta bought the developer of the latter game for $2 billion.)

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