spatialcomputing.info

Sandbox adventure I Am Cat (2024) is all about stretching your chubby little paws, exploring the neighborhood, playing with dynamite—you know, cat things. Now the hit single-player game just got a new update that brings multiplayer lobbies to the mix, following an increasing trend in social VR games taking over.

Developer New Folder Games just released a new maritime playground, letting you and  up to 19 other feline friends set sail together for more patently wacky adventures.

The update, now available on Quest for free, also comes alongside a host of new cosmetics, including skins, hats, glasses, and more. For now, the update only features public lobbies, although the studio says it’s currently working on private lobbies.

New Folder is likely hoping to capitalize on the growing trend of social VR games regularly taking the top spots in Quest’s highest-earning games, which includes free-to-play apps like Animal Company, Gorilla Tag, Yeeps: Hide and Seek, and VRChat.

And the stakes are pretty high. Another Axiom’s Gorilla Tag is ostensibly leading the pack, as last summer the studio announced it had topped $100 million in gross revenue, which was almost entirely driven by in-app purchases.

Notably, Meta chalks up the recent success of social VR to the release of Quest 3S headset ($300), which has also seen a demographic shift towards younger players on the platform. That said, there aren’t many paid single-player apps making the multiplayer leap, as I Am Cat’s base game still costs $20.

For I Am Cat though, costing $20 doesn’t seem to be a massive barrier to entry. The title has not only been one of the top games on Quest multiple months in a row, but also one of the top-earners too since it launched in early access back in May 2024.

And with the launch of multiplayer, the studio is ostensibly hoping to kick paid DLC drops into high gear. The game’s first multiplayer cosmetics pack introduces six paid character models—Zombie, Robot, Alien, Detective, Wolf, and Super Hero cosmetics, priced at $20.

For now, the multiplayer update is only available on the Quest version of the game, although New Folders Games says it’s also coming to the China-only Pico version. At the time of this writing, there’s no word on whether the update will also come to the Steam version.

In the meantime, you can find I Am Cat on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and the single-player version over on Steam for PC VR headsets. There’s no word on when the game will come to PSVR 2, although you can be sure we’re bookmarking the game’s PlayStation Store page.