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Gorilla Tag

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Gorilla Tag
Developer(s)Another Axiom
Publisher(s)Another Axiom
Composer(s)Ozzie Smith (Stunshine), David Kirk
Platform(s)
ReleaseMeta Quest
December 15, 2022
SteamVR
January 1, 2023
PlayStation VR2
November 8, 2024
Genre(s)Casual, social
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Gorilla Tag is a 2022 virtual reality social casual game[1] developed and released by Another Axiom. The game involves controlling legless gorilla-like creatures through hand movements to interact with others online casually or in matches with tag-like mechanics. Originally developed by Kerestell "Lemming" Smith, Gorilla Tag was made available in early access on SteamVR and Meta Quest in 2021. It was officially launched on Quest in December 2022, on Steam in January 2023, and on PlayStation VR2 in November 2024. The game was popularized through social media and, by June 2024, received 10 million total players and crossed $100 million in revenue.

Gameplay

A player avatar in black and a Lava Monkey behind it moving with their arms in the Canyon map

In Gorilla Tag, players assume the role of gorilla-like creatures without legs, officially nicknamed "monkes". Control focuses on the player's hand movements, allowing the monke to walk, jump by pushing away from surfaces, and climb with its arms.[2][3] A grip button allows the player to hold on to objects.[3] Multiple environments, such as Forest, Cave, and Canyon, are available to choose,[3] and a voice chat feature is enabled by default.[4] Avatar cosmetics can be bought with an in-game currency, Shiny Rocks, which is obtainable through daily logins or in-app purchases.[5]

A match is formed through queues of three types: default, competitive, and minigame, the last of which allows for matches with custom rules.[3][6] The game has four main game modes.[5]

  • Casual mode is non-competitive and allows for socialization and exploration.[5][7]
  • Infection mode consists of a game of tag where a randomly selected player starts as a Lava Monkey, who can turn other players into Lava Monkeys by tagging. The game ends when every player is a Lava Monkey.[3][5]
  • In Hunt mode, each player is tasked with tagging a unique target with information from a hunt watch. Tagged players temporarily turn into a slowed-down Ice Monkey. The game ends when only two players are hunters (not Ice Monkeys).[3][5]
  • In Paint Brawl, players in orange and blue teams fire paint at the other team with slingshots. When a player is hit three times (represented by three balloons on the back popping), they are eliminated, but they can shoot adversaries afterwards to slow them down. The game ends when all of a team's members get eliminated.[5]

Development and release

Gorilla Tag was originally developed as a solo project by Kerestell Smith,[8] known by his online username Lemming[9] or LemmingVR.[3] Smith took a greater interest in virtual reality (VR) with his frequent plays of Ready at Dawn's Echo Arena at the time,[9][10] eventually competing in Echo Arena esports events.[8][11] He described how the game's zero gravity mechanic reflected on an idea of internal logic and immersion within virtual environments, which inspired Gorilla Tag's development.[9]

Smith started on the game's prototype in December 2019.[12] The arm-based locomotion mechanic was inspired by Hidden Path's Raccoon Lagoon, in which the avatars reach torso height, facilitating the collection of items from the ground. Smith also cited the lack of VR leg controllers.[9] He "had some of the movement prototype working" by around January 2020, and the tag idea was conceptualized some months after.[12]

When presented with the movement mechanics, a friend of Smith remarked on the similarity with a gorilla's style of locomotion, originating the avatar concept.[10] Under the original Oculus Quest's limitations, he implemented a low poly art style inspired by videos of indie games with graphics reminiscent of the first PlayStation console.[9] Smith opted out of certain common game elements, such as a tutorial, menu, or joystick, for a deeper player connection to the places.[11]

Gorilla Tag was first released in early access for the Oculus Quest line (now Meta Quest) via SideQuest and for SteamVR in February 2021. It launched on the App Lab section of the Oculus Store for Quest the following month.[4][10] In August 2022,[12] Smith formed the studio Another Axiom with David Yee and David Neubelt, who helped with development.[11] The game officially debuted on the Meta Quest Store (previously the Oculus Store) on December 15, 2022,[13] leaving Steam early access on January 1, 2023.[14] It was launched for the PlayStation VR2 on November 8, 2024.[15][16]

Reception

PC Gamer wrote that its "deceptively simple" gameplay was the main appealing aspect of the game, with movement controls that were "easy to toy with but tricky to master."[7] In 2021, Gorilla Tag was awarded "Best Competitive Multiplayer" by UploadVR, commenting on its innovation on tag and physical immersion not present in flatscreen games.[17] Android Central described how the game experience was aided by "the physics-based simplicity" and how players can enjoy it if they endure the "poor" graphics and unwelcoming player behavior (toxicity).[3] TechRadar praised the game's focus on simple fun over winning or losing, despite mentioning the potentially nauseating movement and describing how a game menu would be convenient for reporting or muting players.[1]

