Here’s my interview with Matteo311, VR Content Creator, that was conducted on Tuesday, June 10, 2025 at Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, CA. See more context in the rough transcript below.
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Rough Transcript
[00:00:05.458] Kent Bye: The Voices of VR podcast. Hello, my name is Kent Bye, and welcome to the Voices of VR podcast. It's a podcast that looks at the structures and forms of immersive storytelling and the future of spatial computing. You can support the podcast at patreon.com slash voicesofvr. So continuing my series of looking at AWE past and present, today's interview is with Mateo311. So Mateo is a YouTuber and a VR content creator, so he's focusing a lot on VR gaming and the larger ecosystem of games and entertainment. And so in my conversation with Sonya Haskins, she was talking around how they've been starting to not only expand having a hub of indie games that are being featured there, but also bringing in a lot of content creators to cover what's happening at Augmented World Expo, which I think is really quite interesting because there are a number of different, say, VR locomotion or more theme park type of experiences. You know, there was an incredible experience that I had a chance to do that ended up winning one of the top awards at AWE, which was a VR bungee experience. It was really quite fun and amazing, and I just didn't have a chance to capture an interview about it. But these are different types of experiences that the wider content creators can start to cover, which typically there's been a pretty distinct separation between what's happening in the, say, enterprise or location-based entertainment context for XR and the gaming and entertainment. Certainly gaming is one of the biggest areas. industry verticals in terms of like having a market and an ecosystem of people talking around the content that's being created and yet at the same time what's happening at augmented world expo is sometimes completely different where it's much more technical or enterprise focused and there may not be like immediate overlaps in terms of what may or may not be covered within the context of their channels but is a great opportunity to have all these different content creators that are there to be able to engage with the community talk around the process and to really create this space that brings the entirety of the community together, not just like the enterprise community. So just wanted to catch up with Mateo to get some of his impressions of what types of things he was looking at in the showroom floor, but also just some of his impressions of what's happening with XR gaming and the ecosystem and, what seems to be kind of a pulling away of Meta from at least funding new games. A lot of the funding that has been focused much more into Horizon Worlds. There's certainly been a lot of stuff that has been funded that I think is still in the pipeline for being developed. But as we look forward for another, you know, one to two to three years from now, if Meta's focus is seeing the success of the I'm wondering how much Meta is going to be really focusing on engaging this third-party content ecosystem for these other platforms. So I'll be very curious to see what they're announcing here at their MetaConnect coming up in September, and to see if they're going to really engage the third-party developer community in some of these new platforms, like the MetaReban glasses. Because at this point, it's only been focused on their own first-party apps and so forth. Anyway, just discussing through some of those different things and getting some of Mateo's hot takes on all that, as well as some of his own journey of running his YouTube channel as a content business and some of the different lessons learned around that, which is what he was there at AWE speaking about. So, becoming all that and more on today's episode of Voices of VR Podcast. So, this interview with Mateo311 happened on Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 at Oddwinder World Expo in Long Beach, California. So, with that, let's go ahead and dive right in.
[00:03:27.984] Matteo311: So my name is Matteo311. I'm like over here looking for the camera right now. And I am a VR content creator. I've been doing it full time for three years now. I just like talking about the hardware, the upcoming games, informing people what's going on. And it's a personal passion that I like sharing.
[00:03:44.656] Kent Bye: Maybe you can give a bit more context as to your background and your journey into the space.
[00:03:49.018] Matteo311: Sure. So I have always been a big gamer. I worked in IT for 24 years, the whole corporate America thing. I got an HTC Vive. I didn't check any reviews, nothing. I was super interested. I just went for it, bought it, fell in love. And then it became a passion outlet that I needed. I needed a creative outlet. I wanted to share this with people. I wanted to meet more people that like this technology. I wanted to introduce the people to technology. One major catalyst was when my late dad, when I had him try it, he was not a gamer. He was not a technology guy. He was blown away. He acted like I went to the future, stole technology, and came back in time. So that just stuck with me. I'm like, yes, I'm going to introduce everyone to VR. And it's just grown since then. My channel's grown, and I was able to make it into a full-time gig and get rid of the corporate America job.
