You can read last week’s Dev Q&A here.
In the spirit of documenting our Dev Q&A, we’ve collected your questions submitted during stream and transcribed them in no particular order below. Enjoy! Comments on this time, for a week until the next stream!
As a note, the transcription for Dev Q&A will probably be updated on Mondays going forward.
Will Users Be Able to Upload Animated Stickers?
Q: The Hanami festival bundle includes the first instance of an animated sticker. Any chance of allowing end users to upload animated stickers of their own in the near future?
A: Not in the near future. Animated stickers are being treated as an experiment first - see if the feature works, how it performs commercially, and whether the bundle uplift is there. Stickers have historically been one of the weaker parts of bundles, so we’re trying something new with animation. Giving users the ability to upload their own would give up VRChat’s advantage there. Not ruled out for the future, just not next week.
Is Playing VRChat in a VM Against the Rules?
Q: Is playing in a VM something VRChat is actively trying to prevent? Should I bother making a guide for others?
A: VRChat doesn’t care if you play in a VM. The issue is EAC (Easy Anti-Cheat), which is tasked with maintaining application integrity - and until Epic (the EAC provider) changes its stance on virtual machines, VRChat can’t do anything about it. If you can get it working, go for it. VRChat even has documentation on VM setup (a bit out of date). The one caveat: if something breaks in a VM, VRChat can’t provide support for it.
Can VRChat Natively Support Linux?
Q: Can VRChat natively come to Linux someday?
A: Maybe. Steam Frame runs Linux, so a Steam Frame release would technically be a form of native Linux support - though how that’s defined is fuzzy. The technical barrier is actually lower than Mac (Vulkan via DXVK is much easier than Metal), so it’s more feasible. No concrete plans, but not out of the question.
How Much Storage Does VRChat Use for All Worlds and Avatars?
Q: Are you able to say how much storage VRChat uses roughly for hosting all the worlds and avatars on the platform?
A: The team probably could say, but doesn’t actually know the exact number off the top of their heads. The answer is “a lot” - but not as astronomically huge as some of the numbers that get thrown around online. Still big enough that no individual at home has the disk space to hold it all.
Mac Support - Desktop Client or iOS via Mac App Store?
Q: Any chance we could see Mac support for the desktop client, or even bring the iOS client to the Mac App Store?
A: Mac support is a cost-vs-benefit question. Right now, it would take a massive amount of work for a relatively small gain in users. For creation on Mac it’s more doable - some creators have always used Mac, tools like ALCOM (an alternative to VCC) work well on it, and owlboy maintains a guide for Mac development (may be slightly outdated). VRChat can’t officially support it, but it’s possible. The math on a full Mac client just doesn’t pencil out yet.
Were Pre-2017 Worlds Removed from VRChat?
Q: Did worlds from pre-2017 get removed from VRChat? I can’t find my old favorite worlds from 2015.
A: Yes. When VRChat migrated from Unity 5.3 to 5.6 around August 2017, worlds that weren’t updated to the new version were lost. That transition was only possible at all because the player count at the time was in the hundreds on busy days - something like that would be impossible to do now. Those worlds are unfortunately gone.
VRChat Mascot Lore - How Old Is VRChat, and Who Designed Them?
Q: The VRChat wiki says VRChat (the cat character) first appeared on February 19, 2020, making them about 5 years old. Is that canon? And who designed the character?
A: Five years from the first wiki appearance is probably as close to canon as it gets - but it’s soft canon, not officially locked in. The design came out of a call between Rocktopus (Art Director), Ron (CCO at the time), and Tupper, going through iterations and working with an outside design firm. The orange tabby specifically happened because when the question of “what kind of cat?” came up, Tupper looked over at his own cat - who was an orange tabby - and that was that.
Why Is There So Much Inappropriate Content on World Pages?
Q: Why is there so much inappropriate content on world pages in VRChat, and how are you combating it?
