The Industry Event Playbook: Networking and Pitching for VR Developers
AWE is right around the corner—and whether it’s your first industry event or your tenth, showing up with a plan makes all the difference. Join this open workshop to learn how to network authentically, approach publishers and partners, prepare your pitch and demo, and avoid the rookie mistakes most people only learn after spending thousands to attend. 💡 You’ll walk away with: • A practical framework for making meaningful connections at events • Tips for preparing a pitch or demo that stands out on a busy show floor • Strategies for following up after the event so those conversations actually lead somewhere Whether you’re attending AWE, Gamescon, or any upcoming industry event—this session will help you get more out of every badge scan and handshake.Show Your Work: Community Project Showcase
It’s time to show off what you’ve been building. Show Your Work is a live community showcase where developers share their recently shipped or work-in-progress projects—whether it’s a polished launch or a rough prototype you’re excited about. Drop in and grab a few minutes to walk us through what you’re working on. Bring a build, a screenshot, or even just a story about a problem you solved. Or come to see what fellow builders are creating, ask questions, and connect with developers tackling similar challenges. All project stages welcome—from “just got it running” to “it’s live on the store.”Designing Monetization That Players Actually Value
Monetization doesn’t have to feel like a trade-off between revenue and player trust. This hands-on workshop covers how to design player-first monetization systems for VR—and how to implement the core building blocks in Unity, from virtual currency and item purchases to cosmetics and backend-connected purchase flows. 💡 You’ll walk away with: A clear monetization framework designed around player value Practical VR monetization examples you can reference for your own project A Unity implementation path to start building purchase flows right away If you're building a free-to-play VR experience or thinking about how to sustain your app post-launch, this one's for you.🧠Profiling and Memory Deep Dive
Good VR performance starts with knowing where the bottlenecks are, and profiling is more approachable than you'd think. In this session, Meta Horizon Start Mentor Sidney walks through general profiling techniques with a focus on Unity's profiler and memory profiler, Unreal Insights, and automated performance testing frameworks. This session gives you the foundational tools to find performance issues and build profiling into your regular workflow. What you'll walk away with: A practical intro to profiling and how to think about performance in your projects Unity-specific tools including the profiler and memory profiler Unreal Insights and how to use it to identify bottlenecks Automated performance testing so you can catch regressions before they ship🚀 Store-Ready VR: The Launch Checklist
There's a big difference between "the build works" and "this is ready for customers." Nailing that last stretch right is what separates a smooth launch from a stressful one. In this session, Meta Horizon Start Mentor Shane Nilsson breaks down the non-obvious work that goes into making a VR project truly launch-ready—from store page setup and trailer prep to ratings, compliance, QA readiness, and patch planning. The goal: help teams avoid common launch-week mistakes and ship with confidence. What to expect: Store page fundamentals—what your page needs to look like before you go live Trailers, screenshots, and positioning—how to present your project so it lands with customers Ratings and compliance—the stuff that's easy to overlook until it's a blocker QA and patch planning—how to make sure you're actually ready, not just "done" Common launch-week mistakes and how to avoid them before they happen Join on Zoom🚀 Social VR Accelerator Orientation
Build and launch a Social VR game in 4 weeks. This isn't just a class, it's an accelerator. You'll start with a Unity template, get weekly mentor support, test with real players, and launch on the Meta Horizon Store by Week 4. To get started, all you need is beginner experience with C#, Unity, or the Horizon World Editor, plus 1–4 hours per day on weekdays. Apply as a team (designer + developer) or solo. This invite is open to Meta Horizon Start Members. In this session, we'll walk through how the 4 weeks work, what's expected each week, and how mentorship and playtesting are set up. You'll get access to your Unity starter template, set up your dev environment, and meet the other teams. What we'll cover: Program timeline and weekly milestones Mentor and check-in structure Starter template walkthrough Team introductions How to get help along the way By the end of orientation, you'll know exactly what you're building toward and how to hit the ground running in Week 1. Not yet a Meta Horizon Start Member? Apply today! Join on Zoom🛠️ Unreal Profiling + Performance Clinic
UPDATE: please use this Zoom link to join: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/yculbhhnSAiFuvD19LmCZw Close to publishing your app, but running into performance issues? Join Start Mentor Sidney for an introduction to profiling tools in Unreal Engine as well as defaults that make Unreal projects more performant on the meta quest device. Bring your project to the session for a hands-on performance and optimization clinic, where Sidney will show you how to analyze it using industry standard profiling tools and techniques to uncover what’s holding your app back. Are you already an optimization pro? Join in to help investigate other member’s crashes, memory leaks, and performance bottlenecks. Join on Zoom🛠️ AI for VR Developers: A Practical Starting Point
Interested in getting started with AI dev tools but not sure where to start? This workshop is a great place to jump in. Join Start Mentor Sidney as she walks through how to set up a local model, connect it to your own documentation, and shows you where AI tooling can actually make a difference in your day-to-day workflow. In this session, Sidney focuses on a model that is Fully local — no cloud dependencies, no subscriptions, no data leaving your machine. Hands-on and practical — you'll walk away with something you can actually use. Based on real use cases — focused on the stuff that saves you time, not the hype. If you've been curious about AI tooling but haven't found a good entry point, this is a solid place to start. Join on Zoom🎮 App Showcase: First Time User Experience & Onboarding
The first few minutes of your game make or break whether someone keeps playing. Nailing the onboarding experience sets players up to actually stick around. In this session, Start Mentors Shane, Quentin, and Tevfik will each spotlight a game or app from the Start program with a standout first-time user experience. They'll break down what works, why it works, and what you can take away for your own projects. What to expect: Real examples from games on the platform — not abstract best practices Mentor picks with hands-on breakdowns of onboarding flows that land Actionable takeaways you can apply to your own first-time user experience Join on Zoom🎮Accelerating Quest Development: Rapid Prototyping with Unity AI and Meta MCP Extensions
New AI tools from Unity and Meta are about to make your Quest development workflow a lot faster. Join Meta Developer Advocate Dilmer Valecillos for a walk through how Unity's AI Gateway and Meta's Unity MCP Extensions work together to help you spend less time switching between tools and more time building. In this session, we'll cover Setting up VR scenes using natural language prompts Integrating hands and controller support with complex game mechanics — right from your IDE Debugging performance bottlenecks faster without digging through logs manually Join on Zoom
