VRChat Breaks Records with 92,000 Simultaneous Users! “Metaverse” User Count Surges Over 5 Times Due to COVID-19 and Quest 2
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the affordability of VR headsets, the user base of VRChat, the world’s largest social VR platform gaining attention as a “metaverse,” has been rapidly expanding in recent years. Social VR refers to a collective term for services that allow users to communicate in online 3D virtual spaces, immersing themselves with VR headsets and assuming avatar identities. It is customary for VRChat to see a significant increase in user activity during the year-end and New Year period, with momentary peak concurrent access reaching new records. However, what happened this year? How many users are there in the overall social VR landscape, and what is the distribution of nationalities among them?
VRChat’s momentary peak concurrent access surpasses a new record on New Year’s Day 2023, reaching 92,319 users!
According to data from the community project “VRChat API Metrics,” which records VRChat’s API information led by Swedish VRChat user Foorack, the momentary peak concurrent access on VRChat during the year-end and New Year period reached 92,319 users on January 1, 2023, at 14:56 (Japan Standard Time).
VRChat’s momentary peak concurrent access breaks the previous record of 89,300 users from the previous year’s holiday season, setting a new all-time high (confirmed as the highest value by Foorack as well). Among the different access methods supported by VRChat, including STEAM (PCVR and desktop) and standalone Quest, approximately 49.9% (46,044 users) accessed the platform through STEAM.
※Source: The momentary peak concurrent access on VRChat during last year’s holiday season in 2022 was 89,300 users → New World Notes: VRChat User Concurrency Hit Nearly 90,000 Last New Year’s Eve!
Focusing solely on access via STEAM (excluding standalone Quest), just five minutes after setting the overall all-time high, VRChat achieved another all-time high of 46,663 users on January 1, 2023, at 15:01 (Japan Standard Time).
Furthermore, looking at separate data provided by STEAM (source: VRChat — Steam Charts), it shows that VRChat’s momentary peak concurrent access reached a similar value of “46,509” on January 1, 2023, aligning closely with the recorded highest value. This suggests that the numbers are quite accurate.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of Quest 2, the user base of VRChat has expanded by over five times.
Looking at the trend of VRChat’s concurrent access numbers over the past five years, the average number of users was around 10,000 in 2019. However, in 2022, it has rapidly expanded to approximately 50,000 to 70,000 users, which is more than five times the previous level. This significant growth can be attributed to the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 and the explosive popularity of the VR headset “Meta Quest 2,” released in October 2020. The blue line in the graph represents the access data including standalone Quest devices, and it has shown a tremendous increase after the release of Quest 2. Currently, Quest devices account for about half of the overall user base.
The “Quest 2” is a high-performance VR headset capable of providing a full VR experience with 6DoF and PCVR support, along with a stunning 4K resolution, all at an unbelievably low price that defies conventional norms. Although Meta has not disclosed the exact shipment numbers, it is estimated that as of June 2022, there were an astounding “15 million units” in circulation.
※Reference (Japanese) : Next-generation VR Headset Classification Map & Explanation [PICO4, Quest Pro, VIVE XR Elite, MeganeX]
Furthermore, in 2022, there was a significant drop in numbers during the months of July and August in terms of access through STEAM. This can be attributed to a portion of users opposing the introduction of security measures called “Easy Anti Cheat (EAC)” by VRChat on July 27, aimed at eradicating mods (modified clients). As a result, some users migrated to alternative social VR platforms during that period.
※Reference (Japanese): VRChat Security Update Sparks Strong Backlash from Some Users — MoguLive
Although VRChat managed to set a new record this time, the significant increase in numbers compared to last year seems to have been affected by a decrease in users due to this factor.
What is the Monthly Active User (MAU) count for VRChat?
Rather than the momentary numbers, what is the overall user count like? While VRChat does not disclose its Monthly Active User (MAU) count, it is difficult to determine the exact number. However, considering that the momentary peak concurrent access reached 92,000 users, it can be estimated to be in the range of “several million” users.
According to the estimates by Metaverse business consultant Nic Mitham, as of 2022 Q1, the count was around “4 million” (as indicated in the chart), and I also believe this provides a reasonable estimate of the scale. Taking into account the passage of one year and the recent record-breaking numbers, it is likely that the current MAU count as of January 2023 is slightly higher, possibly reaching the “late millions (5 million and above)” range.
As a prediction for the metaverse industry in 2023, the overseas metaverse media “New World Notes” anticipates that VRChat may announce a Monthly Active User (MAU) count of 10 million. With such a figure, it would be comparable to the population of a small country!