A: The “why” is simple: it’s the internet. VRChat is a UGC platform and some people will push boundaries. The main response pathway is reporting - use the exclamation mark button on any piece of content to send a report to the moderation team, and it’ll be reviewed and removed if it breaks the rules.
When Will “Age” Become a Reporting Category for Underage Users?
Q: When will age become a category for reporting underage people in VRChat?
A: It’s a genuinely hard problem. Adding a report button without a solid validation mechanism could turn it into a harassment vector - someone whose voice sounds young, for example, could be maliciously reported. If VRChat ever finds a reliable way to handle this properly, we’d use it. For now, if you have legitimate, solid proof that someone is under 13 (the minimum age), you can contact the Trust & Safety team directly via the report form with that evidence.
Can Avatar Creators Restrict Public Avatars to 18+ Users?
Q: Could you make it possible for avatar creators to restrict access to their public avatars to 18+ users only?
A: Technically yes - and the team was actively discussing how to approach this the morning of the stream. The main obstacle is that VRChat’s avatar permission and categorization system is very old and frustrating to work with. There are no current plans to ship this, but it’s on the radar and connected to the broader content gating work that’s already a priority for Trust & Safety.
Can You Change Instance Permissions Live for Events?
Q: Is it possible to start a locked group instance with a whitelist for event staff, then open it to everyone when the event is about to start?
A: This is essentially about changing instance properties - specifically permitted roles - while an instance is running. VRChat wants to support this but the current instance architecture makes it difficult and would require significant work to implement. It’s not coming anytime soon, but it is something the team wants to do.
Q: I’m making a VRChat film about an hour and fifteen minutes long. Is that allowed?
A: Yes, absolutely. VRChat’s video creation guidelines (linked from the community guidelines) are intentionally loose. The main rules are: no NSFW content involving VRChat, and nothing hateful or harmful - all common sense. Go for it, and share it with the team when it’s done.
Does VRChat Require a LinkedIn Profile to Apply for Jobs?
Q: Was a LinkedIn profile recently added as a required field for VRChat job applications? This could filter out privacy-conscious creators or people working under pseudonyms.
A: We are unaware of this being added as a required field specifically, but LinkedIn has become the industry standard for careers, and HR is probably using it to ensure applications are from real, identifiable people. If it’s listed as a requirement, the HR team is likely strict about it.
Will Tupper Play Final Fantasy 14 for the Evangelion Crossover?
Q: Will Tupper play Final Fantasy 14 now that they’ve announced an Evangelion crossover?
A: The Evangelion crossover is motivating - a Dragoon with the Spear of Longinus would be incredibly cool. But the GCD of 2.5 seconds feels sluggish, the auction house is a mess, and the “spaceships and robots” in FF14 turn out to be the villains. Can’t be the space robot bad guy, so: probably still no. Maybe someday if the UI improves, according to Tupper.
FLARE NOTE: THE UI IS HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE, TUPPER!!!
Has Anyone Been Playing Pragmata?
Q: Have any of you been playing Pragmata, and what do you think?
A: Tupper is very much looking forward to it - space dad protecting a hacker kid is exactly his genre, and he compared the concept favorably to the Big Daddy/Little Sister dynamic in BioShock 2. Aliqeum played the demo and enjoyed it, particularly the relationship between the characters.
If You Could Run Your Own Theme Jam, What Would It Be?
Q: If you individually could have your own theme jam, what would it be?
A: Several answers from the team. One would do a car jam - a showcase of driving worlds and car-building systems, since there’s already a passionate community of people building cars in VRChat. Another would do a visual novel jam to see what people build with VRChat’s storytelling tools. A third wants to see more surreal atmosphere worlds - claymation was cited as an example - pushing the boundaries of what “place” means in VR. The person who actually runs most of the jams (Flare) said their ideal isn’t a theme at all: just a jam where people make something fun and are proud of it, with no pressure to compete.