The Game Census
The Lab cover art

The Lab

Valve · 2016-04-05

Steam

Free To Play

Franchise: Portal · Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Virtual Reality

Releases: Apr 05, 2016 (Windows Mixed Reality), Apr 05, 2016 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Apr 05, 2016 (SteamVR), Apr 05, 2016 (Oculus Rift), Apr 05, 2016 (Oculus VR)

Welcome to The Lab, a compilation of Valve’s room-scale VR experiments set in a pocket universe within Aperture Science. Fix a robot, defend a castle, adopt a mechanical dog, and more. Still not sold? It’s free!

The Lab is a Free To Play game released in 2016, priced at free-to-play, with an estimated 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (95% of 6,670 reviews).

74
playing now
95%
positive of 6.7k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
80/100
IGDB user rating (22 ratings)
1h
time to beat (IGDB)
silver
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: 0
Free
steam price (US)

74 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 11:00 UTC (census sample)

The Lab is a virtual reality (VR) video game developed by Valve and released for Windows on April 5, 2016. It uses VR technology to showcase a series of play experiences accessed through a hub room. The game is set in the Portal universe and offers eight different game types that involve short demo experiences that use different aspects of the VR capabilities. Variety is also offered beyond the experiences themselves by the amount of interactability with objects in the environment that is included. During the 20th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated The Lab for "Immersive Reality Game of the Year".

Trailer

The Lab trailer thumbnail

In the Lab Trailer

≈1,000,000 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 74 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 203 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~25/week).
  • · Review velocity down 13% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 4% of 9,437 Free To Play games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
20220220182026Week of 2018-01-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 95 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 102 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 116 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 85 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 94 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 87 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 202 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 2 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

10562026-09-14 20:00 — 7 players2026-09-16 04:00 — 9 players2026-09-17 12:00 — 6 players2026-09-18 19:00 — 10 players2026-09-20 03:00 — 9 players2026-09-21 11:00 — 6 players2026-09-22 18:00 — 40 players2026-09-24 02:00 — 41 players2026-09-25 09:00 — 48 players2026-09-26 17:00 — 55 players2026-09-28 00:00 — 49 players2026-09-29 08:00 — 44 players2026-09-30 15:00 — 64 players2026-10-01 23:00 — 75 players2026-10-03 06:00 — 73 players2026-10-04 14:00 — 105 players2026-10-05 22:00 — 92 players2026-10-07 05:00 — 81 players2026-10-08 13:00 — 79 players2026-10-09 20:00 — 92 players2026-10-11 04:00 — 87 players2026-10-12 12:00 — 87 players2026-10-13 19:00 — 82 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 74 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
24612Apr 2016Aug 2026Apr 2016 — avg 70 · peak 176Aug 2016 — avg 182 · peak 287Dec 2016 — avg 228 · peak 498Apr 2017 — avg 230 · peak 359Aug 2017 — avg 156 · peak 246Dec 2017 — avg 195 · peak 535Apr 2018 — avg 127 · peak 243Aug 2018 — avg 135 · peak 229Dec 2018 — avg 171 · peak 497Apr 2019 — avg 88 · peak 430Aug 2019 — avg 92 · peak 187Dec 2019 — avg 111 · peak 330Apr 2020 — avg 66 · peak 136Aug 2020 — avg 58 · peak 129Dec 2020 — avg 73 · peak 220Apr 2021 — avg 55 · peak 118Aug 2021 — avg 40 · peak 91Dec 2021 — avg 47 · peak 137Apr 2022 — avg 33 · peak 104Aug 2022 — avg 25 · peak 57Dec 2022 — avg 34 · peak 93Apr 2023 — avg 24 · peak 51Aug 2023 — avg 20 · peak 46Dec 2023 — avg 31 · peak 81Apr 2024 — avg 21 · peak 50Aug 2024 — avg 20 · peak 52Dec 2024 — avg 23 · peak 61Apr 2025 — avg 16 · peak 41Aug 2025 — avg 15 · peak 42Dec 2025 — avg 18 · peak 47Apr 2026 — avg 13 · peak 36Aug 2026 — avg 13 · peak 35
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Attention

79232026-05-31 — 42 pageviews2026-06-04 — 38 pageviews2026-06-08 — 41 pageviews2026-06-12 — 38 pageviews2026-06-16 — 23 pageviews2026-06-20 — 25 pageviews2026-06-24 — 46 pageviews2026-06-28 — 38 pageviews2026-07-02 — 43 pageviews2026-07-06 — 47 pageviews2026-07-10 — 41 pageviews2026-07-14 — 36 pageviews2026-07-18 — 27 pageviews2026-07-22 — 29 pageviews2026-07-26 — 43 pageviews2026-07-30 — 44 pageviews2026-08-03 — 33 pageviews2026-08-07 — 41 pageviews2026-08-11 — 42 pageviews2026-08-15 — 45 pageviews2026-08-19 — 26 pageviews2026-08-23 — 52 pageviews2026-08-27 — 36 pageviews2026-08-31 — 57 pageviews2026-09-04 — 58 pageviews2026-09-08 — 53 pageviews2026-09-12 — 43 pageviews2026-09-16 — 63 pageviews2026-09-20 — 49 pageviews2026-09-24 — 46 pageviews2026-09-28 — 64 pageviews2026-10-02 — 56 pageviews2026-10-06 — 61 pageviews2026-10-10 — 58 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerTracked Controller SupportVR OnlyVR SupportSteamVR CollectiblesSteam LeaderboardsFamily Sharing

20 supported languages: English, French, German, Czech, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Portuguese - Brazil, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Swedish…

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

VRFPSFunnyMemesActionCasualPuzzleSci-fiSandboxShooter

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsDon't Knock TwiceHouse of CaravanImmortal: UnchainedPLANET ALPHAQuern - Undying ThoughtsRusty Lake: RootsThe Room 4: Old Sins

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