Nov 11, 2025

Matthiaos: Pioneering Change in Worlds Through Passion and Community

Over the last half-decade, Meta Horizon has steadily evolved from an experimental sandbox into something far more dynamic. It’s grown into a living ecosystem where artists can connect with solo entrepreneurs, where creative studios can collaborate with global brands, and even where parents can literally build worlds alongside their kids. Across that ecosystem are a select few individuals — mavens — who act as the connective tissue linking it all together.

Matthiaos is one of those people.

Matthew Udy, known as @Matthiaos in Worlds, is an award-winning creator who’s earned $115,000 from Meta Horizon creator competitions. But he’s much more than that to the community. He’s a force multiplier who turns the insights of dozens of creators into unified action that drives the platform forward. Through his business, Flip Key Studios, and his leadership role gathering and delivering collective feedback with Creator Community Letters, Matthiaos bridges the gap between creators and Meta teams to turn scattered voices into collective progress.

If you’ve spent time in Worlds, chances are you may already know Matthiaos. But even if you don’t, his influence runs through the entire ecosystem, and perhaps even your own creator journey, more than you realize.

From Player to Builder

Before discovering Meta Horizon, Matthiaos spent years working as a school bus driver for children with special needs. “There was something rewarding about being part of their daily routine and helping them start and end their day safely,” he says. “It was a job I really loved because it gave me a sense of purpose and connection every day.”

As a lover of video games from an early age, Matthiaos dreamt of someday building the games that had inspired him growing up, so much so that he began exploring 3D modeling and game design when he wasn’t behind the wheel.

It’s no wonder then that, once he did find Worlds, everything just clicked. Here was a space that didn’t require a coding degree or studio backing to get started. It was accessible and filled with the opportunities for purpose and connection he was drawn to. He began experimenting right away, first by teaching himself Code Blocks and later by adopting TypeScript when it became available.

When I discovered Worlds, it felt like the perfect bridge between that creative spark and a platform that made it possible to bring those ideas to life.

Matthiaos, Worlds creator

Turning Constraints into Catalysts

Building worlds soon led Matthiaos to cofounding Nspire Create Labs, where he helped produce large-scale branded experiences like The Wendyverse, Chesterville for Cheetos, and Goth Target. These projects taught him scale and how to combine narrative and engineering under real world deadlines, but they also exposed a major disconnect: independent creators needed the same quality and structure that branded studios enjoyed.

Where was the studio for them?

Matthiaos decided to build that studio himself. Taking the technical foundation in scripting and optimization he’d developed at Nspire, he founded Flip Key Studios to focus on original, creator-owned IP at the same level of polish. With Flip Key, Matthiaos finally had a homebase for collaboration. A place where small teams could think big. But the 800 pound gorilla in the room — platform constraints — still remained.

At the time, Worlds was missing custom animation, complex physics, and large-scale multiplayer features. In Matthiaos’ eyes, these were puzzles that required new thinking and partnerships to solve. Collaboration, he knew, was the key, so he leveraged his position at Flip Key to gather coders, artists, and designers under one metaphorical roof. Together, they would create innovative new worlds that solved major platform constraints for the greater good of the community.

Everyone on the team has a voice in how a game is shaped. I like to give each person a lot of creative freedom to experiment and bring their own ideas forward.

Matthiaos, Worlds creator

Worlds that Built a Career

United under the Flip Key Studios banner, Matthiaos’ teams turned late-night brainstorms and Discord chats into playable proof that collaboration could literally will Meta Horizon into exciting new territories. Here are just a few of those standout worlds they created:

Chaos City Legends

As the first major release under the Flip Key banner, Chaos City Legends tested the boundaries of large-scale action in Worlds. It combined open exploration and multiplayer mechanics as well as marking the first time Matthiaos hosted a live in-world launch event.

City Drift Racing

With City Drift Racing, Matthiaos and his team tackled the monumental challenge of bringing real-time vehicle physics to Meta Horizon. Working with a small team of programmers, Matthiaos built one of the first cross-platform racing experiences in Worlds, complete with player leagues and user-generated events.

You know a world is working when players start forming their own leagues, fan art, and videos,” he says. “It stops being my world and starts belonging to everyone in it.

Matthiaos, Worlds creator

Glizzy Gladiator

Picture an arena where hot dogs (yes, hot dogs) double as weapons and every knockout is the stuff of legend. That’s Glizzy Gladiator: a rambunctious party brawler that embraces absurdity at every turn. Matthiaos worked alongside collaborators @JackBurfy and @L_in_the_Meta to create a fun combat system that’s optimized for both VR and mobile and is packed with dynamic camera work and over-the-top animations. With Glizzy Gladiator, Matthiaos and the team took home the grand prize of $100,000 for Most Shareable Moments in the recent Elevate Your Mobile World competition.

