2025 RAINDANCE IMMERSIVE awards

Celebrating a Decade of Immersive Art and Innovation

For the last decade, Raindance Immersive's pioneering programme and awards championed independent artists, consistently shaping the future of immersive storytelling. Each year, the Raindance Immersive Awards illuminate the remarkable achievements of independent XR creators, game developers, world builders, performers, musicians, and filmmakers. From crafting intricate virtual worlds to developing nuanced characters and weaving compelling narratives, the awards honour the myriad ways artists leverage XR technologies to realise their creative visions and artistic ingenuity.

This 2025 programme celebrated 32 groundbreaking projects, including World Premieres and first-look previews. Notably, 27 of these found their stage on social VR platforms like VRChat, Resonite, and Orion Drift, where the creative possibilities truly shine, influencing the landscape of play and artistic expression.

BEST NARRATIVE FOR IMPACT

• Ancestral Secret

• Break The Silence

• Sands of Time

• WINNER 🏆 The Time Before

BEST GAME

• Bullet Time Agent

• WINNER 🏆 Ghost Town

• Orion Drift

• The Midnight Walk

BEST ART WORLD

• Celestia Nimbus: Guardians of the Six Realms

• Goa: Planet of the Lumen Snails

• Hommage

• WINNER 🏆 Natura's Queendom

BEST ART EXPERIENCE

• Hommage

• Natura's Queendom

• WINNER 🏆 The Continuous Present

• What is Virtual Art - Volume 1

BEST MUSIC SHOW

• Blue Rondo: Stratos

• Cinematic Neon Club: Mona Lisa Overdrive

• TONEVOK: Sonic Sky Journey

• WINNER 🏆 Torchlight

BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE

• Cathedral of Witches

• Observa Presents: Luxian Lunacy!

• WINNER 🏆 Rhythmic Root

• Silhouettes of Memories

BEST IMMERSIVE THEATRE

• A Christmas Carol VR

• WINNER 🏆 Scarecrow: Rekindle

• Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis

• Uncanny Alley: A New Day

BEST SHORT FILM OF VR

• A Dutchman In Virtual Japan

• Broken Past

• WINNER 🏆 Our Precious Autumn

• Starcross Coast

SPIRIT OF RAINDANCE AWARD

The award recognises outstanding achievement for an independent XR production, and a pioneering ‘punk spirit’.

• WINNER 🏆 Break The Silence

OUT OF COMPETITION

• The Architect Across Realities

• The Reality of Hope

The winners were announced at two virtual awards ceremonies in VRChat on 28th and 29th June in the presence of nominees and jurors from all around the world, offering a unique opportunity for participants to celebrate in VR.