Spatial (platform)
More actions
| Spatial | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Social platform |
| Industry | Extended reality, video games |
| Developer | Spatial Systems Inc. |
| Operating System | Web browsers, iOS, Android, Meta Quest |
| Supported Devices | Web browsers, iOS and Android devices, Meta Quest headsets; earlier also Microsoft HoloLens, Magic Leap and Nreal headsets |
| Release Date | October 2018 (unveiled) |
| Website | https://www.spatial.io |
Spatial (also known as Spatial.io) is a 3D social and collaboration platform developed by the New York company Spatial Systems Inc. It was founded by Anand Agarawala and Jinha Lee and began as an augmented reality workspace in which remote colleagues appeared to each other as lifelike avatars on headsets such as Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap devices.[1][2][3]
The product changed direction several times. In 2020 it went free and broadened access to Oculus Quest, web browsers and phones; in late 2021 it repositioned itself around NFT art galleries and brand events; and in December 2022 it announced a Unity-based Creator Toolkit for publishing interactive spaces, and later games, to web, mobile and virtual reality.[4][5][6] Spatial's in-house studio, Wooster Games, made the Quest game Animal Company. On 27 July 2026 Spatial closed the Free and Pro tiers of its creator platform and stopped hosting their worlds; the enterprise platform continues.[7][8]
History
Founding and AR collaboration (2016-2019)
Before Spatial, Anand Agarawala founded BumpTop, a 3D desktop interface that Google acquired in 2010. Jinha Lee presented SpaceTop, an augmented reality computer prototype, at TED in 2013.[9] According to Road to VR and GamesBeat, the pair founded Spatial in 2016,[2][10] while press material from Spatial's games studio, Wooster Games, says the company started in 2017.[11]
The company came out of two years in stealth on 24 October 2018, announcing US$8 million in venture funding from investors including iNovia Capital, Samsung Next, Garrett Camp's Expa, Joi Ito, Mark Pincus and Andy Hertzfeld.[9] At that point Spatial was a cross-device AR meeting space shown on Microsoft HoloLens. Users got a 3D avatar built from a 2D photo, shared virtual project boards, and could search the web by voice and pull images and 3D models into the room. Engadget reported that the app was not yet available for general download and was rolling out to key enterprise clients, with NASA interested in using it for Mars project planning; VentureBeat reported a pilot at Ford X, an incubator formed by Ford.[1][9] Agarawala, then CEO, told VentureBeat that the company started with AR rather than VR because "AR makes the experience better, as we can make remote people feel like they are in the same room".[9]
At Microsoft's HoloLens 2 unveiling at Mobile World Congress on 24 February 2019, Agarawala and Lee demonstrated a new version of Spatial on stage. It used the headset's improved hand tracking and new eye tracking to animate avatars more closely, and Mattel CTO Sven Gerjets described how the toy maker's distributed teams used Spatial's shared walls of 2D media and 3D models to cut travel.[12]
In January 2020 Spatial raised a US$14 million Series A led by White Star Capital, iNovia and Kakao Ventures, bringing its total funding to US$22 million. By then it listed support for HoloLens 2, Oculus Quest, Magic Leap 1, devices based on the Qualcomm XR2, Android and iPhone phones, and ordinary monitors.[2]
Free access and the Quest Store (2020)
On 13 May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Spatial made its platform free; Engadget reported that it was also broadening access by adding support for web browsers, iPhone, Android and Oculus Quest. Engadget noted that web and mobile users saw the shared space as a cloud-rendered video stream, while headset users could move around and gesture with their hands.[4] The app reached the Oculus Quest Store on 3 September 2020 with Slack, Google Drive and Figma integrations, a whiteboard tool, embedded web pages, hand tracking and support for more than 20 participants joining by video from the web app, alongside up to 30 people in headsets. It had a free tier and a paid Pro tier with unlimited room storage.[13] In an interview on the Oculus blog, Lee said interest and usage had grown 1,000% since March 2020, spreading from Fortune 1000 companies to small businesses and prosumers.[14]
NFT galleries and brand events (2021-2022)
On 14 December 2021 Spatial announced a US$25 million round and a new focus on NFT art exhibitions, brand experiences and conferences, which VentureBeat described as a pivot away from enterprise AR/VR. Investors included Pine Venture Partners, Maven Growth Partners, Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, Mirae and Balaji Srinivasan, with iNovia, White Star and Lerer Hippeau returning; total funding reached US$50 million. The company said 80% of its users now came through web and mobile, the reverse of the year before, when 80% used a headset. Event access was priced at US$20 per month.[5] Head of business Jacob Loewenstein said: "We've gone from an AR/VR platform focused on enterprise productivity to a web/VR platform linking digital creators and the broader NFT economy."[5] Artists and partners named at the time included the Hermitage museum, the producer !llmind, Krista Kim, Federico Clapis and the Utah Jazz, who built a virtual locker room.[5]
