How One Creator Used Painting VR As the Canvas to Reach Half a Billion Views
Using Painting VR, creator HydraVR has transformed virtual paintings into viral videos watched over 500 million times across social media.
8 SEPTEMBER 206 - When Belgian studio Oisoi created Painting VR, a virtual reality painting game that gives players their own digital art studio, the idea was simple: let anyone pick up a brush and paint inside a VR headset. What they didn’t expect was for one of their players to turn the game into a social media phenomenon.
Dutch creator Hidde Kip (22), better known online as HydraVR, creates his Painting VR videos with the same dedication as a full-time job, with some taking up to eight hours to complete.
His biggest hit? Painting a Minecraft lava bucket. It has more than 81 million views on YouTube alone:
It’s part of Hidde’s “Minecraft vs Realism” series, where he reimagines familiar objects from the game as detailed paintings. He has also painted everything from the Mona Lisa to Meccha Chameleon, one of 2026’s biggest breakout games.
There is an almost ASMR-like quality to the videos: the sound of brush strokes, the gradual reveal, and the satisfaction of watching a blank canvas slowly become a finished painting.
Hidde started HydraVR from scratch in November 2024, creating videos in his spare time alongside his full-time job:
“I discovered Painting VR through a viral YouTube Short and was immediately hooked. 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. When my first ‘Minecraft vs. Realism’ video took off, the response was incredible. Seeing the series resonate with so many people has been an amazing experience.”
“We built Painting VR to let people create, but Hidde has taken it somewhere we never expected. Seeing 81 million views on a Minecraft lava bucket painted in our game is pretty wild.”
- Wim Reygaert, founder of Oisoi.
What starts with one person, a headset and a blank canvas can end up being watched half a billion times.
Key Request
Are you feeling creative yourself? You're in luck! Oisoi is sending out a new batch of codes for both of their Painting titles. Fill in the form(s) below to make sure you can get yours!
Painting VR is available on Meta Quest and Steam VR.
Request a Painting VR key on Meta Quest or Steam VR
A more gamified non-VR version of the game also exists and is called Painting PC (Steam). It's a new cozy game about trying to make a career out of art. Read more about it HERE.
Request a Non-VR Painting PC code for SteamPainting VR Press Kit: sites.google.com/oisoi.studio/paintingvrpresskit
Press Contact: wim@oisoi.studio (Interviews welcome!)
About the game
Take a break from the stress of daily life with this must-have virtual painter’s studio. Even if you think you’re not a creative person, Painting VR might prove you wrong. Be amazed by what you can create with unlimited supplies of paint, canvases, and all the tools you need.
Key features
- A relaxing experience - With a combination of calming visuals, audio & haptics, digital artists find themselves in a relaxing, satisfying creative experience
- A wide selection of brushes & tools - A spray can, brushes, paint rollers, a palette knife, markers, and even a customizable drill fitted with a brush magnet. Painting VR has it all!
- Pick or mix paint colours - Dip your brush in the bucket of your choice, or mix colours to get the desired effect. You can even use the colour-picking function to select colours from your canvas, mixing palette or reference images.
- In-game web browser - Listen to your favourite tunes, watch online tutorials, or get inspired by entering (random) words in the image search engine.
- Make the studio your own - Find the studio set-up that works best for you and save it for future visits. Put your favourite art on the walls & personalize your workplace.
For more information & images from Painting VR follow on TikTok, and Facebook,
or join the community on Discord.
About HydraVR
Hidde Kip, better known as HydraVR, is a 22-year-old Dutch creator whose Painting VR videos have generated more than 500 million views across social media. His “Minecraft vs Realism” series includes a Minecraft lava bucket painting that has received more than 81 million views on YouTube.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HydraVR0
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hydra._vr
Email: hidzmedia@gmail.com
About Oisoi Studio
Oisoi Studio was founded in 2021 by Wim Reygaert and Xander Clerckx. Wim spent most of his career making music and films, while Xander worked as a technical artist in the 3D animation industry. Their first game, Painting VR, began as one of Xander’s lockdown side projects and now has more than 140,000 users.
The Ghent-based studio is also behind Painting PC, where players try to make a living as an artist, and Vandalizer, a VR graffiti game that lets you spray whatever you like without annoying the neighbours. The team is mildly obsessed with making creativity fun, approachable and just unpredictable enough.
oisoi.studio
Painting VR was made possible thanks to the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF) and Flanders Game Hub (FGH).
Copyright © 2026 Oisoi Studio, All rights reserved.