The Seattle social gaming platform, once valued at $3.5 billion, shuts down at noon Pacific today after a decade and 150 million players. Fans are marking the end with tribute videos, yearbook-style goodbyes, and final virtual gatherings. Read More
Someone misused Rec Room’s friend-finder feature to match phone numbers to the user names of hundreds of thousands of players on the social gaming platform — assembling a database that connects their online identities directly to their real-world contact information. Read More
Snap filed a WARN Act notice showing 95 employees affected across its Bellevue, Seattle, and Vancouver, Wash., offices as part of a restructuring that will cut about 1,000 jobs companywide. Read More
Rec Room’s shutdown is one of the biggest Seattle startup implosions in recent memory — and it raises questions about whether the AI boom should be paying attention to what happened with VR. Plus, MLB’s new robot ump system is already creating drama, and we road-test Amazon’s new FedEx Office returns deal. Read More
In the Rec Room community Discord server, thousands of posts illustrated the impact that the loss of the gaming app will have on players. Many questioned whether the news was a joke, what went wrong, and where they will go now for such entertainment and community. Read More
Snap has acquired select assets from Rec Room Inc., with some employees joining the Spectacles hardware subsidiary, as the Seattle-based social gaming company shuts down its platform on June 1. Read More
Rec Room, the Seattle-based social gaming platform once valued at $3.5 billion, is shutting down on June 1, ending a decade-long run for one of the city’s most prominent startup unicorns. Read More
Why would Microsoft pay $68.7 billion for video-game giant Activision Blizzard? Hope Cochran, managing director at venture capital firm Madrona… Read More
Rec Room, the eponymous Seattle-based development studio behind the virtual hangout/game creator Rec Room, has raised $20 million. Madrona Venture… Read More