Creator Toolkit and games (2022-2025)
In mid-December 2022 Spatial announced the Spatial Creator Toolkit, built on Unity, for publishing interactive multiplayer spaces to mobile, desktop web and VR in one step. At the announcement the company reported more than 500,000 registered creators, 2 million unique users and 127 million hours spent on the platform over the previous 12 months.[6] A beta with visual scripting, custom avatars, world linking and quests and rewards followed at the Game Developers Conference in March 2023; GamesBeat then reported more than one million registered creators and nearly two million worlds, and quoted Agarawala calling Spatial "like the YouTube for these games".[10]
In November 2023 Spatial launched its first season of in-house browser games: Punch Hero, Racing Empire, Infinite Ascent, Shooty Shooty, Mostly Only Up, Buddy Blitz and Cyber Punk: Neon Ghost, with third-party games from IzyPlay and Zaibatsu planned for early 2024. Auganix reported that Unity developers could now use C# scripting to build for the platform without players needing to download an app. The company offered developers a revenue share of up to 50% and appointed Charles Ju as head of gaming.[15][16] Agarawala credited improvements in WebGL, WebAssembly and GPUs for bringing "the types of games you'd typically have to download to the web".[16]
Spatial also set up Wooster Games as a separate subsidiary studio. Its game Animal Company entered early access on Quest in July 2024 and passed one million monthly active users in March 2025.[17][18] UploadVR reported that the game had more than half a million daily active users as of July 2025.[8]
Creator platform shutdown (2026)
In a post dated 28 May 2026 and signed by Jinha Lee as CEO, Spatial announced that on 27 July 2026 it would discontinue its Free and Pro subscription tiers and stop hosting 3D worlds for them. The company cited the rising cost of hosting and scaling open multiplayer 3D worlds and said that alternatives it had explored, including revised pricing models, tiered hosting plans and partnership structures, would have put unsustainable costs on independent developers and small studios. Creators could download their assets until the cutoff, after which remaining files would be deleted. The Spatial Enterprise platform stays in operation for existing customers, and the company said it would put its resources into original games from Wooster Games.[7][8] As of October 2026 the Spatial website still advertises the service to brands for UGC, virtual classrooms and experiential marketing, with an enterprise log-in.[19]
Features
Collaboration app
The original Spatial app placed remote participants in a shared room as avatars generated from a selfie. The Oculus blog interview lists hand tracking, screen sharing, directional audio, simulated eye movement, blinking and lip-syncing among its features. Presentations, planning sessions, product and 3D design reviews, town halls and training were the main uses Lee described.[14] Phone users could type a note that appeared as a virtual sticky note on a 3D model in the room.[12]
Spatial Creator Toolkit
The Creator Toolkit is a Unity package for building Spatial "spaces" and other content. Its documentation requires Unity 2021.3.44f with the WebGL Build Support module and a Spatial account, and says projects publish to web, mobile and VR in one click.[20] C# scripting is limited to space packages; other package types use visual scripting. C# code runs through an interpreter rather than being compiled ahead of time, which the documentation says is 5 to 10 times slower than pre-compiled C#, and only a subset of the C# and Unity APIs is available.[21] The December 2022 announcement also listed ready-made assets, automated lighting and Sketchfab model import.[6]
Supported devices
| Period | Devices and access methods | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Microsoft HoloLens, other AR headsets, web and mobile browsers | [9] |
| January 2020 | Microsoft HoloLens 2, Oculus Quest, Magic Leap 1, Qualcomm XR2 devices, Android and iPhone, monitors | [2] |
| September 2020 | Oculus Quest, Nreal, Magic Leap, Microsoft HoloLens, web on desktop and mobile | [13] |
| 2026 | Web, iOS, Android, Meta Quest | [22] |
Funding
| Announced | Round | Amount | Named investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 October 2018 | Venture funding | US$8 million | iNovia Capital, Expa (Garrett Camp), Samsung Next, Joi Ito, Mark Pincus, Andy Hertzfeld | [9] |
| 31 January 2020 | Series A | US$14 million (US$22 million total) | White Star Capital, iNovia, Kakao Ventures (leads); Mike Krieger, Mark Pincus, Samsung NEXT, Baidu Ventures, LG Ventures | [2] |
| 14 December 2021 | Not stated | US$25 million (US$50 million total) | Pine Venture Partners, Maven Growth Partners, Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, Mirae, Balaji Srinivasan; iNovia, White Star, Lerer Hippeau | [5] |
Research use