[00:04:39.298] Kent Bye: Yeah, maybe you could talk a bit more context as to your background and what you were doing before and your transition into doing this full-time now.
[00:04:46.121] Matteo311: Okay. Yeah. So like I said, I started in the IT world, everything from onsite technician, the basic path there. I was an onsite technician. I did a little bit of software development. Then I was the IT manager for an office and then a bigger office and a bigger office. The last company I worked for had like 80,000 people. It got way too constricted. It was way too much red tape. I felt like I couldn't do my job and also I got sick of corporate America. The whole YouTube channel side growing was just like, I just did it for fun. I talked about games I was trying. What I started doing was making the content I was looking for. I would go online looking for what VR games are available, what VR games are good, just like what VR headsets are coming out. And I felt like there was a gap there. There were a few channels that I really enjoyed, but I felt there was a gap, so I started making the content I was looking for. I did the research, I found the information I wanted to, and then I shared it with people. And that just grew over time. I refined what I was doing. I tried to get better and better. I started enjoying doing that way more than my job, actually trying to put more time into this than my actual job. And eventually, I was at the point where financially, I knew I could make the switch and not look back.
[00:05:59.653] Kent Bye: Yeah, I think one of the challenges within the XR VR ecosystem is that it's so small that sometimes when you see a new game, there can be a little bit of hype that's driven around a lot of these new games that are coming out. And I feel like one of your brands is trying to be anti-hype or just trying to tell it how it is. So just curious to hear your take on trying to balance supporting of an industry as it's growing and sharing your authentic opinion and then where the role of criticism comes in when you're trying to speak to the consumers but also it's such a small community that you know I can feel a pressure and immersive storytelling where it's hard to be in an ecosystem where you may be one of the few voices that are speaking out on things and so I'm not sure how you navigate or negotiate that. I'm just curious to hear how you balance your own authenticity with being anti-tele-how-it-is, but also your relationship to the developer ecosystem.
[00:06:52.375] Matteo311: So, I mean, I think it's a level of authenticity, but more even so it's like just my New Yorker background. New York is known for telling it how it is. Like even if they're going to offend you, it's just something we do. I don't know why. And I mean, that's how I started. And probably to my own detriment, like a little bit too much in your face, a little bit too much roughed, like ruffled a little too many feathers. But at the same time, like I've been on the other side, I don't want to give anyone buyer's remorse. I don't want to sit there and say, this is the most amazing thing, and then someone buys it, and I'm like, that guy's a jerk. Why'd he tell me to buy this? So I just think about it from the other perspective. And at the same time, I do really enjoy this hardware. But when I see a flaw that I can't get past, I know someone else is probably going to be stuck on that too. So that's why I talk about it. And I'm just trying to give my real opinion. I'm not saying my opinion's always right. Some things I value, I might value more. or less than other people. So I'm just telling you how I feel, if it's right. But when I am hyped about something, I make sure to let people know. So that's where I save the hype for when I'm really hyped and try not to just always be a hype train. Because if you're just sitting there being a VR cheerleader, it becomes a joke. You pretend everything's amazing and then in reality it's mediocre. And then people think VR is a gimmick. So it doesn't help VR to just be a cheerleader and be full of hype. You got to be real.
[00:08:15.717] Kent Bye: And I'm curious to hear a little bit more about what you're presenting here at Augmented World Expo. What were some of the messages that you were trying to get across to the broader community here?
