PICKABOOM

PICKABOOM is a next-generation social VR game inspired by Spelunky, built around exploration, chaotic interactions, and real-time multiplayer cooperation. Players descend into unpredictable cave systems, survive absurd natural disasters, and create their own moments of comedy, tension, and triumph. The lobby acts as a playful social hub filled with light-hearted mini-games and high replayability, encouraging players to gather, express themselves, and jump into the action together.

PICKABOOM is our studio’s first multiplayer title, and the competition period pushed us harder than ever. We faced networking instability, reconnection failures, performance drops during chaotic physics events, and the pressure of shipping weekly updates while continuously improving gameplay quality. It was a demanding cycle of rapid iteration that strengthened the team and the game.

But don't despair! Despite these obstacles, we delivered several epic updates! All development progress is publicly documented on the Meta Quest Store updates.

📅 December 5 – Major Feature Drop

Meta Store - December 5 Update

UGC Camera: We developed a proprietary in-game Camera system for content creators, enabling players to capture and share chaotic emergent moments directly from VR. The system is designed to be both powerful and intuitive, giving players a familiar set of camera tools that feel easy to use yet sophisticated in results.

Under the hood, the camera features custom logic to prevent collisions and clipping, while ensuring extremely smooth, stable movement for professional-grade shots. It efficiently manages resources to maximize video quality on-device and exports social-media-ready footage that syncs directly with the Meta Horizon app within seconds.

New Race Mode: We introduced a new real-time competitive mode where players race through a series of checkpoints designed to deliver fast-paced, high-energy moments. Players can join races directly from the HQ and challenge friends or strangers in the lobby.

The PICKABOOM RACE leaderboard now highlights the fastest racers in the room, encouraging friendly rivalry and repeat attempts. Winners are rewarded with a visible crown they can proudly display in the lobby, making each victory both social and memorable.

New Social Lobby: Following strong requests from our community, we completely rebuilt the lobby to improve onboarding, navigation, social clustering, and sandbox-style play.

The new PICKABOOM HQ is more than three times larger than the previous space and is designed to support new multiplayer game modes, encourage experimentation and freedom of play, and provide multiple challenges that naturally generate memorable user-created moments. In short: a completely new map, purpose-built for social interaction, creativity, and replayability.

New Battle Arena: A sandbox playground for chaotic multiplayer experimentation and content creation.

📅 November 26 – Creator Identity & Community Update

Meta Store - November 26 Update

Owner /Dev / Staff / Creator badge system: Adds clarity, trust, and roles inside the game.

Boom Unit Creator Program: Support program for creators sharing PICKABOOM content.

Staff/ Creatos tools and privileges: We introduced unique abilities and resources for moderators, staff, and approved creators, including global and local teleportation and free object spawning. These tools help them create social events, support players, and shape memorable community moments inside PICKABOOM.

Result: 15 Creators have been accepted into the program.

📅 November 19 – Multiplayer Stability (Photon + Unity Multiplay)

Meta Store - November 19 Update

Photon Multiplayer improvements: smoother player sync, reduced jitter, improved event timing, and reduced network bandwidth by 40%.

Object Network Physics: Objects are now more stable, more reliable, and feature improved throwing behavior. The game can now support hundreds of networked objects (including gems and collectibles) without any noticeable performance loss.

Reconnection fixes: solved full-session drops and host-switch issues.

Unity Multiplay integration: more reliable server orchestration and stable room flow.

Room switching: players can move between rooms.

Private sessions: players can now create their own private room accessible by code, to help create custom events and content recording sessions.

Result: A major leap in reliability for a social multiplayer game. Players can now enter private rooms and play with their friends.

📅 November 11 – Gameplay Expansion

Meta Store - November 11 Update

Toaster Gun: Auto-aim gun that shoots toasts with new physics interactions and comedic chaos.

Poop Mechanic: Introduces surprising creature behavior and unpredictable outcomes (farming, explosions), increasing replayability and creating tons of shareable funny moments.

Our vision is to become the protagonist of the new wave of creator-driven social games such as Content Warning, where players film their own chaos, share their stories, and shape the experience through continuous feedback. PICKABOOM fully embraces this philosophy: gamers become creators.

The Meta Competition truly shaped the course of our development, helping us sharpen our priorities around multiplayer infrastructure, replaybilty and player expression.

Thanks for the challenge, and for the opportunity to grow!

💥 Equip. Adventure. BOOM! Play PICKABOOM! 💥