VRChat Avatar Marketplace Launch

If you can build it in Unity, you can do it in VRChat.

VRChat is a global, immersive social platform that focuses on content built by its community of highly active and engaged users. Millions of people come together on VRChat to experience this virtual universe through creative expression, identity exploration, and social connection. Avatars in particular are an avenue for personal creativity and identity expression for creators and players alike. Using Unity and our custom SDK, VRChat’s creators have the power to build incredible avatars, environments, and experiences.

In virtual reality, you can control your avatar through motion trackers – not to mention eye, face, and hand tracking. Using systems like VRChat’s own PhysBones, you can add physics and interactivity to your avatar, creating hair that moves, or accessories that can be manipulated in all sorts of ways. All of these systems allow VRChat’s creators to build avatars that allow them to express their identity in whatever way they’d like – something that’s key to the VRChat experience.

VRChat avatars use the Unity Mecanim and Animation Graph systems. Many humanoid avatars are easy to import and don't require their own animations unless desired. Other types of animation, such as lipsync, eyelook, and full body tracking, are handled by VRChat as long as the avatar provides the required blend shapes or bones.

For creators, getting avatars in front of the VRChat audience has been a roundabout process. We wanted to streamline that process, enabling creators to sell their avatars directly to other users -- with far less friction. Likewise, we wanted users to have a far better opportunity to find an avatar that fits them.

That’s where the all-new VRChat Avatar Marketplace comes in.

The First Avatar Marketplace Inside VRChat

The Avatar Marketplace has been designed to be easy to use for everyone, regardless of their platform. That’s important — despite the name, VRChat is available not only on VR headsets, but also on PCs, Android, and it will soon be coming to iOS. From creation to listing, shopping to purchasing, the entire flow has been engineered and designed for ease of use.

All avatars in the marketplace are made by VRChat creators. Users can discover avatars in various styles – like anime, furry, human, or sci-fi.

Once someone finds an avatar they like, they can choose to try it on. This allows them to load into the avatar, seeing if it fits their proportions, style, and so on. If they like it, they can purchase it with VRChat Credits. The largest cut of the revenue goes to the avatar creator.

Empowering Creators With an Expanded Market

This new system dramatically expands the market for VRChat creators.

Previously, creators could only market their wares to folks who were technically inclined: first, a user would have to purchase an avatar in a third-party marketplace. Then, they’d have to learn (and use) Unity to prepare and customize their avatar, all before having the chance to bring it into VRChat. Even if your customer was technically inclined, this process could take hours. This technical hurdle limited both avatar discovery and the market for creators.

Now, using the Avatar Marketplace, creators can easily sell their avatars to the massively engaged VRChat audience, and shoppers can simply “click and buy” – instantly receiving their new favorite avatar.

How to Become an Avatar Marketplace Creator

In order to sell content in VRChat, developers must first apply to our Creator Economy program. Once approved, creating an avatar for sale on the Marketplace is simple: you upload it, the same way you’d upload any other avatar, and then submit it for review via our website. If it’s approved, it’s added to the marketplace, and other users can purchase it.

We’re being selective at first with whom we allow to sell in the marketplace. Our first goal is to ensure that VRChat’s users have a plentiful selection of high-quality avatars. Over time, we’ll open up the Marketplace more widely.

We’re looking for talented, experienced artists and developers (both from the VRChat community and elsewhere) who are interested in getting early access to the Avatar Marketplace, participating in feedback loops with our development team, and benefiting from this new monetization system.

If you’re game, you should submit an application! The first 100 applications we receive from this link will be fast-tracked for expedited review.

If you’re a developer who isn’t familiar with VRChat, you’d likely be surprised by how straightforward making content is! With few exceptions, if you can make it in Unity, you can bring it into VRChat.

We try to be as permissive as possible in many ways that other platforms aren’t. Custom shaders, high levels of customizability, dynamic interactability, and a high level of fidelity – our goal is to allow our users (and creators!) to express themselves with unbounded creativity.

If you’re still new to content creation, our community has created dozens of tools, from animation to optimization, to help you author content directly in Unity. Learn transferrable skills as you go to help you build out your developer toolkit.

Where Will the Marketplace Go Next?

This is just the first step for the Avatar Marketplace. Over the next few months, we’ll be refining the Marketplace by listening to feedback from both creators and our users. Our goal is to make a flawless experience for both sides of the Marketplace.

VRChat’s Creator Economy isn’t limited to just avatars, though! If you’re a developer looking to create interesting experiences and monetize them for a large, engaged audience, VRChat might be a great fit for you. You can find out more about the Creator Economy in general here.

We’re excited about what the Avatar Marketplace means for VRChat. We’re eager to see what our talented Pilot Program creators build and to unlock the ability for more folks to find an avatar that lets them truly be themselves in VRChat.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Avatar Marketplace, you can check out our Developer Update here.