Andreas Hauber, a German VR enthusiast, claims to have just beat the Guinness World Record for longest VR marathon, a bar that was previously set by Australian Jack McNee last year at a grand total of 36 hours, two minutes and 16 seconds in VR painting program Tilt Brush (2016).

As reported by German VR publication MIXED, Hauber spent 42 hours playing Skyrim VR for the world record attempt.

According to MIXED, Hauber adhered “to the strictest Guinness rules,” including stipulations that he had to register the attempt over a year ago with Guinness and required enough independent witnesses to document every step of the way; Hauber’s attempt used more than 20 witnesses.

image courtesy Andreas Hauber

Of course, there are a few more rules than that to keep in mind. Hauber wasn’t allowed to sleep during his time spent in Skyrim VR using a HTC Vive Pro; witnesses checked up on him every five to ten minutes. No mods were allowed, and some form of controller input was required every 20 seconds—a ’90s-era rule that was fairly simple to overcome considering even the slightest movement of the VR headset or motion controllers would fulfill the requirement.

Some respite was allowed however; every successfully completed hour meant Hauber accrued a ten-minute break, which he was able to store up for bathroom breaks, food, etc.

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Hauber hasn’t been crowned yet, as Guinness is still processing the attempt, no doubt going over each witness’ log entries and using the Twitch video as further proof that Hauber actually broke the record. MIXED podcaster Christian Steiner however was present, and even got a chance to sit as a witness for a four-hour period with Hauber.

While that’s not enough to call this a definitive record breaker just yet, it appears the German attempt was both well-organized and efficiently completed. We’d expect no less from our friends across the ocean.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • doug

    Sitting? This record needs an asterisk.

    • ummm…

      i dunno. does Guinness differentiate between roomscale and seated?

      • Michael Slesinski

        they are apparently as bad as ign anymore if they are allowing 10 min an hour and STILL calling it a record.

        • JJ

          If these twn minute breaks make it so easy to do, then do it yourself and show us that it’s easy.

          • Michael Slesinski

            for one thing im not paying 60$ for a vr mod of an easy-mode made for trendite retards directX 9 game that let me down when it was originally released. for another i dont have to prove anything to a moron like you.

            you dont even comprehend how pathetic it is TO have a record for something like this with 42 10 min breaks! for one thing wearing a visor is no feat of fucking strength you twat! i wonder if the people setting records for most time on a pogo stick and such also get 10 min breaks.. OFCOURSE THEY FUCKING DONT!! lets check pole sitters… NOPE! so what in your obviously mentally deficient head makes you think someone SITTING ON A FLOOR needs 10 min breaks if these other records dont? i mean aside from you being a complete retard.. hey, maybe you can set a record for worlds biggest retard.

          • Abominable Bee

            TRIGGERED. Loool xD

          • Michael Slesinski

            RETARDED. nothing funny ’bout your fucking stupidity.

          • Abominable Bee

            Jeez, you kiss your mama with that mouth?

            Your inability to hold a conversation without the use of profanity or referring to the other person’s level of intellect (according to you), is quite amusing actually. Especially over something so small. Are you always this vulgar or just online?

          • Michael Slesinski

            i kiss YOUR “mama” with this mouth, no surprise there as most of the shipyard does.

            if you dont want to be treated like the retard you are dont make retarded comments.

          • Abominable Bee

            Honestly, how old are you? Your mama comebacks are all you’ve got? I think what I told you went over your head, hence why you carry on making assumptions.
            I feel sorry for you. I genuinely, wholeheartedly do. Your parents must be proud of you.

          • Michael Slesinski

            YOU brought it up bukkake boy. asif saying “TRIGGERED. Loool xD” is some sign of maturity. i just call em like i see ’em, and what i see in you is a complete fucking mental deficient.

          • Abominable Bee

            You call em like you see em? “complete fucking mental deficient” does not make grammatical sense. Go home and try again boy. Learn English, some manners, and while you’re at it, re-think your life. Would you be acting like this face to face? Shameless. Also, do the world a favour and don’t have any kids.

            It’s still hilarious that you got so worked up over a pathetic record. Anger management issues mate. You’ve got serious issues. :D

          • Michael Slesinski

            look at you replying 8 months later.. holy fucking hell you just took the crown for biggest loser on the planet. i mean really, 8 months to think THAT up?! yet you deny being mentally deficient.

          • Abominable Bee

            I guess that’s the only scenario your tiny pea brain could conjure up. This was an inactive account, just logged back in after a while and realised I didn’t get a chance to try and help you! I tried, and look, you figured out that it’s “mentally deficient” and not “mental deficient”.

            Your anger still needs some work though, and your homophobia. And your obsession with the word “retard”. You just love using it. As someone who’s approaching 50, don’t you feel a tad ashamed? Is it some deep rooted psychological issue? Were you called a retard by your mother when you were young? Whatever it is, we can work through it :)

            I’m in Manchester, hit me up if you are free for a coffee or something.

          • Michael Slesinski

            i dont take criticism from simpletons and i DEFINITELY dont drink at gay bars.

