VRChat is, in my opinion, the backbone of PCVR.

It's not a traditional game with winners or losers - at its' base it's more of a VR chatroom... but being infinitely customizable means yes, you can in fact play & even make VR games in VRChat. A good comparison would either be Garry's Mod, Second Life, or even Minecraft. VRChat is a sandbox VR game.

When you first jump in, you'll be starting with choosing your avatar. Your avatar can be anything - literally anything - that can be a game object within the Unity engine (there may be a few parameters you need to stay within, but only a few). Finding an avatar in-game is as easy as pie - and uploading your own through Unity is too. Whether it be a 2 dimensional meme, a 3d cel-shaded anime cat girl, a model imported from an old PS2 game, a bird, cow, or an entire map. Your identity in this game has infinite potential - and that's where the fun begins.

Along with being the backbone of PCVR, VRChat also remains the leader of social VR... As the connections you'll make in this game can last a lifetime.. similarly to making friends IRL. It's true, in VRChat you can achieve a feeling of closeness even with people who are, in reality, very far away. This can be a life-changer for long-distance couples, those with social anxiety, or those of us who just don't really feel like going out much.

How immersive this game feels, is up to you. Both figuratively and literally - have an open mind and VRChat can be one of the most immersive experiences in VR you can have today - and your ways of adding to that immersiveness are endless. Use your imagination: see a chair without colliders? Position your avatar to sit on it. Is there a bed in the world? Go lay down on it. A dance floor? Dance on it. A bar? Bartend it! When you go to a virtual world filled with people who ACT like it's the real world - the whole experience starts to feel more... real.

This applies to hardware compatibility too... Want to have full-body tracking? Check, native support. Eye tracking for your avatar? Check, native support. Want to hook up a vibrating chest rig? Easy. Mocap? Easy. A vibrating... toy? Easy.

The mod & development community in this game has very few rivals. As I've said before, Garry's Mod & Minecraft work out as great comparisons because they're the only games I can think of that offer the same level of seamless customization. Nearly anything you can make, build, or import into the Unity game engine can then be imported into VRChat by anyone. There is a massive community of world creators, game devs and avatar creators that work almost every day to grind out fresh content for this game. Almost all worth checking out.

There are very few negatives when it comes to VRC in 2023. The developers are for the most part in tune with its' community, working continually to optimize the experience of the game.

In regards to performance in high population worlds, VRChat slogs. To be expected perhaps, when you allow amateur creators to upload things as they want into the game, while only giving general guidelines - but I think the next step for social VR is the step into BIG worlds with BIG populations than can run smoothly on any hardware (while not looking like the Miiverse). But maybe that's just a pipe dream for now :P

VRChat is, in my opinion, the backbone of PCVR. It's not a traditional game with winners or losers - at its' base it's more of a VR chatroom... but being infinitely customizable means yes, you can in fact play & even make VR games in VRChat. A good comparison would either be Garry's Mod, Second Life, or even Minecraft. VRChat is a sandbox VR game. When you first jump in, you'll be starting with choosing your avatar. Your avatar can be anything - literally anything - that can be a game object within the Unity engine (there may be a few parameters you need to stay within, but only a few). Finding an avatar in-game is as easy as pie - and uploading your own through Unity is too. Whether it be a 2 dimensional meme, a 3d cel-shaded anime cat girl, a model imported from an old PS2 game, a bird, cow, or an entire map. Your identity in this game has infinite potential - and that's where the fun begins. Along with being the backbone of PCVR, VRChat also remains the leader of social VR... As the connections you'll make in this game can last a lifetime.. similarly to making friends IRL. It's true, in VRChat you can achieve a feeling of closeness even with people who are, in reality, very far away. This can be a life-changer for long-distance couples, those with social anxiety, or those of us who just don't really feel like going out much. How immersive this game feels, is up to you. Both figuratively and literally - have an open mind and VRChat can be one of the most immersive experiences in VR you can have today - and your ways of adding to that immersiveness are endless. Use your imagination: see a chair without colliders? Position your avatar to sit on it. Is there a bed in the world? Go lay down on it. A dance floor? Dance on it. A bar? Bartend it! When you go to a virtual world filled with people who ACT like it's the real world - the whole experience starts to feel more... real. This applies to hardware compatibility too... Want to have full-body tracking? Check, native support. Eye tracking for your avatar? Check, native support. Want to hook up a vibrating chest rig? Easy. Mocap? Easy. A vibrating... toy? Easy. The mod & development community in this game has very few rivals. As I've said before, Garry's Mod & Minecraft work out as great comparisons because they're the only games I can think of that offer the same level of seamless customization. Nearly anything you can make, build, or import into the Unity game engine can then be imported into VRChat by anyone. There is a massive community of world creators, game devs and avatar creators that work almost every day to grind out fresh content for this game. Almost all worth checking out. There are very few negatives when it comes to VRC in 2023. The developers are for the most part in tune with its' community, working continually to optimize the experience of the game. In regards to performance in high population worlds, VRChat slogs. To be expected perhaps, when you allow amateur creators to upload things as they want into the game, while only giving general guidelines - but I think the next step for social VR is the step into BIG worlds with BIG populations than can run smoothly on any hardware (while not looking like the Miiverse). But maybe that's just a pipe dream for now :P