Tuesday, 29 July, 2025 UTC
Summary
VR life simulator sandbox Little Planet is going free-to-play with this year's full release, and we interviewed the developer to learn more.
Currently available in early access on Quest, Little Planet by VRWOOD originally arrived in November 2023 and has seen a consistent slate of updates ever since. Playable alone and in multiplayer, this social sandbox lets you build a home across different planets with the ability to terraform these worlds. Activities include letting you create custom furniture, gather wild resources, decorate, and more.
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Full release date trailer
Each world has NPCs known as 'Planet Pals' who you can buy various items from, like clothes from the fashion boutique owner or seeds from a flower expert. Items can be stored within a backpack you grab from behind you, while formula cards allow you to see what's craftable from the different benches.
Speaking to UploadVR over a video call, Frank Huang, founder of VRWOOD and creative director on Little Planet, explained in our interview that his journey with VR goes back to 2013. After releasing VR Horror House for Google Cardboard, Huang realized this isn't the type of game he wanted to keep making.
“No more zombies for me; we have seen enough zombies,” Huang jokes cheerfully.
Eventually the team began exploring a social game similar to Altspace, and he considered how to create meaningful connections in VR. Though the life sim mechanics make Animal Crossing a natural comparison, Huang instead points towards 1943's The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as a major inspiration. Specifically, Huang points to when the prince finds a rose garden filled with identical flowers, yet his is different because it was given love and care.
“This is my eureka moment,” he tells me, stating the studio wanted to make a game where you nurture your world to make it grow.
Working with a team that's currently just under 20 people, an idea soon emerged to create a cozy sandbox that eventually became Little Planet. During this interview, Huang demonstrated to me aspects of worldbuilding alongside various events you can set up, such as a fireworks festival or even an interactive basketball court.
Having played Little Planet before this interview, I can see where such events could be appealing with friends. With the upcoming transition to free-to-play, Huang advised VRWOOD made this strategic decision because of how crucial the social gameplay is. This choice was made to lower the entry barrier without restricting the core premise, instead offering in-app purchases.
“Think about a scenario that if I told my friend, 'Hey, I built a great house and landscape in Little Planet, can you come in?' Some people will say no, they didn't download it because it costs $19.99… If it's free, then you lower the barrier and get more people coming in. You can motivate your friends to build another world, you can go to there to enjoy it too.”
Like we often see with titles going free-to-play after being a paid game, Little Planet has something prepared for early adopters. Anyone who purchases it before the swap will receive a 'Founders Pack' that VRWOOD states is equivalent to $200's worth of in-game content with in-game currency, outfits, furniture, and more. This includes some Founder-exclusive items.
Little Planet is out now on the Meta Horizon Store in early access, and the full free-to-play release arrives on October 30. VRWOOD is also promising a “rich roadmap of content updates” planned into 2026 and beyond, though specifics are currently unconfirmed.