Why Web3 Needs Its Own VRChat

What if I told you that the Metaverse already exists, that there is a vibrant oasis filled with hundreds of thousands of people who spend endless hours hopping across digital worlds, hanging out, drinking, falling asleep, and even falling in love together? 

Would you believe me? 

I spent the past three weeks traversing through the dark but promising cybernetic world of VR Chat. This is not the first time I've spent long stints here, but this time I had a mission. To find out what it is about this massively successful “Metaverse” that has gotten so much interest from users but none whatsoever from the media. 

It almost seemed like news outlets have gotten so much attention for criticizing the idea of a VR future that any hint of its potential success might threaten their already well-positioned narrative of ridicule, and thus they deny its existence altogether. 

To get the full experience, I strapped into all the VR gear I could muster. 

✅ 

Oculus Quest Pro 

with touch pro controllers, check.

✅ 

Bhaptics 40

 full contact vest, check. 

✅ 

KatWalkVR Omnidirectional Treadmill

, check.

Source: 

Upload VR

During these sessions, I would start my day by choosing or sometimes even building my Avatar of the day. VR Chats' meme-filled selection of characters is not for the faint of heart--an arsenal of beings that screams nothing but 4chan, ready for you to embody. If that doesn’t quench your thirst for possession, you can build your own avatars easily with the VRChat SDK using Blender. 

Source: 

VRChat

There are no limitations, no default humanoid shape to confine to; you can truly be whatever you want. 

As soon as you plug in, there are hundreds if not thousands of worlds to explore, worlds filled with real people and activities that range from a simple scene from your favorite anime to lounge to full-flight simulators replicating the most thrilling scene in Top Gun Maverick. You can enter bars where people are drunk in real life, and you can go to strip clubs with pixel nudists or even experiment with being a furry for the first time with no judgment. 

Source: 

VRChat

Source: 

VRChat

The community, the events, and the sheer number of people and content put Meta’s Horizon World to shame. It demonstrates that dictating art style with an iron fist and micro-managing creativity is not what a healthy virtual world needs. Yes, there are dark places in every unmoderated part of the internet, and VRChat is no different, but looking numbers results, we can conclude that perhaps a corporation like Meta who have to worry about their public image over the utility of their product probably isn’t going to be the one who brings the Metaverse to the endzone. 

Source: 

VRChat

Source: 

VRChat

VRChat also delivers on the freedom that Decentraland and Sandbox promised but have yet to deliver, all without the need to sell a single piece of virtual land. It became a place where veterans suffering from PTSD could process their trauma in safety and where people could explore their sexualities anonymously without being shunned or sent to correction camps. 

A place where game shows are co-hosted by your favorite muppets with participants skinned in characters that frequently top the comment sections of subreddit threads. VRChat encompasses all the absurdity and obscurity of the internet, manifesting them into virtual worlds that anyone can surf through with custom avatars. There is no pressure to one-up each other by wearing virtual T-shirts or having a bigger plot of land. Everybody simply exists together. 

Source: 

VRChat

Source: 

VRChat

It is in these three weeks that I realized the business models of decentralized virtual worlds have to change. The toxic cycle of artificial scarcity and FOMO needs to end in order for true adoption to take place.

While VRChat has proven the demand for a digital oasis free from corporate meddling, more importantly, it has also demonstrated that there are indeed enough users in the industry to support the idea of a Metaverse. For all the leaders in Web3, this is an opportunity to not only learn but also take the next step toward building a better future.