After more than three years, AltspaceVR is finally opening its doors again.
On October 20, 2026, the revived AltspaceVR began its soft launch, giving the community an early opportunity to get inside the rebuilt platform, explore its worlds, reconnect with old friends and help identify issues before development continues.
I was fortunate enough to have access to a pre-release build with networking functionality in the days leading up to the wider opening. After experiencing both that early access and the community soft launch, I wanted to share my first impressions.
Despite the bugs, crashes and a few questionable design decisions, something genuinely special happened: for the first time in years, I felt like I was back in AltspaceVR.
This is a new AltspaceVR
This is not Microsoft's original AltspaceVR client being switched back on. That platform and its infrastructure are gone. What we are experiencing now is a new platform being rebuilt under the AltspaceVR name by Shane Harris and his team.
There are differences, but the interface felt surprisingly familiar. The menu system in particular reminded me of the original AltspaceVR, and navigating it felt almost like picking up where I left off several years ago.
The moment that really brought back the memories came a few nights before the wider preview, when Designer Girl and Swifty Gazz invited me to visit a world Swifty was working on. My first attempt crashed, and after restarting I had to catch up by teleporting through walls and finding suitable landing spots.
Strangely, that was when it hit me: I remembered doing exactly this sort of thing in the original AltspaceVR. The platform did not need to look identical. The experience felt familiar.
The worlds look fantastic
As someone who builds VR worlds myself, I naturally pay attention to lighting, textures, environmental detail and presentation. I was impressed by what I saw.
The worlds looked noticeably better than many environments I remember from the original AltspaceVR, with lighting standing out in particular. Some of that improvement will come from world builders developing their skills over the past few years, but the visual potential is clearly there.
At times, the environments reminded me of PCVR quality rather than what I traditionally expect from a standalone Quest experience. As a Quest 2 user, that is an exciting prospect.
The community came back
When the preview became available, I downloaded it almost immediately and managed to get inside relatively early. Initially things were quiet, but that did not last long.
People started arriving, then more people, and then even more. Throughout the evening I personally encountered what I believe was at least 100 different people, although the total may have been considerably higher.
What I can say with confidence is that people showed up. You could hear the excitement in their voices. Some people were reconnecting with friends they had not seen in years, while others were exploring the new worlds and taking photographs.
There was even a live musical performance by Yunji, bringing back the atmosphere of the community events that made the original AltspaceVR memorable.
It was not simply people testing a new VR application. It felt like a reunion.
The bugs are real, but this is still an early preview
Not everything worked perfectly. Avatars sometimes failed to load when entering a world, leaving basic capsule representations in their place. Rejoining generally resolved the problem.
Movement could also appear extremely choppy. Other users sometimes seemed to update at only a few frames per second even when the world itself rendered smoothly and voice communication remained clear.
Audio needs work as well. Voices could be unusually loud, spatial audio was not always balanced and people could sometimes be heard from considerable distances. During Yunji's performance, amplified audio made nearby conversations difficult for some users.
On my own system I experienced two graphics-related crashes and submitted bug reports. However, the experience appeared to become more stable as the evening progressed. Later, I spent approximately 45 minutes talking with a friend without major interruptions.
For a day-one multiplayer preview, I was impressed by how much was already working.
A new progression system
The rebuilt AltspaceVR also introduces a gamified progression system. Users can earn experience by spending time on the platform, interacting with others and visiting places.
Opinions were mixed. Some people were not enthusiastic about adding levels to AltspaceVR, while others enjoyed earning experience and progressing through the system. Avatar customisation also remains an important area for future development.
I am not sure what the long-term community consensus will be, but I was encouraged by how willing people were to experiment with something new even when they did not agree with every design decision.
Is AltspaceVR really back?
It is too early to declare the revival a complete success. Long-term success will depend on stability, continued development, creator support, regular events and the ability to retain an active community.
But I have now seen the new platform for myself. I have explored the worlds, navigated the familiar menus, experienced the bugs, listened to live music, talked with friends and watched people return to a place they thought they had lost forever.
The software alone was never what made AltspaceVR special. It was the people. Being surrounded by familiar faces and hearing their excitement made the rebuilt platform feel like home again.
It was not the platform that made AltspaceVR feel like home. It was the people.
And now that those people are returning, perhaps AltspaceVR really can become home again.
Screenshots from my first day
How to join
The revived AltspaceVR is currently in an early preview stage, so expect bugs, missing features and ongoing changes.
Visit the official AltspaceVR website or the Windows beta download page for current availability and installation information.
This article reflects my personal experiences and opinions during the October 2026 soft launch. It is not an official statement from the AltspaceVR development team.
