Kerestell Smith

Smith began developing Gorilla Tag in December 2019 as an independent project.^[7] The game's locomotion involved players moving using their arms rather than traditional joystick controls, which made the game stand out from other VR games at the time.^[8] The core movement mechanics were developed prior to the game’s thematic concept, as initially the game used robot avatars. The use of gorilla avatars was introduced later as a way to complement the locomotion system.^[9][10]

Gorilla Tag was released in early access in February 2021^[11] and gained popularity through social media. It quickly began to break VR records and grow immensely, drawing thousands of new players to VR.^[12] It was officially released on 15 December 2022 and grew even further.^[13]

Smith also co-founded Another Axiom in 2020.^[14] The studio grew as the game achieved commercial success, transitioning from a solo-developed project to a larger team-based production. Its stated goal is to make VR games feel like "alternate universes."^[15]

By 2024 Gorilla Tag had attracted over 10 million players and generated more than $100 million in revenue^[16], making it one of the most successful VR titles of all time. By 2026 this number had grown to 15 million lifetime players and 1 million daily active users.^[11] Smith began to expand the Gorilla Tag brand and began to release merchandise for the game in the form of plushies.^[17]

In 2025 Smith developed and released Orion Drift, a game with similar movement to Gorilla Tag.^[18][19] The game was intended to be a tribute to Echo VR, and Smith began developing it in 2023.^[20]

• Gorilla Tag
• Virtual reality game