Meta VR Start Developer Competition 2026

Meta is running the Meta VR Start Developer Competition 2026 for games and applications on Meta VR devices. The official rules say the total value of all prizes is up to $1,000,000. The entry period starts on 24 September 2026 at 10:00 AM PT and ends on 18 November 2026 at 12:00 PM PT.

Entertainment and Gaming each have a New prize and an Adapted prize. In each of those, the winner receives $100,000 and the runner up receives $50,000. Productivity has the same two divisions, at $70,000 for the winner and $35,000 for the runner up. Six special prizes of $25,000 cover Social and Multiplayer, Agentic Interaction, Reason to Come Back, First Five Minutes, Accessibility Forward, and Boldest Original Concept. Judge's Choice is two prizes of $20,000. One entry can win only one prize.

You must be at least 18 and the age of majority where you live. You need a Meta account with Developer Access, and the person who submits must belong to Meta VR Start by the time of submission. You can enter alone, as a team of at least two, or as an organization. Residents of Brazil and Quebec cannot enter, and neither can people in places under comprehensive sanctions, including Crimea, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Meta employees, their households, contest staff, and politically affiliated organizations cannot enter. Each person may submit only one entry. The project must not already be receiving direct funding from Meta.

Join the contest on Devpost, then file a submission before the deadline. Engine builds go up as an APK on a Meta VR Developer Dashboard release channel named Competition. Web builds send a link instead. Add a public video under three minutes on YouTube or Vimeo. The project must be in English or include English subtitles. The whole experience must be usable with hands and without a controller. A New Experience is conceived and built from 24 September 2026, with no codebase from before that date. An Adapted experience is an existing project with a meaningful new feature shipped during the contest.

Judges score four criteria at 25 percent each: Innovation and Creativity, Experience Design, Technical Implementation, and Polish and Presentation. Judging runs from about 18 November 2026 to about 9 December 2026. Winners are announced on or around 11 December 2026.