With many VR multiplayer games going free-to-play, Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss is a curious exception going the opposite direction.

A PvP MOBA-like spin-off of Moss and Moss: Book 2, Polyarc's Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss tasks you with destroying an enemy's 'Glass Stronghold' by selecting a team of three Champions with unique abilities. Following 2023's free-to-play open beta, news had gone quiet for Glassbreakers after this ended in January last year. Now, it's recently re-emerged with a late 2025 launch window.

More than a year without major news is a long time for any game to go silent after an open beta, which left many fans wondering what's been going on. Before last week's appearance in the VR Games Showcase, Polyarc had begun releasing developer diaries across July covering subjects like progression and new Champions.

So, what exactly's been happening all this time? Polyarc's Design Director, Chris Bourassa, explained more during a recent video call interview, but not before diving into Glassbreakers' history. It's an idea that goes back to the studio's early days when the game was originally known as 'Crimson.'

“Danny Bulla, one of the studio's founders, was my college roommate. He started this in 2017, he had me come up and visit. Danny was like, 'I need you to come help me make this game,' and we played Glassbreakers.”

Though Polyarc put the idea on hold, believing the VR multiplayer market wasn't developed enough yet, the studio revisited this prototype after finishing the original Moss. Giving it a facelift and updated controls, the studio began pitching to investors following the launch of Brass Tactics, basing much of Glassbreakers' movement model on the real-time strategy game.

“I spent a lot of time trying to replicate their movement model. So we updated that and looked around, but the interest wasn't fully there yet. We then took some time, worked on a few other prototypes, and then ended up with a deal for Moss Book 2.”

Work on Glassbreakers continued in the background during Moss: Book 2's development, and multiplayer interest started gathering as Rec Room's popularity grew. Roughly 3/4 of the way through the sequel's development, Bourassa began ramping up a smaller team to get Glassbreakers moving, entering full development after Book 2 was finished.

Come 2023, Glassbreakers' open beta arrived on Quest's now-defunct App Lab platform with an intended free-to-play model before getting a Steam release nearly two months later. Bourassa tells me its reception was largely positive to the point where some Discord server members still discuss the open beta's metagame, calling this “a really big driving force” for the team.

Bourassa states the team “learned a ton” from this often “brutally honest” feedback, which he describes as being welcome. However, as a studio with just under 50 staff members and multiple projects, Polyarc realized that a free-to-play model isn't sustainable for its team.

“We began to understand the expectations of what gamers have for free-to-play against the team size that we had. We quickly realized that we're not going to be able to meet this. We hit that junction point in the road… We realized relatively quickly that it wasn't going to be sustainable for us.”

As such, Glassbreakers eventually shifted from free-to-play into a paid game. Given that we've seen many VR multiplayer games take the opposite approach, Brazen Blaze and Mannequin being recent examples, was this a risk? Knowing free-to-play wasn't the right choice made it an easier pivot.

“We had already had conversations about it being a premium game. It was like, we'll use the open beta time to try this out. If it doesn't work, we have a plan to pivot back to this.”

Continuing further, Bourassa states using a free-to-play model means you often need to gate unlockables behind factors like time and a grind, using battle passes for unlocking cosmetics. He explained this “kind of handcuffs me a little bit” when working within a certain model; free-to-play didn't allow him to craft a progression curve that he liked.

By comparison, a premium experience lets him more easily focus on being a designer. The current unlocking method is that you play as a Champion to unlock other Champions, letting you earn a 'Mastery' skin for them after reaching level 20 or trying out different characters along the way.

The intent is to have everyone play each Champion “a little bit,” starting off with more straightforward Champions before introducing ones with more complex abilities, Rees being one of the first unlocks. Bourassa explains how this layered approach to building team compositions isn't something free-to-play would allow, since people would buy the ones they want immediately.

“It's nice to have the freedom to craft an experience with a premium model.”

This doesn't mean Glassbreakers is a one-and-done deal, either. Publishing director Lincoln Davis confirms that seasonal events are being planned with new cosmetics to unlock, also mentioning contests and tournaments are coming. While Bourassa doesn't confirm if there'll be any post-launch DLC, the option isn't ruled out, either.

Anyone familiar with the previous beta will find the core gameplay remains the same outside balancing tweaks despite these progression changes, though the full release adds three more maps where some Champions might be stronger than others.

This comes down more to positioning than any specific environmental tricks, since each map uses a hex-based layout. Using one of the previously introduced Champions called Mojo as an example, Bourassa says every map offers a small puzzle for players to solve.

“One of the maps, the one that Mojo is strong in, has all the gear located in the center on an island. Two characters can shut the door, and no other enemies can get into all the gear. If we want to get it, we have to go through them. Or in Mojo's case, he can just hook them across gaps and pull them out of the way, which is one of the reasons that he's quite strong there.”

There's also a new 2v2 option called “Buds Mode,” where you and a friend can team up against other players or fight against/with an AI player. He compares this with Archon Mode in Starcraft 2, meaning that both players jointly command the same team of three Champions rather than having 6v6 matches.

Bourassa states the preferred meta here is for the better player to control two Champions, whereas the other handles one who needs more micromanaging. This allows the person handling the singular Champion to “play it more like a traditional MOBA,” and it's the way Buds mode is being played internally.

Glassbreakers at launch will feature 12 different champions. Polyarc wants to expand the Moss universe by introducing further characters for the first time. Some are ones we've previously met, like Sahima from Moss: Book 2. Given a rather notable exclusion, I had to ask. Will we ever see Quill appear as a Champion? Right now, it's unlikely.

“When we started building Glassbreakers, Quill was the prototype Champion, but we don't want to for a couple of reasons. Her adventure is strictly in Moss, she's got her own thing going on, and we didn't want to potentially confuse players who are really into Moss. Glassbreakers is not Moss: Book 3.”

Presently, Glassbreakers is confirmed for Steam and Quest - specifically, Quest 3, 3S, and Pro. When asked about Quest 2 not appearing on the store page, Davis advised that Polyarc is working on platform support right now across the board. Though it's not a confirmation, Polyarc is currently “exploring” releases on PlayStation VR2 and other platforms.

Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss arrives later this year on Quest and Steam.