When you think about companies pushing their brands in the virtual reality space, Meta often comes to mind first. They’ve been known to strike up exclusive deals, like the one with Wendy’s for a unique Horizon Worlds social experience, and another with KFC for its quirky escape room. Now, McDonald’s Japan is diving into the mix by creating its own VRChat world, showing just how prominent this social VR platform has become in Japan.
From now until June 17th, fans can step into the McDonald’s Japan world. It’s not particularly large, showcasing a single room where visitors can virtually snack on fries and snap selfies at various photo ops. These include a giant fry container for climbing, cardboard cutouts of McDonald’s characters, and lots of promotional text with flying fries floating around.
On the surface, this is your typical promotional stunt that companies often roll out in Japan, but completely in VR. But dig a little deeper, and you find it’s tapping into emerging trends among Japan’s Gen-Z, blending the nation’s love for VTubers and VRChat.
The world was crafted around McDonald’s recent marketing pushes in Japan, celebrating their annual ‘Tirori Mix’ music video collaboration. Launched in 2022, Tirori Mix combines catchy vocals from popular J-pop stars with an animated short, remixing the “Tirori” chime you hear when your order’s up in McDonald’s Japan. This year’s version features Ado, YOASOBI, and Hoshimachi Suisei, and you can check it out here.
So, why choose VRChat over Horizon Worlds? Although VRChat doesn’t release detailed user stats, a peek at Similarweb shows Japanese users lead the pack visiting the platform’s website, making up over 33% of traffic. And it’s easy to see why.
A quick jaunt into VRChat reveals a treasure trove of Japanese language worlds. You can find everything from historic Kyoto street recreations to tranquil community meetups. A major draw is VRChat’s support for user-created avatars.
Anyone can whip up a custom avatar using standard 3D modeling software like Blender and upload it to VRChat, or even purchase one. The ability to keep an avatar consistent across platforms has bolstered its popularity among Japan’s anime-costumed VTubers.
VTubing is a booming industry in Japan, with major talent agencies like Hololive, Nijisanji, and VShojo channeling Japan’s deeply rooted idol culture to recruit, train, and manage these new digital idols.
Notably, Hoshimachi Suisei, featured in Tirori Mix 2025, is a leading Japanese VTuber with over 2 million YouTube subscribers. She’s not just a music sensation; she’s performed live, appeared on TV, and even hit the Japanese music charts.
Meanwhile, Meta is trying to enhance engagement in Horizon Worlds, but faces hurdles. Its limited avatar customization and more controlled ecosystem are restrictive. In an effort to boost activity, Meta recently introduced a $50 million creator fund to inspire better content creation.
In the short run, Meta may aim to nail a hit like Gorilla Tag on Horizon Worlds. Still, unless it allows greater freedom in avatar customization beyond its standard selections, it might struggle to reach the cross-promotional success Japan’s VTubers have expertly achieved.
