Blab Tech
G-Smash Unites Japanese VR Developers at Bitsummit 2025, Showcasing a Broad Slate of Games
When the 68,000‑person Bitsummit festival opened in Kyoto in July 2025, the Japanese VR community gathered to display a wide range of titles.
The highlight of the event was the XR Yokocho booth, a joint effort by the G‑Smash initiative that brought together 15 developers from Japan and abroad. The showcase featured both established and experimental projects, underscoring the country’s continued resilience in a global VR market that has faced instability.
While the worldwide VR industry has struggled with tight budgets and thin margins, Japan’s market has remained comparatively stable. Theme parks and corporate venues in Japan routinely fund VR experiences, giving studios alternative revenue streams. Successful titles such as Ruinsmagus and Exit 8 VR have kept the industry’s profile high. A strong sense of camaraderie among VR studios—furthered by the G‑Smash initiative—has fostered collaboration and shared resources.
G‑Smash was founded by Shun Harashima, a former Meta Reality Labs employee who left the company in early 2025. Harashima, who grew up in the United States before returning to Japan, has long been passionate about VR. He has described the project as a way to “bring developers together, connect them to companies that can provide funding, and introduce VR to the millions who remain skeptical.” The initiative secured support from Meta, Pico, and Sony, who jointly sponsored the XR Yokocho booth. The space was designed to showcase a unified front, allowing developers to present their games side by side.
The booth featured a mix of high‑profile demos and low‑risk experiments. CharacterBank demonstrated a polished preview of Knights of Fiona, while an Evangelion VR preview and the popular Lumines Arise were also on display. Smaller projects, developed in partnership with G‑Smash, included UNIVRS’s fitness‑style rhythm game Project Punch and Sausage Batting’s comedic “sausage” game. A student‑run game jam produced four VR experiences, with the winning title, Torima Headbang, offering a head‑banging skateboard game that was praised for its immediate accessibility.
The VR landscape has seen several studio closures and product underperformance. The shutdown of Metro Awakening’s Vertigo Studios in Amsterdam and the recent layoffs at Meta’s Reality Labs illustrate the fragility of the sector. PlayStation VR2’s sales have been disappointing, and the closure of studios has prompted concerns that a single failed release could jeopardize a company’s future. G‑Smash’s strategy is to mitigate risk by supporting small, quick‑to‑develop projects that can still achieve viral success. Harashima has emphasized that the initiative’s goal is to “create conversations that will bring people to take a fresh look at VR.”
At the conclusion of the event, Harashima noted that 90 % of visitors to the XR Yokocho booth had never played VR before, although many had tried it once in the past. He stressed the importance of international collaboration, arguing that Western developers should participate to grow the Japanese market, which in turn would benefit developers worldwide. The event also highlighted the continued relevance of theme‑park and corporate VR experiences, such as those offered by Tyffonium, Excurio, and Capcom’s Monster Hunter Bridge.
As the Japanese VR community moves forward, G‑Smash remains a key catalyst for collaboration and innovation. Upcoming releases from the showcased developers, including the planned launch of Project Punch and Sausage Batting, will test the initiative’s low‑risk model. The broader industry will monitor how these projects perform, particularly as the global VR market continues to adjust to shifting consumer demand and corporate investment strategies.
The highlight of the event was the XR Yokocho booth, a joint effort by the G‑Smash initiative that brought together 15 developers from Japan and abroad. The showcase featured both established and experimental projects, underscoring the country’s continued resilience in a global VR market that has faced instability.
While the worldwide VR industry has struggled with tight budgets and thin margins, Japan’s market has remained comparatively stable. Theme parks and corporate venues in Japan routinely fund VR experiences, giving studios alternative revenue streams. Successful titles such as Ruinsmagus and Exit 8 VR have kept the industry’s profile high. A strong sense of camaraderie among VR studios—furthered by the G‑Smash initiative—has fostered collaboration and shared resources.
G‑Smash was founded by Shun Harashima, a former Meta Reality Labs employee who left the company in early 2025. Harashima, who grew up in the United States before returning to Japan, has long been passionate about VR. He has described the project as a way to “bring developers together, connect them to companies that can provide funding, and introduce VR to the millions who remain skeptical.” The initiative secured support from Meta, Pico, and Sony, who jointly sponsored the XR Yokocho booth. The space was designed to showcase a unified front, allowing developers to present their games side by side.
The booth featured a mix of high‑profile demos and low‑risk experiments. CharacterBank demonstrated a polished preview of Knights of Fiona, while an Evangelion VR preview and the popular Lumines Arise were also on display. Smaller projects, developed in partnership with G‑Smash, included UNIVRS’s fitness‑style rhythm game Project Punch and Sausage Batting’s comedic “sausage” game. A student‑run game jam produced four VR experiences, with the winning title, Torima Headbang, offering a head‑banging skateboard game that was praised for its immediate accessibility.
The VR landscape has seen several studio closures and product underperformance. The shutdown of Metro Awakening’s Vertigo Studios in Amsterdam and the recent layoffs at Meta’s Reality Labs illustrate the fragility of the sector. PlayStation VR2’s sales have been disappointing, and the closure of studios has prompted concerns that a single failed release could jeopardize a company’s future. G‑Smash’s strategy is to mitigate risk by supporting small, quick‑to‑develop projects that can still achieve viral success. Harashima has emphasized that the initiative’s goal is to “create conversations that will bring people to take a fresh look at VR.”
At the conclusion of the event, Harashima noted that 90 % of visitors to the XR Yokocho booth had never played VR before, although many had tried it once in the past. He stressed the importance of international collaboration, arguing that Western developers should participate to grow the Japanese market, which in turn would benefit developers worldwide. The event also highlighted the continued relevance of theme‑park and corporate VR experiences, such as those offered by Tyffonium, Excurio, and Capcom’s Monster Hunter Bridge.
As the Japanese VR community moves forward, G‑Smash remains a key catalyst for collaboration and innovation. Upcoming releases from the showcased developers, including the planned launch of Project Punch and Sausage Batting, will test the initiative’s low‑risk model. The broader industry will monitor how these projects perform, particularly as the global VR market continues to adjust to shifting consumer demand and corporate investment strategies.
