2017
Fajt says Rec Room grew about fivefold between October and December 2017.
“We had seen a lot of growth, like, probably from October to December 2017. The app, like, 5X'd.”
Topic
Rec Room
19 facts from 1 episode, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2018
Fajt says the VR user market did not grow for 24 months after December 2017.
“from, like, December 2017, for the next 24 months, VR did not grow. Like, at all.”
2018
Fajt says VRChat had started scaling outside VR around the same time, which gave Rec Room confidence that a cross-platform approach could work.
“there was an app called VRChat that had really started scaling kind of around the same time outside of VR.”
2018
Rec Room's first non-VR version launched on PlayStation, followed by PC.
“Our first flat world experience was actually on PlayStation.”
2019
Rec Room raised its Series B in April 2019, before launching its mobile app.
“And we actually raised a series B in April 2019.”
2019
Fajt says Rec Room had only about one month of revenue, roughly $20,000, around its Series B.
“I think we made like 20 grand in a month, you know, I think we were.”
2020
Rec Room raised a $20 million Series C from Madrona in November 2020, eight months into the pandemic.
“So in November we raised a series C, we raised 20 million from Madrona.”
2020
Rec Room's Xbox launch in December 2020 made it the number one free app on Xbox for several weeks.
“we launched on Xbox and we were like the number one free app on Xbox for several weeks around the holidays”
2021
Rec Room reported over 15 million lifetime users, including 2 million creators, at the time of its 2021 funding announcement.
“now have over 15 million lifetime users, 2 million of which are creators on the platform.”
2021
Rec Room pays creators real money for in-game currency once they accumulate enough of it.
“if they amass enough of the currency, we'll actually pay them out for the currency.”
2021
Fajt says some teenage creators earn six to seven thousand dollars a month on Rec Room.
“we've got, you know, like, 14, 15-year-old kids in there who are earning six, seven grand a month in Rec Room.”
2021
Fajt says Rec Room users publish roughly 25,000 to 30,000 rooms a day.
“users are publishing, I don't know, 25, 30,000 rooms a day.”
2021
Rec Room had about 90 employees at the time of the interview.
“We're like about 90 now. We're hiring a lot.”
Undated
Nick Fajt and five other former Microsoft employees formed Against Gravity, the company behind Rec Room.
“So, me and five other people came together to form a company called Against Gravity.”
Undated
Microsoft's HoloLens headset was internally codenamed Gravity, which inspired the name Against Gravity, the company that became Rec Room.
“The HoloLens headset internally was codenamed Gravity. It was so heavy. You know, they were called like Gravity A units, Gravity B units.”
Undated
Fajt says a single Rec Room room can hold up to 40 people chatting together.
“you can have up to 40 people in a room that are, like, chatting with each other”
Undated
In game economy terms, soft currency is earned through play and hard currency is purchased with real money.
“And soft currency is currency you earn. Hard currency is currency that you buy.”
Undated
Fajt says Roblox's players skew nine to twelve while its creators are mostly in their mid twenties or older, whereas Rec Room targets teens who both play and create.
“there's nine to 12 year old players. And then the creator base is probably like, you know, mid twenties, thirties, maybe older.”
Undated
Fajt says Rec Room rejects cryptocurrency and NFTs because its economy benefits from central control that decentralized systems lack.
“the value of those entities is that they are decentralized. Like that's the value. And the value that rec room derives out of its economy and its things is they are centralized.”
Episodes