New ‘Gorilla Tag’ Mode & $2.6M Investment in ‘Digigods’ Highlight Importance of UGC in Social VR

Gorilla Tag, one of the standout hits in virtual reality, is stepping up its game by permanently incorporating a level creation mode that was previously in testing. With the feature known as ‘Monke Blocks’, players can join forces to craft unique levels and then dive into their creations to play. In another exciting development, the creators behind the budding VR game, Digigods, have successfully secured a $2.6 million investment, highlighting how integral user-generated content (UGC) has become in the realm of successful social VR experiences.

Games like VRChat, Rec Room, Roblox, and Horizon Worlds have all made significant waves, and they share a common denominator: user-generated content. The saying “friends that build together, stay together” rings true in these digital playgrounds.

Viewing Gorilla Tag from the outside might give you the impression that it’s just a straightforward multiplayer title. Yet, its fluid multiplayer system, where players can hop from one lobby to another, and its open-ended gameplay rules make it as much a social experience as it is a game.

Now, with ‘Monke Blocks’ becoming a staple feature, Gorilla Tag is diving deeper into the social VR space, enabling players not just to play but also to create their adventures.

With a block-based system in place, friends can snap together pieces to design new levels. They can then shrink to size and explore these imaginative landscapes, just like in a standard round of Gorilla Tag. It’s a fascinating dynamic where some stay large to construct, while others navigate the miniature world in real-time.

Monetizing this feature, Gorilla Tag will offer new block sets. Players can use the in-game currency, ‘Shiny Rocks’, to purchase these. The first offering is themed around medieval castles, priced at 6,000 SR, which translates to about $30 in real-world money.

This ‘build and play’ concept, driven by UGC, stands as a cornerstone for many successful social VR games both past and forward-looking.

Another Axiom, the studio behind Gorilla Tag, is setting sights on a similar path with their upcoming game, Orion Drift. Here, players will find themselves in a vast playground, free to set their own course and invent new mini-games and rules.

Earlier this year, we reported that Yeeps, another UGC-driven game, had hit an impressive 360,000 monthly active users. Meanwhile, Squido Studio, behind Digigods, recently scored a hefty $3 million seed investment from various backers, including Triptyq Capital and Grishin Robotics, which speaks volumes about the potential of UGC-driven titles.

Since its launch in April 2024, Digigods has attracted 100,000 unique players, according to VentureBeat. With over 10,600 reviews that average an impressive 4.8 out of 5 stars, it has already made a mark on the Quest platform, though it’s still in Early Access and gearing up for more growth upon full release.

While UGC thrives in the space of successful social VR games, there’s a noticeable shift in how players move between older and newer games. While long-standing titles like VRChat and Rec Room rely on traditional thumbstick or teleport locomotion, new contenders like Orion Drift, Yeeps, and Digigods are embracing the arm-based locomotion that Gorilla Tag popularized. This not only marks a style difference but possibly a demographic one, as newer games lean towards Gen Z, while older titles resonate more with millennials and beyond.