Over the last decade I’ve reported on and tested many different VR styluses, but none of them have actually caught on. But the new MX Ink stylus for Quest stands a real chance at legitimizing the VR stylus as a whole, thanks to its thoughtful design, strong lineup of launch apps, and tight integration with Quest’s software.
Blade & Sorcery, arguably VR’s top physics-based combat sandbox, is leaving Early Access today on Steam, which comes alongside the long-awaited 1.0 update that brings its final major content drop: the ‘Crystal Hunt’ campaign.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is over, and while Vision Pro was a big focus with the announcement of its visionOS 2 update, it’s pretty clear Apple’s first mixed reality headset isn’t in a hurry to feature-match other XR headsets at this point, let alone Meta Quest 3. When Apple eventually does step down to the XR playing field with a more consumer-friendly headset though, there are a number of things would-be owners are probably hoping for that have so far gone missing.
Logitech today unveiled an XR stylus that comes as Meta Quest’s first third-party motion peripheral, targeting creatives working in both 2D and 3D media.
Indie studio ManaBrigade and publisher Fast Travel Games today announced that BlackForge: A Smithing Adventure, a fantasy VR blacksmithing game, is now available on Quest and PC VR headsets.
ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (2018) is one of most popular PSVR exclusives to date, however Sony-owned developers Team Asobi are releasing its widely hyped PS5 follow-up Astro Bot without the addition of VR support. Don’t hold out hope for a VR port either, as the studio has now confirmed it’s simply not in the cards.
VRChat, one of the oldest and most popular social VR platforms, announced it’s laying off “around 30%” of its staff, citing issues with slower than anticipated growth, over-hiring during its boom in 2021, and the slow adoption of a more conventional corporate structure.
We’ve know that Apple planned to support WebXR for quite some time, but with VisionOS 2, the company is enabling the feature for all users. WebXR allows developers to deliver cross-platform XR experiences directly from the web, with no gatekeepers to approve or reject content.
Korean media last month alleged that the Meta/LG partnership to create a high-end XR headset wasn’t going so well, suggesting either outright cancellation or a delay pushing release of a prospective Apple Vision Pro competitor to 2027. While this hasn’t been substantiated by either company, it’s clear there’s something big going on under the surface, as LG is now shuffling employees from its XR division to other parts of the company.
HTC has teased that some users may not even need to wear their latest Vive Ultimate Trackers soon thanks to an upcoming AI-powered body tracking update.
For basic Vision Pro interactions like navigating apps and scrolling web pages, the headset’s look-and-pinch input system works like magic. But if you want to go more ‘hands-on’ with virtual content, the headset’s full hand-tracking leaves much to be desired.
Lushfoil Photography Sim, a serene photography game built on Unreal Engine 5, is expected to get optional PC VR support following its initial release.
STRIDE: Fates (2023) initially released late last year on Quest, bringing with it a campaign to match the series’ hard-won locomotion mechanics that feel pretty inspired by parkour shooter Mirror’s Edge. Now, the PSVR 2 version of the game just got a big overhaul that hopes to address a lot of the complaints following its release on PS5 in May.
