The latest version of Unreal Engine 4, version 4.27, brings “production-ready” support for OpenXR. The change comes just in time for Oculus developers, as the company recently announced it’s fully moving open to the OpenXR standard for VR development going forward.
UK-based VR studio XR Games, known for its recently released Zombieland VR game, announced this week that it has raised an additional £1.5 million (~$2 million) investment to expand its studio with 20 new jobs and a focus on original IP.
The United States Federal Trade Commission today announced it has filed an amended complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, renewing its effort to sue Facebook over alleged anticompetitive practices. The initial lawsuit was filed in late 2020 and was tossed out back in June by a judge which argued that the FTC failed to make its case. The Commission is seeking a remedy which includes spinning out Instagram and WhatsApp. Oculus, the company’s XR organization, is not directly mentioned in the suit, but the amended complaint brings the “metaverse” into the picture for the first time.
As far as live-action VR video is concerned, volumetric video is the gold standard for immersion. And for static scene capture, the same holds true for photogrammetry. But both methods have limitations that detract from realism, especially when it comes to ‘view-dependent’ effects like specular highlights and lensing through translucent objects. Research from Thailand’s Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology shows a stunning view synthesis algorithm that significantly boosts realism by handling such lighting effects accurately.
Facebook today is surprise-launching a new app called Horizon Workrooms, a virtual collaboration space that connects both VR and video chat users. With the ability to bring a user’s PC or Mac desktop into the virtual room, the app takes a big step toward turning Quest 2 into a collaborative productivity device.
VR developer ForeVR Games today announced it has raised an additional $7 million in seed capital, bringing its total capital raise to $8.5 million. The studio is focused on bringing classic real world games—like bowling—into VR with an emphasis on social play.
Facebook today announced that its XR conference, Facebook Connect (previously called Oculus Connect) will be held on October 28th. This is the second year running that the event has been in an online format due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Carrier Command 2 launched earlier this month alongside a separate version including full VR support. While the non-VR version of the game sits at a ‘Mostly Positive’ 75% user rating, the VR version quickly tanked to a 27% ‘Mostly Negative’ rating. A desire to cram VR into the game with limited testing and a lack of feedback from experienced VR players is the root cause. While developer Geometa is working hard to deliver fixes, this avoidable stumble right out of the gate hampers the odds of success for the VR version.
Myst (2020) developer Cyan Worlds announced today that its VR remake of the game is finally due to launch on PC later this month.
Space Pirate Arena is an upcoming pseudo-sequel to VR classic Space Pirate Trainer (2017). All your training, it seems, was leading up to going head to head against other players in a huge virtual arena… and you’ll need an equally huge playspace in real life to play.
While Oculus doesn’t offer much publicly in the way of understanding how well individual apps are performing across its VR storefronts, it’s possible to glean some insight by looking at apps relative to each other. Here’s a snapshot of the top 20 Oculus Quest games and apps as of August 2021.
It’s been a long time coming, but Oculus has finally provided a way for players to invite friends to their VR games through a simple web link that can be shared by text, email, DM, or… well, anywhere. This streamlines the action of meeting up with your friends for some virtual fun. For now only some apps support the feature until more developers decide to get on board.
Fracked is the latest VR title from veteran VR studio nDreams, and a PSVR exclusive at that. The game has a lot going for it—good looks, a unique cover system, and strong fundamentals—but its combat and doesn’t evolve enough to really stick the landing.
Today Pistol Whip gets a major free update called ‘Smoke & Thunder’, bringing five new levels to the game tied together into a mini-campaign (similar to the prior ‘2089’), as well as a complete refresh of the game’s modifier system, offering more customization than ever before. Like ‘2089’ before it, ‘Smoke & Thunder’ successfully delivers a fresh dose of fun, this time built entirely around dual-wielding.
Arashi: Castles of Sin launches today on PSVR, promising to give players a stealth-action sandbox set in feudal Japan.
