Hardlight VR, the Seattle-based company that headed a successful Kickstarter campaign tasked with developing the eponymous haptic suit, is closing down this month due to lack of funding. Hardlight VR CEO and co-inventor Lucian Copeland issued a statement on the company’s Kickstarter page, saying there are “no options left to us but straightforward closure.”
CREED: Rise to Glory, the upcoming arcade boxing game from VR studio Survios, is getting a PvP mode that will let you duke it out with other players in online matches. It was previously thought that the game would only feature single-player modes such as the game’s campaign, where you battle against NPC contenders on your quest to become light heavyweight champion of the world.
Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders is an upcoming shooter for Magic Leap One, and while not much is really known about Weta’s AR game, a recent job posting searching for a Networking Programmer at Weta Workshop could mean the company is pushing to make it a multiplayer experience.
SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and space transport company founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, ultimately has its sights set on colonizing Mars, although the company’s next big step on the way there is taking tourists to the moon. And you might be able to go too, provided you have a VR headset in the next five years.
Angry Birds, the mobile breakout hit, is coming to Magic Leap in a brand new game called Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot. Due to launch this Fall, the game is quite literally a first-person take on the physics-based slingshot smasher game.
The critically-acclaimed game Slime Rancher (2017), a PC and console title that lets you run your own ranch filled with plucky slime buddies, is getting a VR version this fall that will allow you to vac, feed, and play with slimes.
Indie game studio Funomena, known for their interactive VR experience Luna (2017), announced that the company is bringing a new Luna experience especially made for augmented reality. Called Luna: Moondust Garden, the experience is slated to launch on Magic Leap One this fall.
Schell Games, the makers of the critically-acclaimed spy-themed escape room game I Expect You to Die (2016), recently announced that they’re currently developing a dual-wielding sword fighting game that has elements of what the studio calls “a lightweight dungeon crawler.”
Karnage Chronicles, the sword and sorcery VR adventure in Early Access from Beijing-based Nordic Trolls, recently received a long-awaited update that now includes multiplayer co-op for up to four players.
Transference (2018) is a single-player psychological thriller that takes place in a shadowy reflection of reality—the simulation of a family’s collective minds who’ve presumably been corrupted after the father, a scientist, tests his breakthrough procedure on himself, his wife, and child. While fairly short in length, the game’s intense themes and film-like quality will leave you reeling well after the credits roll.
Mozilla today launched its made-for-VR web browser, Firefox Reality. The company says the browser is “designed from the ground up” for standalone VR headsets, and today it becomes available for the Oculus Go, Lenovo Mirage Solo, and Vive Focus (and other Vive Wave headsets).
Oculus today announced it will offer an immersive livestream during the company’s annual Oculus Connect developer conference, including coverage of the opening keynote and several VR esports championships hosted during the event. Owners of the Oculus Go or Gear VR headsets can join the immersive livestream via the Oculus Venues app which is unfortunately not available to the company’s desktop-based users who own the Oculus Rift.
Sólfar Studios, the Iceland-based studio behind roguelike VR archery game In Death, has announced that the game is set to launch out of Early Access on October 2nd, accompanying the ‘Paradise Lost’ update which will bring new enemies and a new weapon.
As part of the company’s ongoing development of the Pimax “8K” headset, a select group of Kickstarter backers recieved pre-production units to aid in testing and feedback ahead of production. Today those backers are allowed to talk publicly about their time with the latest ‘M2’ units. A preview from one of those backers, Thomas “VoodooDE” Poersch, speaks glowingly about the headset’s wide field of view, but suggests that it’ll take ultra high-end rendering hardware to reach the headset’s true potential due to the high resolution displays.
Chiaro and the Elixir of Life (2018) is a single-player, story-driven adventure game with emphasis on puzzle-solving and some light platforming. Accompanied by your penguin robot pal Boka, you go out in search of the Elixir of Life, a special alchemical brew that brings life to machines like Boka. Grand Studio Ghibli-style set pieces, mostly fun characters, and some interesting puzzles are however hobbled by finicky object interaction and a tone-deaf script that doesn’t ever quite deliver the punch it promises.