[00:08:23.792] Matteo311: Well, we just did a talk on being profitable as a content creator, and it's some of the things we're touching in here, like how you got started, how to make money, and it really comes down to being authentic. That's one thing, but probably one major takeaway that we didn't get into that much and not many people talk about is this community is very supportive of one another. We don't act like adversaries. don't go oh i want his views i want you know oh i got to be first to make a video like this community is very open to talking to each other helping each other like you reach out to anyone big or small they'll tell you how they got started what they recommend there's very few like huge egos so the fact that this is a community that it's like shared love we all love the technology that's the one thing i really want to let people know like reach out make some friends it's only going to help you
[00:09:15.267] Kent Bye: Can you speak a bit about the mix between what you're getting from ads, what percentage from speaking gigs, or if you're doing sponsored episodes? What are all the different streams of revenue that you get to be a profitable content creator in this day and age for XR?
[00:09:30.247] Matteo311: I tend to tell people only about 40% of your income should come from YouTube or whatever your platform ad revenue is. If you're relying solely on ad revenue, you're in trouble because the ad revenue fluctuates so much. And there's also, you could be three strikes away from your channel disappearing. You could be, you know, copyright claims happen all the time, even from copyright trolls. They don't have the rights, but they still make a claim on your channel. The CPM, or how much you make per thousand clicks on your video, changes wildly per month. So you don't have consistent income. So I say 60% of your income should come from other places. The majority of that, I'd say, is filled with sponsorships. And then on top of that, affiliate links, depending on what your demographics are. I have older demographics. Older people spend more money rather than the little kids. So if I promote something I like, an affiliate link can actually make me a ton of money.
[00:10:25.336] Kent Bye: OK. And so what are some of your impressions of stuff that you might have seen here at Augmented World Expo so far?
[00:10:30.897] Matteo311: Well, this is my first day on the floor. I've only had a few demos. I personally really like XREAL. So I like the new stuff they're coming out with. We were briefly talking a little bit before this about how I have minor concerns with their 6DOF setup. But they are aware of them, too. And they're expanding it and making a better product. But I think it's going to be a very solid device for spatial computing, which is interesting for the future. There's a couple VR treadmills out there that look interesting, but they haven't been running. So they just got them running, and now they're closing the doors to the expo. So I'm going to be back tomorrow. Otherwise, I really haven't seen too much.
[00:11:08.865] Kent Bye: I'm curious to hear a bit of your take on the ecosystem of meta, everything that's going on there in terms of it seems like they opened up to all the App Lab apps and then putting a lot more focus on promoting or self-promoting their own Horizon worlds. And so it's kind of changed the ecosystem in a lot of ways. I'm just curious from your perspective as a content creator how that has impacted. There are games that are coming out. Discovery, I think, is a big problem on the store in terms of people finding them. and maybe that the larger ecosystem is relying upon content creators like yourself to help highlight things that are coming out. So, curious to hear some of your takes on Meta, what's happening with their store and their ecosystem, just because it seems like it's in a kind of weird place where it's hard to get a sense that Meta's even supportive of it in the long term.
[00:11:56.880] Matteo311: There definitely is a change. Meta's position is now they're really only shelling out money for Horizon Worlds and Mixed Reality, because that's their focus right now. It hasn't impacted me as much. I don't see it in my ad income stream. I don't see it overall. But I am friendly with a ton of developers, and GDC was almost depressing to a point. They were all demoralized. Almost like the cash cow of meta has dried up. Like they said, if you're not making an IP-licensed game, or if it wasn't Horizon Worlds or Mixed Reality, meta just says, no, thank you. So it hasn't impacted me directly, but I have seen it impact a lot of developers.
[00:12:36.633] Kent Bye: Well, it seems like that the funding cycles are such that there's still stuff that has been funding that's coming out. And so there will be some new releases. But it feels like over the long term, I've heard the same thing in terms of the stuff isn't getting funded. If their content pipeline isn't being funded, then it It kind of feels like Meta has used the third-party developers to build up an ecosystem, but then they're more and more interested in the AR glasses. And I just have questions around how committed they are to really continuing to fund and cultivate a independent third-party ecosystem versus developing their own stuff. Yeah, and I feel like at some point that's going to come to a head over time if they're not funding anything new, then it's going to impact all of the content creators who are focusing on the gaming if the ecosystem starts to dwindle because there isn't been funding unless you are looking at more independently driven projects.