Popularity

During its early access phase, Gorilla Tag reportedly reached 1.5 million lifetime players by the end of 2021[3][18] and 4.5 million by November 2022.[19] By that month, it had surpassed Beat Saber in becoming the most user-reviewed game on the Quest Store,[13] and in January 2023, it was listed as the store's most popular game.[10] By June 2024, Gorilla Tag had amassed 10 million total users, 110 thousand reviews, and 90 thousand concurrent players. Average play session time approached 60 minutes and, according to developer David Yee, the game received three million monthly active users and one million active players.[8] Gorilla Tag reportedly generated $26 million in lifetime revenue in January 2023[18] and $100 million in June 2024.[8][20]

The Another Axiom team stated that the game was not subject to any substantive direct marketing.[10] It was publicized through word of mouth,[2][10] particularly on social media such as TikTok, in which Gorilla Tag videos had accumulated 10 billion views by June 2024.[8][20] Active communities also formed on YouTube, Reddit, and Discord.[3] Mark Delaney of GameSpot commented that the game primarily attracted players roughly between 7 and 14 years of age and considered Gorilla Tag as the "preferred virtual hangout" of Generation Alpha.[9] As reported by VentureBeat, the popularity led the Another Axiom team to allow over 100 people to help develop Gorilla Tag and update it every few weeks.[8]

An organized group was formed to create leagues with monetary prizes for players with the best performances.[7] Other parts of the community were dedicated to modding the game; for instance, the Monke Map Loader add-on allows for loading custom locations inspired by real places and video game settings into Gorilla Tag.[7][21] A large number of games imitating Gorilla Tag (clones) have spawned, which led VR platform SideQuest to decline further submissions of clones of the game in 2022.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Hector, Hamish (January 29, 2023). "The VR games and apps I've been playing in January 2023". TechRadar. Archived from the original on June 24, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Cunningham, James (December 15, 2022). "Live like an ape man with Gorilla Tag launch trailer". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on September 22, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hicks, Michael L. (May 23, 2022). "The joy of Gorilla Tag for Oculus Quest proves Meta should do more with App Lab". Android Central. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Baker, Harry (March 15, 2021). "Everyone loves Gorilla Tag and it's clear to see why, out now in App Lab (Update)". UploadVR. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Jay, Max (August 7, 2024). "A parent's guide to Gorilla Tag". Entertainment Software Rating Board. Archived from the original on September 28, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Gorilla Tag". gorillatagvr.com. "Game modes" section of the page. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Oloman, Jordan (May 20, 2021). "Tag has inexplicably become this year's hottest VR game". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Takahashi, Dean (June 18, 2024). "Gorilla Tag crosses 10M VR players and $100M in revenue". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Delaney, Mark (September 11, 2024). "How Gorilla Tag became a generational obsession and conquered VR". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 23, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Kaser, Rachel (January 18, 2023). "How Gorilla Tag made it big on the Quest's not-store". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "Behind the Build: Another Axiom talks 'Gorilla Tag'". Meta Developer's Blog. December 15, 2022. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Hamilton, Ian (September 30, 2024). "Gorilla Tag creator believes 'VR's success is inevitable'". UploadVR. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Sutrich, Nicholas (November 30, 2022). "The Oculus Quest's most popular game is finally coming to the official store". Android Central. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  14. ^ "Gorilla Tag". Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024 – via Steam.
  15. ^ Cichacki, Shaun (November 8, 2024). "PSVR 2 finally has its killer app, now that 'Gorilla Tag' is available to download". Vice. Archived from the original on November 10, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  16. ^ "Gorilla Tag". November 8, 2024. Archived from the original on November 10, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024 – via PlayStation Store.
  17. ^ Feltham, Jamie (December 23, 2021). "UploadVR's Best of 2021 awards - Winners". UploadVR. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Hamilton, Ian (January 19, 2023). "Gorilla Tag made $26 million in revenue on Quest App Lab". UploadVR. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  19. ^ Hamilton, Ian (November 30, 2022). "Reject humanity: Gorilla Tag comes to the Quest Store". UploadVR. Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Kerr, Chris (June 19, 2024). "VR title Gorilla Tag has earned over $100 million since 2021". Game Developer. Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  21. ^ Feltham, Jamie (April 25, 2021). "Gorilla Tag gets incredible new mod maps featuring Minecraft, Mario and more". UploadVR. Archived from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  22. ^ Feltham, Jamie (August 8, 2022). "SideQuest isn't accepting Gorilla Tag clones anymore". UploadVR. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
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