Like it or not, when it comes to attracting VR players, the free-to-play (F2P) model is taking over. While premium titles in the $20/$30 or even $40 region struggle to build active fan bases on Meta Quest, those offering free entry are booming (mostly). There are several reasons why this is happening, but is this a detriment or a benefit to VR as a whole?
The F2P Trend
It used to be that if you played a game for free on console or PC, it tended to be a short demo or vertical slice of the final product. And that does still exist today, from events like Steam Next Fest to studios creating demo versions for marketing purposes. However, F2P gaming first truly made its mark on mobile devices, with developers providing short, easily digestible entertainment. This created a booming industry, moving into traditional gaming in the form of loot boxes, et al. Games like Fortnite thrived off selling DLC skins and other customisations to make your character and kit look unique.
In VR gaming, due to the niche nature of the technology, F2P took longer to materialise. F2P only really works if there’s a big player base to sell cosmetics to, and VR didn’t. However, that slowly began to change with the arrival of Meta (Oculus) Quest. With VR becoming more accessible, the types of games being made and the audience they catered to also changed.
Most notably, the audience started to get younger. And that’s where titles like Gorilla Tag focused their efforts. Social platforms with gaming mechanics like Rec Room had existed previously, but 2022’s Gorilla Tag highlighted the fact that you didn’t need fancy graphics to make a compelling game, just free entry and a fun gameplay mechanic. Gorilla Tag became a juggernaut, boasting 164k reviews and continually in the top ten sellers on the Quest store. And naturally, many, many imitators arose – some good, most are terrible – like Animal Company, which is enjoying similar success.
And so here we are now, with most of the top-selling games on Quest now F2P. And that means everyone else is having to follow suit.
A Race to the Bottom?
Creating an F2P game is no guarantee of success, many have tried and failed. However, it can be even tougher when trying to sell a game in today’s VR climate. Big IPs with a strong franchise history like Batman, Aliens, and Assassin’s Creed can command a premium price, just as the recently released Deadpool VR and Thief VR do. But what about everyone else? Hence why we’re seeing a switch to F2P.
The first major game to make this transition was Population: One. Originally developed by BigBox VR before Meta acquired the studio, Population: One is one of the best battle royale games in VR. Released in 2020 for £22.99 GBP, in 2023, the game went free-to-play, adapting to changing market conditions – it also helped that BigBox had Meta’s financial support. Others have not been so lucky.
Zenith: The Last City was a bold MMORPG that officially arrived in 2022 for multiple headsets. A paid product created by Ramen VR, the studio struggled to maintain sufficient numbers, eventually repackaging the game as Zenith: Nexus. In this new form, the RPG was split in two, Zenith: Infinite Realms, providing the F2P access to get players in, while The Last City was now paid DLC. Alas, this didn’t work, and all development was halted.
More recently, we’ve seen two VR veteran studios move into F2P. Schell Games, the folks behind I Expect You To Die, released Project Freefall, a multiplayer skydiving title. The other is Bit Planet Games. Best known for Ultrawings, they recently released Super RC as a paid Early Access game. Yet only three weeks after launch, Super RC is now free. Why, because in 2025, a multiplayer game needs to be free to have any chance whatsoever.
Does Premium Still Have a Place?
Does this all mean that premium multiplayers will cease to exist? In the short term, it seems that way. People will pay for a decent single-player adventure like Arken Age, but less so for a multiplayer-only title.
And developers are keenly aware of this, becoming increasingly hesitant to invest time and money. A good example of this is The Exorcist: Legion VR: SIN. 2019’s The Exorcist: Legion VR was a huge success for Wolf & Wood and publisher Fun Train. So much so that SIN (Safety in Numbers) was being developed as a multiplayer survival spinoff. However, Fun Train announced in August 2025 that “SIN had been put on hold indefinitely”, citing that the financial risk was too great in the current market.
Does this mean lower-quality casual games are going to flood the market? On platforms like the Horizon Store, they already have. For premium to survive alongside F2P, these stores need to provide better curation and visibility. If not, then we’ll soon reach the bottom of the barrel.