Tower of Zen

If City Drift Racing showed what collaboration could do technically, Tower of Zen showed what it could do emotionally. Matthiaos worked alongside @Not-The-Bake to create this meditative 2.5D platformer for an expanding mobile audience. Set within a dreamy cloudscape, players climb through a tranquil tower lighting candles and collecting shards of light. The entire experience moves from simple curiosity to a sense of serene immersion that coaxes players to step outside themselves and into something magical.

Tower Zen also features subtle nods to Donkey Kong Country and Sky: Children of the Light, the games which inspired it, and went on to win $15,000 with the Magic Moments award in the 2025 Mobile Genre Showdown competition. It also marked a technical breakthrough: the first fully playable animated character ever built in Worlds.

Creator Community Letters

By 2025, Matthiaos had proven that collaboration could solve major technical hurdles. The next challenge was communication. As the creator community expanded, feedback between creators and Meta’s teams was becoming a tangled web of private chats and Discord threads. Creators were voicing the same concerns but speaking in different rooms.

That began to change with Creator Community Letters. “The biggest win has been fostering transparency,” Matthiaos says. “When creators speak with a unified voice, they can drive meaningful change.”

Creator Community Letters were originally created by @wafflecopters as a way to deliver feedback to Meta with a unified voice. The monthly open letter brought together the perspectives of dozens of creators and eventually became one of the most important channels for creator advocacy on the platform.

When it was time for wafflecopters to step back, Matthiaos and @PigeonNo12 took over organizing insights from Discord servers and in-world meetups, and began distilling them into a monthly solutions-focused document. The letters highlight recurring themes and community priorities ranging from creator tools and collaboration workflows to clearer communication around platform updates.

Looking Ahead

Today, Matthiaos continues to shape the ecosystem he helped build. As Chief Operating Officer at hyLite Studios, he mentors new creators, oversees multiple immersive projects, and helps emerging teams navigate the same challenges he once faced.

He’s also evolving several of his most popular worlds. Tower Zen is now Tower of Zen, a reimagined experience focused on speedrunning, power-ups, and skill-based progression, but that still retains the cozy and meditative feel of the original. Glizzy Gladiator is also receiving a major update with fresh systems and mechanics, and City Drift Racing continues to grow through community-driven events and updates.

“My goal is to keep building connected experiences across mobile and VR, worlds that feel alive, grow over time, and give players a reason to keep coming back,” he says.

Key takeaways

Treat limitations as creative puzzles. Every constraint is an opportunity for innovation. Matthiaos turned challenges into breakthroughs like Tower of Zen’s animated characters and City Drift Racing’s physics.

Build with a studio mindset. Matthiaos has developed a professional discipline that treats each world as a production. Plan, test early, and adopt studio-caliber workflows where possible.

Design for emotion. Technical skill attracts players; emotional design keeps them. Calm experiences like Tower of Zen and exciting ones like City Drift Racing tap into feelings that hook players.

Create communities. A large part of Matthiaos’ success comes from connecting people, whether it’s through fan leagues, in-world launch events, or the shared advocacy of the Creator Community Letters.

Turn creativity into a career. Matthiaos turned his passion for game development into a career. Every project is your opportunity to diversify your skills and income.

Ready to Turn Creativity into a Career?

The next wave of innovation in Meta Horizon won’t come from a single creator — it will come from the community. Whether you’re scripting your first mechanic or mentoring new builders, your voice matters. Join the Meta Horizon Creator Program to access funding, mentorship, and a community that’s shaping the future of immersive experiences.

Stay connected by reading the latest release notes and following us on X and Facebook for ongoing updates and creator insights.

All

Design

Games

Mobile

Quest

Did you find this page helpful?

Explore more

Dec 11, 2025VAIL VR (Part One): From Couch Surfing to $15M in Crowdfunding

Go behind-the-scenes to see how AEXLAB pivoted VAIL VR’s economy in real time to bridge the gap between premium and free-to-play gamers.

All, Design, Games, Mobile, Quest

Read article

Dec 10, 2025Seamless Haptics for Sound Designers: Meta Haptics Studio Meets FMOD and Wwise

Bring audio and haptics together in one workflow. Learn how sound designers can use Meta Haptics Studio with FMOD and Wwise to design, preview, and integrate tactile feedback faster.

All, Design, Quest, Unity, Unreal

Read article

Dec 10, 2025Seoul, Creators, and 49 New Worlds: Inside the Latest Worlds Creator Academy Bootcamp

Get an inside look at the Worlds Creator Academy in Seoul, where creator experts helped attendees build and publish their first mobile world and preview Meta Horizon Studio.

All, Design, Games, Mobile, Optimization, Quest

Read article