Spatial has appeared in education research. A 2022 usability study by Summa Sriworapong, Aung Pyae, Arin Thirasawasd and Wasin Keereewan compared students' engagement, enjoyment and sociability in Spatial.io, Gather.town and Zoom.[23]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nicole Lee (2018-10-24). "Spatial's collaborative AR platform is basically FaceTime in 3D". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/24/spatial-augmented-reality-3d/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Scott Hayden (2020-01-31). "Social AR/VR Workspace 'Spatial' Secures $14M Series A Financing". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/spatial-14m-financing-ar-vr-social/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Terms of Use". Spatial. Spatial Systems Inc.. https://www.spatial.io/terms. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Devindra Hardawar (2020-05-13). "Spatial goes free, aiming to become the Zoom of virtual collaboration". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/spatial-ar-vr-meetings-free-oculus-quest-100008450.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Dean Takahashi (2021-12-14). "Spatial raises $25M and pivots to NFT art and metaverse events". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2021/12/14/spatial-raises-25m-and-pivots-to-nft-art-and-metaverse-events/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Sam Sprigg (2022-12-16). "Immersive 3D social platform Spatial announces Creator Toolkit powered by Unity". Auganix. https://www.auganix.org/immersive-3d-social-platform-spatial-announces-creator-toolkit-powered-by-unity/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jinha Lee (2026-05-28). "A Note to Our Creator Community". Spatial. https://www.spatial.io/blog/spatial-creator-platform-sunsetting. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Mike Johnson (2026-06-02). "Spatial Is Discontinuing Its Creator Platform In July". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/spatial-is-discontinuing-its-creator-platform-in-july/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Dean Takahashi (2018-10-24). "Spatial raises $8 million for augmented reality collaboration platform". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/business/spatial-raises-8-million-for-augmented-reality-collaboration-platform. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dean Takahashi (2023-03-20). "Spatial launches beta creator tools for gamified web experiences". GamesBeat. https://gamesbeat.com/spatial-launches-beta-creator-tools-for-gamified-web-experiences/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Building Marketable, Sustainable VR: Lessons from Animal Company's Breakout Growth at Meta Connect 2025". Animal Company. Wooster Games. https://www.animalcompanyvr.com/press/building-marketable-sustainable-vr-lessons-from-animal-companys-breakout-growth-at-meta-connect-2025. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Scott Hayden (2019-02-24). "Watch HoloLens 2 'Spatial' Remote Collaboration Demo from MWC 2019". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/mwc-2019-hololens-2-spatial-demo/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Sam Sprigg (2020-09-03). "VR collaboration platform Spatial launches on the Oculus Quest Store with new features". Auganix. https://www.auganix.org/vr-collaboration-platform-spatial-launches-on-the-oculus-quest-store-with-new-features/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Tackling Telepresence: 'Spatial' Delivers Collaborative Computing on Oculus Quest". Meta Quest Blog. Meta. 2020-09-03. https://www.meta.com/blog/tackling-telepresence-spatial-delivers-collaborative-computing-on-oculus-quest/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ Sam Sprigg (2023-11-17). "Spatial unveils inaugural season of in-house browser-based games". Auganix. https://www.auganix.org/xr-news-spatial-unveils-its-inaugural-season-of-in-house-web-browser-based-games/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Rachel Kaser (2023-11-10). "Spatial announces its first season of in-house web-based games". GamesBeat. https://gamesbeat.com/spatial-announces-its-first-season-of-in-house-web-based-games/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2025-03-06). "'Animal Company' Breaks 1 Million Monthly Users, Passes 'Gorilla Tag' as Quest's Top-earner This Week". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/animal-company-1-million-users-beats-gorilla-tag/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Animal Company: From Prototype to VR Breakout with Half-a-Million Daily Players". Heroic Labs. https://heroiclabs.com/blog/spatial-case-study/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Spatial - Create Immersive UGC, Virtual Classrooms, Experiential Marketing". Spatial. https://www.spatial.io/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Installation". Spatial Creator Toolkit documentation. Spatial. https://toolkit.spatial.io/docs/installation. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "C# Scripting". Spatial Creator Toolkit documentation. Spatial. https://toolkit.spatial.io/docs/csharp. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Download Spatial for Free on Web, Mobile, and VR". Spatial. https://www.spatial.io/download. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ Summa Sriworapong, Aung Pyae, Arin Thirasawasd, Wasin Keereewan (2022). "Investigating Students' Engagement, Enjoyment, and Sociability in Virtual Reality-Based Systems: A Comparative Usability Study of Spatial.io, Gather.town, and Zoom". Well-Being in the Information Society: When the Mind Breaks, Communications in Computer and Information Science, pp. 140-157. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14832-3_10. Retrieved 2026-10-06.