          • goldbrood

            hey Bee if you haven’t had the chance I highly suggest checking out Michael Slesinski’s profile
            this dude just cannot keep it to himself, easily half of his comments are just him impotently starting arguments where he comes off like a condescending ass without bringing up any kind of salient points
            it’s funny but also a little sad

            I think he thinks he can win arguments by calling people millenials or telling them that they don’t know how to read it’s amazing

            also I love your username, we’re both named after bee things <3
            they're my favourite animal

  • Bryan Ischo

    Kinda dumb that they are allowed to take a 10 minute break every hour. It should be perfectly doable to stay in 42 hours without taking the headset off. It wouldn’t be pretty and would require some kind of chamber pot like device (ew) but would certainly be doable. And you can easily eat and drink while in VR. It would be much more impressive to do it 42 hours straight with no taking the headset off, and no use of the Vive pass through camera.

    • Raphael

      So… based on your criticism I assume you’re going to do 42 hours straight with no break?

      • Jean-Sebastien Perron

        I can fap in VR Kanojo, so everything else should be simpler.

        • Raphael

          42 hour kanojo fap with no 10 minutes breaks.

          • Jean-Sebastien Perron

            The guy would be found dead from spontaneous human combustion…

      • Bryan Ischo

        No; but I’m not going to be impressed by anyone who claims to have done 42 hours straight in VR but actually didn’t, either.

      • harvey2491

        I mean it’s a very common thing I spend regually 20 hours in vr without taking off the HMD. If you include sleep in this I spent 5 days straight in vr only taking it off for a piss. I did eat and drink in vr and everything. They make it out like its hard. I’ve fapped in vr and am a full vrresident outside of my working hours. What they don’t talk about is the real effects of extended vr use. No not sore eyes and shit. It’s different. And more dangerous than they say. Some people get serious issues to the point like myself risk the possibility to die in my sleep when I sleep in vr. Still do it though. And after extended time you’re eyes get sore as its hard to explain but they start to close them self’s. Anyone who’s spent days in vr will understand what that means.

        • Raphael

          You wins it. Inspired by your descent into madness I am going to spend two months in VR without taking it off. Will have only body washes, will pee into a bottle and poo into a bucket. I will consider myself a pioneer, much like those pretend mars astronauts who spend a year in the desert in their bio-dome.

          • harvey2491

            Just poop in your hand and fling it. As this avoids the issue of when the bucket fills up

          • Raphael

            I actually did that to solve the problem of a noisy neighbor years ago. Pooped in hand, threw at his car. Hit license plate.

          • harvey2491

            Man that must have been a really shitty situation

    • Mike

      Would’ve been easy if the VR was set up within cable reach of a bathroom.

    • Bathroom w/ VR headset on, how unsanitary w/ cable still attached to it :)

      • Michael Slesinski

        its for a fucking world record, not a free cheeseburger! if he wasnt a pussy he would have just put on a diaper and got down to business. theres not even anything to brag about in this record.. 7 hours of the 42 were allowed to be beating his dick for fucks sake!

        • Keep calm and talk rational…

          ..not delusional :)

          • Michael Slesinski

            kid go back to sucking your mommies tit.

          • kid go back to sucking your papas man-tit tit.

          • goldbrood

            if you haven’t had the chance I highly suggest checking out Michael Slesinski’s profile
            this dude just cannot keep it to himself, easily half of his comments are just him impotently starting arguments where he comes off like a condescending ass without bringing up any kind of salient points
            it’s funny but also a little sad

            I think he thinks he can win arguments by calling people millenials or telling them that they don’t know how to read it’s amazing

    • Michael Slesinski

      yea, leave it to the millennials to make getting a world record easier. i have gamed for longer than that with no food EASILY. as for the bathroom.. if he was serious he would wear a diaper or get a cath, though you are right he could just do the entire session on the toilet.

  • Jean-Sebastien Perron

    Why is this relevant? This is my daily experience since I got into VR. Congratulation to this guy, no mods in Skyrim VR is a special kind of torture.

  • 30 days in VR, 42 consecutive hours in VR… in this period everyone wants to make his eyes to bleed

    • Bryan Ischo

      He got 10 minute breaks every hour, it was a non-effort, anyone could do it if their time was worthless and wasting 42 hours of it meant nothing, as apparently it does for that guy.

  • At least it’s not some trivial game this time.

    • Michael Slesinski

      you are delusional.

    • Bryan Ischo

      I agree with that. I could have some hope of playing Skyrim for 42 hours straight and not losing my mind. 42 hours straight of just about every other VR game would probably just be too much boredom for me, considering that I can’t think of another one I’d want to play for more than a few hours at a time.

  • gnuneo

    I had to spend those 42 hours in THIS real reality, and didn’t even get 10mins off every hour.

    He had it easy!

  • Foreign Devil

    Well they should test his eyes the next day to see if they were damaged. This sort of thing is free stress testing. . normally you’d have to test on monkeys or paid subjects. VR makers should be taking advantage of these free test subjects and do medical tests!

    • Michael Slesinski

      10 min off an hour, its REALLY no big deal. 7 of the 42 hours are allowed to be doing something other than vr.

  • Michael Slesinski

    pretty pathetic record considering thats 7 hours NOT in game. thats a full night sleep AND 3 meals to some of us. what a jerkoff.

  • oompah

    Skyrim is so cool
    u can live in it
    FOREVER