Ramen VR
YC S19San Francisco, US · Founded 2019 · 15 employees · 4 known investors
Ramen VR is a game development studio that previously created the VR game Zenith: The Last City for Steam and Oculus Quest, and is now building an unannounced game along with developer tools such as Aura. The company focuses on solving problems in game development.
Also known as RamenVR · Zenith · Ramen VR, Inc.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S19)
Ramen VR was founded in 2019 by Andy Tsen.
Investors · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Ramen VR is a San Francisco-based game development studio founded in 2019 and part of Y Combinator's 2019 batch. Its first major product was Zenith: The Last City (later Zenith: Nexus), a VR MMORPG released in January 2022 that the company says reached the #1 position on Steam and Oculus Quest. The game originated from a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 and launched on PSVR and Quest 2 shortly before the studio's Series B.
The studio's focus has since shifted from shipping VR titles to building tooling and artificial-intelligence products for game creation, alongside an unannounced next game developed in stealth. Its stated mission is to lower the barriers to game development so that players can create their own worlds as well as play in them. Its principal disclosed product line is Aura, an AI assistant/agent for game engines, with published work covering Unreal Engine and, following the acquisition of Coplay, Unity.
The company describes itself as a team of developers working on problems in game development, and states it has raised more than $40 million to date.
Founding story
Ramen VR was founded in 2019 with the aim of advancing immersive gaming through virtual reality. It launched as part of the Y Combinator 2019 batch and developed its first major project, Zenith: The Last City. Press coverage names Lauren Frazier and Andy Tsen as the founders, with Andy Tsen serving as co-founder and CEO.
Business model
The studio historically monetized through direct game sales, including paid DLC for Zenith: The Last City alongside a free-to-play tier (Infinite Realms). It is now developing developer tools and AI products, including Aura for Unreal Engine and Unity.
Revenue came from sales of Zenith: The Last City, priced at $30 before being reduced to $10 in August 2024, with a free-to-play component in Zenith: Infinite Realms. The company stated in 2022 that it was profitable, and in early 2024 that Zenith had been operating at a loss on a month-to-month basis.
Traction
Zenith drew hundreds of thousands of players, although the studio reported that the large majority stopped playing after roughly a month. The company reports raising over $40 million to date and had a team size of 15 as listed by Y Combinator. Published customer material cites Sinn Studio halving game production time using Aura.
Latest developments
In January 2026 the company opened a public beta of Aura, an AI assistant for Unreal Engine, and in March 2026 it announced the acquisition of Coplay, extending Aura to Unity. A February 2026 post described an AccelByte integration via MCP, and a June 2026 post covered Aura for Unity v0.14.0. The company says it continues to work in stealth on an unannounced next game.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Ramen VR states that Zenith: The Last City reached the #1 spot on Steam and Oculus Quest, and the studio is positioned by Y Combinator as a company applying XR and AI to game development tooling. Following the Coplay acquisition, the company describes Aura as the first AI assistant covering both Unity and Unreal Engine.
The company combines direct experience shipping a large-scale VR MMORPG with AI tooling aimed at game engines, targeting both Unreal Engine and Unity from a single assistant.
Technology
The company works in XR (VR/AR) and artificial intelligence applied to game development. Its Aura product is an AI assistant and agent that integrates with the Unreal Engine and, after the Coplay acquisition, Unity; published material also covers MCP-based integrations such as connecting the AccelByte backend service to Aura.
Go-to-market
The company reaches developers through its Ramen Bytes blog and product releases such as the Aura public beta for Unreal Engine, supported by customer case studies (for example, Sinn Studio's reported production-time reduction). Its earlier games were distributed through Steam, Oculus/Meta Quest and PSVR storefronts, with community channels such as Discord and a Feedbear feedback portal.
Game developers, designers and creators of online games and virtual worlds, alongside VR/XR players who consumed the studio's own titles.
Geography
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, with games distributed on major VR platforms including Steam, Meta Quest and PSVR.
History
Founded in 2019 and backed by Y Combinator, the studio funded early development of Zenith through a 2019 Kickstarter campaign and a Steam Early Access release, later raising a $10 million Series A and a $35 million Series B in March 2022. Zenith: The Last City shipped in January 2022 across PSVR and Quest 2 with cross-platform play. In early 2024 the studio disclosed that Zenith had been running at a monthly loss for close to a year and launched a free-to-play version, Zenith: Infinite Realms, to broaden the player base. In July 2024 it announced it would halt development on the game, citing persistent player-retention problems, and delivered a final content update (Season 4: Golden Isles) in August 2024 while keeping servers online. Since late 2024 the company has focused on XR and AI tooling, launching the Ramen Bytes blog in October 2024, an Aura public beta for Unreal Engine in January 2026, and acquiring Coplay in March 2026.
Risks & controversies
Zenith struggled with player retention from an early stage; the studio disclosed that the game ran at a loss for close to a year and ceased development in July 2024 after 5.5 years, reducing the paid title's price and ending new content after Season 4 while leaving servers running.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 7
by search overlapCompanies competing with Ramen VR for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 11
launches, deals, and filingsRelease of Aura for Unity v0.14.0, described as an AI agent for Unity.
Ramen acquired Coplay, extending Aura to Unity in addition to Unreal Engine.
Ramen VR published the public beta of Aura, an AI assistant for Unreal Engine.
The company introduced Ramen Bytes, a blog covering XR innovations, AI-driven game development and technical art.
Season 4: Golden Isles shipped as the final content update, and Zenith: The Last City paid DLC dropped from $30 to $10 across major VR headsets.
The studio announced it would cease development on Zenith, citing an inability to retain players and the game running at a loss; servers for both the paid and free-to-play versions remain online.
Ramen VR released a free-to-play mode, Zenith: Infinite Realms, in open beta on Quest and PC VR.
Ramen VR announced a $35 million Series B led by Anthos and Dune with participation from Makers and Andreessen Horowitz, earmarked for staff expansion and game development.
$35M source ↗
The studio's first VR game, MMORPG Zenith: The Last City, was released in January 2022, including on PSVR and Quest 2 with cross-platform play.
Zenith began as a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2019 before its Steam Early Access release.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Ramen VR | Heroes Are Maderamenvr.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Ramen VR do?
- Game development studio behind VR MMO Zenith: The Last City, now building XR and AI tools for game developers.
- Who founded Ramen VR?
- Ramen VR was founded by Andy Tsen in 2019.
- Who are Ramen VR's investors?
- Ramen VR's investors include Makers Fund, Y Combinator, Anthos Capital, Dune Ventures.
- Where is Ramen VR headquartered?
- Ramen VR is headquartered in San Francisco, US.