Martin Rumenov Developer: Oisoi Studio
Game name: Painting VR
Platform: Meta Quest, Steam VR
Price: $14.99
Meta Quest Store: Painting VR
Steam Store: Painting VR
What Is Painting VR?
Painting VR is a virtual-reality art studio that has been used by more than 140,000 people worldwide. The game lets players pick up a virtual brush, use realistic painting tools, and create artwork on canvases of different sizes—without buying physical supplies, making a mess, or cleaning up afterwards.
It is designed for both experienced artists and complete beginners. Players can test different techniques, experiment with colours and tools, develop their painting skills, and customise their own digital creative space.
From Virtual Canvas to Viral Content
A simple VR painting tool has become the foundation for a major social-media success story. Dutch creator Hidde Kip, known online as HydraVR, has generated more than 500 million views across platforms by turning digital paintings made in Painting VR into highly watchable short-form videos.
Developed by Belgian studio Oisoi, Painting VR gives users a virtual art studio where they can paint freely in virtual reality. The game was designed to make creative expression accessible inside a headset—but its developers did not anticipate that one creator would use it to build a half-billion-view audience.
HydraVR began publishing content in November 2024 while working a full-time job. He discovered Painting VR through a viral YouTube Short and quickly saw an opportunity to combine VR creativity with recognizable gaming and pop-culture subjects.
“I discovered Painting VR through a viral YouTube Short and was immediately hooked,” Kip said. “I’d already been making VR content and loved experimenting with ideas that could take off, so combining painting with trending topics felt like a natural fit.”
Minecraft Lava Bucket Reaches 81 Million Views
The creator’s best-known format is the “Minecraft vs. Realism” series. In these videos, HydraVR takes instantly recognizable items from Mojang’s sandbox game and transforms them into detailed, more realistic paintings.
His biggest hit is a painting based on Minecraft’s lava bucket, which has received more than 81 million views on YouTube alone. The video is part of a wider series that has helped HydraVR reach more than 500 million views across social media.
He has also used the format to paint subjects ranging from the Mona Lisa to Meccha Chameleon, one of 2026’s breakout games. Some of his paintings can take up to eight hours to complete, despite being presented to audiences as quick, polished short-form videos.
Why the Videos Work
HydraVR’s content has an almost ASMR-like quality. Viewers can hear the brush strokes, follow the progression from a blank surface to a finished image, and enjoy the final reveal after watching a familiar subject take shape.
The videos work because they are not solely aimed at VR players or artists. They blend gaming references, creative process content, and satisfying visual transformations into a format that is easy to watch on YouTube Shorts and TikTok.
Oisoi founder Wim Reygaert said the studio originally built Painting VR as a tool for creativity, but HydraVR’s success has shown how far that idea can travel.
“We built Painting VR to let people create, but Hidde has taken it somewhere we never expected,” Reygaert said. “Seeing 81 million views on a Minecraft lava bucket painted in our game is pretty wild.”
A Different Kind of VR Success
HydraVR’s growth is an example of how a creative VR game can reach a huge audience outside the headset market. With a headset, a blank virtual canvas, and a strong idea built around recognizable topics, the creator has turned Painting VR into a platform for videos watched more than half a billion times.
Oisoi Studio was founded in 2021 by Wim Reygaert and Xander Clerckx. In addition to Painting VR, the Ghent-based studio has developed VR titles including Wait What’s That and Vandalizer, while its non-VR painting game, Painting PC, is available on Steam.