※Source: New World Notes: My Metaverse-Related Predictions for 2023, Plus Readers’ Own
What is the total number of users in the global social VR landscape?
What is the overall user count for “various social VR platforms worldwide,” including VRChat? In the “Social VR Lifestyle Survery 2021” conducted by myself and Swiss anthropologist Liudmila Bredikhina, it was found that 91% of users (North America) to 99% of users (Japan) who use social VR with VR headsets responded that they “frequently use VRChat.” Therefore, considering that the overall user count of social VR is likely “slightly higher” than VRChat alone, it is estimated that as of January 2023, the total user count would be in the range of “several million to even tens of millions.”
By the way, although this survey did not include them, platforms like RecRoom and Cluster have a significant number of users who utilize them without VR headsets. Including those platforms would result in even larger numbers.
Regional breakdown of VRChat’s user count
Regarding the user count by region, what are the numbers like? According to similarweb, which aggregates web traffic worldwide, out of the 8.7 million visits to “vrchat.com” in December 2022, Japan ranked second with “12.3%” of the total visits.
1. United States — 35.4%
2. Japan — 12.3%
3. Canada — 4.1%
4. United Kingdom — 4.1%
5. Brazil — 3.8%
Others — 40.3%Top 5 Countries by Access to vrchat.com (December 2022) — Similarweb: vrchat.com
As of 2019, the percentage of Japanese users was a mere “3.6%” and ranked eighth among countries. Therefore, it can be inferred that the proportion of Japanese VRChat users has experienced a significant increase in recent years. To confirm this, I also calculated the proportion for the three-month period from October to December 2022, and the numbers were generally close, indicating that the previous estimate is likely accurate.
It’s important to note that these figures represent the ratio of “web access to vrchat.com” and may not directly reflect the ratio of “VRChat users.” However, they are considered to be generally close. Applying these proportions, the estimated Monthly Active User (MAU) count for VRChat in Japan as of January 2021 would be in the range of “several hundred thousand” (based on the percentage of 12.3% out of several million).
In response to the rapidly expanding user base in Japan, VRChat implemented dedicated servers for Japan on June 16, 2021.
※Reference (Japanese): Implementation of Dedicated Servers for Japan in Social VR App “VRChat”! Achieving a Comfortable Environment with Low Ping — MoguLive
By gender, there is a significant male majority, accounting for 79.5% compared to 20.5% female users. In terms of age, the age group “18–24” represents the largest portion at 32.2%, indicating a relatively young user base. These trends have not seen significant changes since 2019.
Gender:
- Male: 79.5%
- Female: 20.5%
Age:
- 18–24 years: 32.2%
- 25–34 years: 31.4%
- 35–44 years: 15.6%
- 45–54 years: 9.7%
- 55–64 years: 6.5%
- 65 years and above: 4.6%
Gender and Age Distribution of vrchat.com Access (December 2022) — Similarweb: vrchat.com
Monthly Active User (MAU) count of Horizon Worlds is less than 200,000
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the social VR platform “Horizon Worlds” currently under development by Meta has a Monthly Active User (MAU) count of less than 200,000 as of October 2022. It is currently available only in the United States and Canada and targets VR users, making it a relatively large user base for an emerging service. However, it falls significantly below Meta’s expectations, and reports indicate that the business is facing challenges.
On the other hand, VRChat, with its “peak simultaneous access” alone, boasts around half that number, approximately 92,000 users, showcasing its remarkable popularity once again.
※Source (Japanese): Meta’s Metaverse Falls Short of Goals, Internal Documents Show — WSJ
Summary: Metaverse Enters a New Stage How was it?
Social VR platforms are often enjoyed for private communication with close acquaintances, so even heavy users of VRChat, who spend their virtual lives in the virtual world, might be surprised by the rapid growth in user numbers.
Until now, when we talked about “social VR,” the focus was often on communication between people. However, as it reaches this scale, in addition to that, I believe that a “virtual economy” will gradually emerge within the metaverse, where users exchange value with each other, and it will become commonplace to “live in the metaverse” in the truest sense.
The number of content will continue to increase, and we can expect even more general users to enter. In 2023, we cannot take our eyes off the world of “metaverse” social VR as it enters a new stage!
*Note: I’m not very fast at writing articles in English, so I’m using the power of Chat-GPT to help me write this article. If there are any strange parts, please let me know.
*Original article (Japanese): VRChat同時アクセス9.2万人を記録！ コロナ禍とQuest2登場で”メタバース”ユーザー数5倍以上に【2023年1月最新】
