Welcome to another VRChat developer update. In this update, the VRChat team has shared exciting news about three new features: groups updates, localization, and Impostors.

First, group updates: VRChat initially released the foundation of the group’s system, with plans to build on it over time. One major request was for group-specific instance types, and now they’re introducing two new instance types: groups+ and groups public.

Groups+ instances are similar to friends+ instances, where friends of someone in the instance can join even if they’re not a group member. The key difference is that group moderators can control and moderate the instance, making it useful for events or less exclusive environments.

Groups’ public instances are like public instances but with group moderator control. These moderated, special-interest public instances will be visible alongside other public instances, allowing for public events with less chaos.

Next, VRChat is adding group queues. If an instance is full, users can now join a queue, and VRChat will notify them when space is available, holding their spot for 2 minutes. This eliminates the need for spamming the “join” button.

Alongside the queue system, VRChat is also making changes to the soft cap and hard cap system for world capacities. Instead of using a single capacity value, creators can now define two explicit values: recommended capacity and maximum capacity. The recommended capacity is for an ideal experience, while maximum capacity is the absolute limit. The UI will display both values, and the maximum capacity can be set independently, as long as it’s equal to or greater than the recommended capacity.

World authors, instance creators, and other exceptions may still join instances even if they’re at the hard cap. VRChat has also made changes to handle full instances more gracefully, preventing users from inviting others to full instances or sending requests to join full instances.

Groups Updates

• Two new instance types are being introduced: Groups Plus and Groups Public.
• Groups Plus instances function similarly to Friends Plus instances, but Group moderators will have control over the instance.
• Groups Public instances are like public instances, moderated by Group moderators, providing a more controlled environment for public events.

World Capacity Changes

• The soft cap and hard cap system will be replaced with recommended and maximum capacity settings, allowing more flexibility for creators.
• The UI will now display the maximum capacity instead of the recommended capacity when viewing an instance.

Localization

• VRChat plans to translate its UI into multiple languages, starting with German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
• A platform called Crowdin will be used to gather community members’ localization suggestions, which will be reviewed and implemented as needed.

Impostors

• Impostors are avatar body doubles that replace fallback avatars or robots when users cannot see your avatar due to blocked performance levels or lack of a cross-platform version.
• In the coming months, users will be able to generate Impostors for their avatars via the VRChat website.
• Impostor generation is still in development, and users may encounter some issues, but the system will continue to be improved over time.

These updates are just the tip of the iceberg, and VRChat promises to reveal more exciting features in the future. Keep an eye on VRChat’s Developer Updates and weekly Dev Updates on their Ask forums to stay informed.