‘Racket: NX’ Leaves Early Access, Bringing ‘Breakout’ Style Room-scale Gameplay to VR
Racket: NX (2018), the futuristic VR racket game, has left Early Access on Steam and the Oculus Store.
Play VR MMORPG ‘OrbusVR’ on Rift for Free This Weekend
OrbusVR, the MMORPG for PC VR headsets, is getting another free access weekend very soon.
‘Black Mirror’ Inspired Sci-fi Mystery ‘Torn’ Confirmed for August Launch on PSVR, Rift & Vive
Torn is an upcoming sci-fi mystery puzzle from Aspyr Media that takes inspiration from The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Now the studio has confirmed with Road to VR that Torn is indeed launching on all supported platforms next month.
Unreal Engine 4.20 Ships With Native Mixed Reality Compositing for VR, New AR/VR SDKs
Unreal Engine 4.20 officially launched today with heaps of updates. In the VR realm, the new version brings native mixed reality video compositing for VR applications, and an update to a much newer Oculus SDK. On the AR front, UE 4.20 adds supports for Apple’s ARKit 2.0 and Google’s ARCore 1.2, along with Magic Leap support.
Niantic Acquires Seismic to Help Create AR Games & Upcoming AR Platform
Seismic Games, the studio behind Google Daydream’s Blade Runner: Revelations (2018), has been acquired by Niantic, the force behind popular location-based games Pokémon GO, Ingress, and the upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
One of Europe’s Largest Water Parks Now Has a VR Water Slide
One of Europe’s largest water parks, Therme Erding’s Galaxy Erding water park in Germany, has a new claim to fame: a water slide that outfits guests with a VR headset. Dubbed VRSlide, the system includes a water-resistant VR headset powered by a Samsung Galaxy S8 for a deep dive through the waters of the digital unknown.
‘Plex VR’ Social Viewing Is Now Cross-compatible with All Supported VR Headsets
‘Hotel Transylvania’ VR Rhythm Game Comes to VR Arcades in North America, Europe & China
Hot on the heels of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018), which hit the box offices last week, comes a newly announced VR rhythm game that lets you grove to the spooky beats DJ’ed by series’ characters Drac, Mavis, or Johnny. Called Hotel Transylvania Popstic, the game is said to be featured at around 500 VR arcades across North America, Europe, and China.
Oculus Begins Shipping $300 Commercial ‘Go for Business’ Bundle
Oculus Go, the company’s recently launched standalone VR headset, is already on store shelves starting at $200 for the 32 GB version. And just like the company’s previous Rift for Business announced last year, now it’s Go’s turn for the commercial treatment.
Mil-Sim VR Shooter ‘Onward’ to Host Free Access Period on Steam This Weekend
Onward, the multiplayer VR shooter in Early Access, is hosting another free access weekend, this time on Steam for owners of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
‘Marvel Powers United VR’ to Feature Avenger Villains Madame Hydra & Scientist Supreme
Oculus and Sanzaru Games today announced two more villains coming to MARVEL Powers United VR, the superhero co-op battle Rift game which is slated to launch July 26th. Both villainous foes to the Avengers, the companies today revealed that Madame Hydra (aka ‘Viper’) and Scientist Supreme are coming to the game.
Retro-inspired Adventure ‘Pixel Ripped 1989’ Headed to All Major VR Platforms This Month
If you’ve been following VR since the early developer kit days, you may recognize the ultra-retro nostalgia headtrip that is Pixel Ripped 1989. The multi-dimensional platformer-meets-VR adventure is slated to arrive on PSVR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets July 31st.
VR’s Biggest Players Back New ‘VirtualLink’ Connector for Next-gen Headsets
A consortium representing many of VR’s most prominent players—NVIDIA, AMD, Valve, Oculus, and Microsoft—have backed a new connector standard called VirtualLink which the companies say was “developed to meet the connectivity requirements of current and next-generation virtual reality (VR) headsets.”
‘Archangel: Hellfire’ Multiplayer Expansion Leaves Open Beta, ‘Free Mode’ PvP Battles Now Available
Archangel: Hellfire, a multiplayer mech combat expansion to the original Archangel (2017) game, today launched out of open beta. In addition, the studio also released a free version of the multiplayer game, dubbed Archangel: Hellfire ‘Enlist Free’, that gives you basic access to much of multiplayer mech combat.
A Look Inside Consumer Perceptions of Oculus Go
More than just the latest in a long line of niche gadgets, Oculus Go represents the linchpin of Facebook’s lofty goal of putting one billion people into virtual reality. Built with the new or casual user in mind, the device’s non-intimidating tether-free design and Snapdragon 821 mobile processor (which will be two years old in August) manage to keep costs low and user-friendliness high.