[00:13:25.413] Matteo311: So, I mean, it's definitely a weird time. I think you hit the nail on the head in certain respects. I've always said that Meta's end goal is spatial computing. That's what they're aiming for. And they've always treated the gamer as the beta tester, the stepping stone. And I said, sure, they could have 30 million gamers, but if they could step over them, they get 100 million mainstream spatial computing users, they will do it. Now, at the same time, I have heard mixed things internally, that Meta will not abandon them, that they will eventually restructure. Right now, their focus is Horizon World and mixed reality, but eventually, they will not abandon the VR side, the gaming side. They're going to throw the money back in that direction and help that ecosystem keep going. That is hearsay at this point. I haven't had full confirmation. But yes, you are definitely right. That potential is there. They might just give up on the VR gamer and leave it all completely in third party hands. And hopefully they can survive. Hopefully.
[00:14:32.079] Kent Bye: Yeah, just hearing what's happening with the funding, it definitely gives me concerns. But being here at AWE, it seems like there's a much broader ecosystem of XR, other platforms that are coming out. So in terms of your coverage, are you looking at other platforms like Apple Vision Pro or other? You're very much focused on the gaming, and there hasn't been as much gaming on those platforms. But just curious if you're just focusing on the Quest platform, PC VR, or if you're going to be expanding out to other platforms, and what kind of things that you're really focusing in on?
[00:15:00.325] Matteo311: I mean, I'm not loyal to any company. Whatever I enjoy, whatever I like, that's what I focus more on. Whatever I'm interested in, that's what I target. So if a new headset comes out, like the long-awaited Valve Deckard, I'm sure you're going to see a ton of Valve Deckard content from me. And if I end up enjoying the headset and liking what they make for it, there'll be a ton more content to follow. I'll follow the industry, and what I like and what resonates with me is what I'm going to talk about.
[00:15:30.134] Kent Bye: What are some of your favorite games that you've played over the last two or three years?
[00:15:34.475] Matteo311: So, like, surprisingly, we went to GDC, and GDC, all developers of the press, but, like, almost right after that, we had all these surprise, really good releases. This year, Ghost Town was absolutely incredible. And then The Midnight Walk blew me away, too. So much style in that game. The beginning of the year started with Arkanege, which I had low expectations for and was extremely impressed. Finally, we got a Hitman VR game where, you know, it was solid. Not perfect, but very good. Very, very good game. And it seems like, you know, we just got some amazing announcements, too, between Thief VR, Deadpool, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I'm actually personally waiting for Battlemarked. That's from Resolution Games. That's their Demio meets D&D game. So I think there's still great games coming out and a lot more to come. And then I guess after this next slew, as we move into 2026, we'll see what happens from there.
[00:16:27.132] Kent Bye: So I know in genres of games, there's existing genres that have been ported over, and there's kind of unique genres that are only possible in VR. I'm just curious to hear, like, what are some of the genres that you're most attracted to in terms of the games, if it's existing genres or how the genres have been expanded while using more embodied gameplay?
[00:16:44.830] Matteo311: So VR is quite interesting because outside of VR, I mean, I've always been a big gamer, but I'd say my preferred game is RPG, underrepresented in VR, and probably not my biggest game to jump into. I love heavily mounted Skyrim and Fallout, but there's still some jank there. It's not a full VR game. It's still an amazing experience. But VR has made me try things that I never expected I would enjoy. Like something as simple as Beat Saber can only really be done in VR, and it's amazing. Or something like Beatable, where you're tapping the table. All the way to just the immersive experiences. Personally, I was blown away by Moss. Like just how well that environment is done. That environment and your interactions with Quill would never be close to as good if you weren't in VR. You feel like she's your personal buddy by the end of the game. And just being like looking at a large scale world from a small scale point of view, it's great. It's what VR was made for.
[00:17:42.056] Kent Bye: What are some of your favorite videos that you've done over the last three years?
