Australian publication Stevivor recently sat down with Xbox head Phil Spencer to broach the subject of whether or not the company’s upcoming next-gen console would be matching Sony’s continued VR ambitions with PlayStation 5. The short of it: Spencer says it’s simply not a focus for Xbox Series X.
Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency is slated to arrive December 12th on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Valve Index. Although we got a chance to go hands-on with an early level of Budget Cuts 2 at Gamescom this year, which revealed a new crossbow to the series, the official launch trailer has dropped, and now we know a bit more about how the game has changed.
Having launched VR support for No Man’s Sky (2016) back in August, Hello Games is nearly ready to launch the latest update to the open-world sandbox game, which is slated to include a mess of community requested features and bug fixes for both VR and non-VR players.
The turkey has been picked clean and everyone is getting ready to settle in for a good old-fashioned Thanksgiving Day coma—but what’s that in your backpack? It’s a VR headset, of course! And a veritable cornucopia of games are out there just waiting to be played by your family at this year’s Turkey Day.
Facebook today announced it has acquired Beat Games, the studio behind the hit VR rhythm game Beat Saber (2018). Beat Games is joining Oculus Studios as an independently operated team based out of Prague.
Insomniac Games, the studio behind VR games Stormland (2019) and The Unspoken (2017), announced its acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment back in August, and while we imagined their last independent project was surely the open-world Rift adventure Stormland, it appears the studio had another title sitting ready in the wings for Magic Leap One called Strangelets.
ILMxLAB has finally released the concluding episode of Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series. While I’m sad to see the series go, which has exemplified high-quality VR production, I can’t help but feel a tad let down at what could have been a much grander, more adrenaline-filled climax.
The modern era of VR has been around in earnest for about three and a half years now. Though it has clearly demonstrated its potential and is slowly growing, adoption has remained niche compared to the broader mainstream gaming industry. While VR bubbles up here and there, the Half-Life: Alyx announcement and trailer has thrust VR into the spotlight of mainstream gaming; it’s release next year will be the medium’s next opportunity to prove itself.
Boneworks, Stress Level Zero’s upcoming physics-based shooter, is slated to launch on December 10th on SteamVR headsets. While we got to see a good slice of the action in the first gameplay reveal trailer earlier this month, the studio recently released a more in-depth look at a near-final build of the game.
For better or worse, so far Konami has shown zero interest in bringing its long and storied Metal Gear series to VR. But if you’re looking to scratch that stealth combat itch with more than a flair for superhuman acrobatics, you may find Espire 1: VR Operative a serviceable Generic Snake, albeit a bit rougher around the edges than you may like.
This week Valve announced that the Index headset and other hardware can now be bought and shipped to Canada and Japan, in addition to 28 other regions.
Valve today announced Half-Life: Alyx a “full-length VR entry in the award winning series.” A new trailer gives the first glimpse of the game, and Valve has also revealed the Half-Life: Alyx release date, price, and headset compatibility.
Half-Life: Alyx has finally been revealed with Valve promising a “full-length” Half-Life game “designed from the ground up for virtual reality.” On the reveal, Valve founder Gabe Newell says that VR has energized the studio.
Today the world gets its first look at Half-Life: Alyx. In addition to the trailer, the company has released the first Half-Life: Alyx screenshots. If you’re familiar with Valve and the Half-Life series, you know what kinds of art style, environments, and enemies to expect, but you’ve never seen a Half-Life game this detailed.
In a Valve-esque ‘put your money where you mouth is’ move, the company has affirmed that Half-Life: Alyx will support any SteamVR capable headset, which includes Valve’s own Index as well as headsets from Oculus, HTC, WMR, and Pimax. The move underscores the company’s yearslong commitment to making Steam an open platform for VR content and hardware. Owners of Index (or even just the Index controllers) do get a nice perk for their expensive purchase though: a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx.