[00:17:45.818] Matteo311: Favorite videos? It's funny, because the videos that you're really personally proud of usually perform the worst. When you put your heart and soul into something, and you think it's really unique, and it performs poorly, double-edged sword there. I really liked, I did like 100 days straight in Supernatural, because personally I love to work out, and I did some fitness advice there. That was something unique that I enjoyed. I always enjoy doing my 100 game roundup, where I do my favorite 100 games since I've owned VR, which gets harder and harder to really score the games every year. And then, I don't know, when I do something, like, just anything unique. Like, I don't care about the numbers and stuff. It's unique. I did some wacky stuff for, like, Dragon Fist VR Kung Fu that almost went, like, into, like, an anime, like, you know, Dragon Ball Z type of style. It was fun. So that's what I enjoyed making.
[00:18:41.365] Kent Bye: I saw that you were a part of a cohort of other content creators getting together in-house and playing special ops. So maybe just elaborate a little bit on some of these other communities or collaborations that you're coming in to being a part of a cohort of other content creators, if it's some umbrella organization or what is bringing you together to have these little excursions with other XR content creators.
[00:19:03.576] Matteo311: Yeah, so roughly a year ago, I was approached by my now manager, Bridger. He works for Noetic Talent Agency. His only client for the longest time was Nacy, which is well-known, well-respected staple in the VR community. But he decided he's going to make this a real business. He's going to expand. And over time, he built out his roster, and he approached me. And I was very skeptical. And I would say personally, it's been great. Like it's a ton of opportunities. It has made it easier for me to just do what I do, make content, play games, make content, play games. You know, I don't have to worry about nickeling, diming people for money or like Personally, I don't like to sit there and say, no, I think I'm worth more or ask for money. I'll let people lowball me. Well, I have a manager now protecting me and not allowing that stuff to happen. He's also streamlining communication for me. So I just get to do what I do. And the opportunities are great. Like you said, we went to a giant house that we all stayed in an Airbnb. We moved out all the furniture and we played spatial ops. Like we wouldn't have been able to do that otherwise.
[00:20:15.558] Kent Bye: Great. And finally, what do you think the ultimate potential of virtual reality and the future of gaming might be and what it might be able to enable?
[00:20:25.066] Matteo311: Virtual reality is very unique. I mean, it delivers a sense of immersion you can't get anywhere else. Obviously, there's some amazing use cases for training when it's in a hazardous environment or medical training because if you have someone training you don't want them cutting up real people so they need a sort of hands-on experience which vr can help deliver they said it's doing great in dangerous environment training so the potential is there obviously it's a new tool for gaming that love it or hate it whatever the case may be personally like as you know i love it and i think as we get into the spatial computing era that's when we get into mainstream technology I have a pair of Meta Ray-Ban glasses. All they have is cameras and speakers in them, but even the functionality that allows me is amazing. I could do turn-by-turn walking navigation, and I could answer a phone call, or hands-free get my text messages read to me and respond. And I've done that while I'm walking in unknown environments, so I don't have to be walking down looking at my phone. If I also have a screen attached to that, as we will in the future, that's a game changer.
[00:21:36.038] Kent Bye: Awesome. Anything else left unsaid you'd like to say to the broader immersive community?
[00:21:38.719] Matteo311: No, I mean, if you enjoy VR, you know, just reach out, make some friends. The community is absolutely fantastic. That is probably the biggest takeaway I've learned from going to events.
[00:21:48.903] Kent Bye: Awesome. Well, Matteo311, thanks so much for joining me here on the podcast to share a little bit more of your journey and perspective on what's happening in the current XR ecosystem and especially around gaming and where that's at and where it's going here in the future. So thanks again for joining me here on the podcast. Thank you. Thanks again for listening to this episode of the voices of your podcast. And if you enjoy the podcast and please do spread the word, tell your friends and consider becoming a member of the Patreon. This is a, this is part of podcast. And so I do rely upon donations from people like yourself in order to continue to bring this coverage. So you can become a member and donate today at patreon.com slash voices of VR. Thanks for listening.
