Built with Google’s Newest AR Tool, ‘Space Invaders’ AR Game Launches on Android & iOS

14
Image courtesy Taito Corporation

Earlier this year, Google announced an upcoming AR game, Space Invaders: World Defense, which is built as a showcase of the company’s latest AR tool. Now you can jump in and shoot down some of the game’s iconic block-shaped aliens yourself.

Google and developer Taito have launched Space Invaders: World Defense, releasing both on Android and iOS devices. The game’s titular space invaders spawn from buildings and rooftops, hide behind structures and hover in the sky, so make sure to play outside.

The studios also tossed out a new launch video, embedded below this update.

Developer Taito has offered up a first real glimpse of Space Invaders: World Defense.

The game is now available for pre-registration on the Google Play Store (and “coming soon” to the Apple App Store), but still doesn’t offer too many details on exactly how the game will work beyond pointing and zapping floating enemies.

SPACE INVADERS have returned to conquer the world, this time from a different dimension. Join the World Defense team to find, and defeat SPACE INVADERS in your neighborhood. As a member of the elite pilot force, you’ll defend your area from invasion in a first-of-its-kind immersive game experience. Engage in missions across dimensions from Augmented Reality to the parallel Invader world. Success will earn you a spot on the High Scores as well as special bonuses and power ups.

To be fair, building compelling AR gameplay that happens through a phone screen is tough. But games like this will have the opportunity to really flourish as head-worn AR devices begin to proliferate.

The original article, which covers the initial announcement of the game, continues below.

Original Article (May 11th, 2023): Over the last few years Google has been steadily working on its AR developer toolset, ARCore. This week at Google IO 2023, the company added a brand new tool to its kit called Geospatial Creator.

Geospatial Creator gives developers the ability to create world-anchored digital content that will appear in the same location for all users. Built on a foundation of both ARCore and 3D data from Google Maps, it’s competes with Niantic’s Lightship AR platform, and is getting integrations for both Unity and Adobe Aero.

To showcase the latest capabilities of ARCore, Google has teamed up with Taito Corporation, the original developer of arcade hit Space Invaders (1978), to build a brand new city-scale AR game called Space Invaders: World Defense.

Planned to launch later this Summer—fittingly aligned with the 45 year anniversary of the original game—Space Invaders: World Defense will purportedly have players “defend the earth from Space Invaders in their neighborhood,” and will “combine AR and 3D gameplay to deliver a fully contextual and highly engaging immersive experience that connects multi-generations of players.”

Sadly we’ve yet to see a glimpse of any real gameplay, so it isn’t clear just how the game will work, but with any luck we’ll eventually find more information from the game’s official website.


Additional reporting by Scott Hayden.

Room-scale VR Adventure ‘Tea for God’ Comes to Quest & PC VR, Launch Trailer Here

12

You might have seen the demo floating around for Tea for God for a few years now, however indie studio Void Room has finally released the full version of its VR roguelike adventure for Quest and SteamVR headsets.

PSVR 2 Team Shooter ‘Firewall Ultra’ August Release Date Revealed, Gameplay Trailer Here

6

First Contact Entertainment announced that Firewall Ultra, its long-awaited team shooter exclusive to PSVR 2, is officially launching on Augst 24th.

Pimax Delays VR Headset Shell for Its Nintendo Switch-style Handheld Portal

34
Portal View's new design | Image courtesy Pimax

Pimax Portal, the Nintendo Switch-style handheld that can be used as a VR headset, is experiencing a bit of a road bump, as the company announced the VR portion of the device has been delayed due to a hardware redesign.

The 20 Best Rated & Most Popular Quest Games & Apps – July 2023

17

While Meta doesn’t offer much publicly in the way of understanding how well individual games & apps are performing across its Quest 2 storefront, it’s possible to glean some insight by looking at apps relative to each other. Here’s a snapshot of the 20 best rated Oculus Quest games and apps as of July 2023.

‘Viewfinder’ Probably Won’t Get VR Support, But a Standalone Game Isn’t Out of the Question

8
Image courtesy Sad Owl Games

Viewfinder launched today across PlayStation 5 and Steam, bringing its perspective-shifting first-person puzzling to traditional monitors. Ever since we saw the demo pop up on Steam earlier this year though, it was pretty apparent the mind-bending indie title would make for a great VR game. If you were hoping for VR support though, you’re probably out of luck.

Ubisoft to Support Haptic Vest in ‘Assassin’s Creed Mirage’, But No Word Yet on ‘Nexus’ VR Game

14
Image courtesy OWO

Earlier this month Ubisoft announced a new brand deal with haptic clothing creator OWO, which produces a thin and light shirt featuring electrode-based haptics. Strangely enough, the partnership isn’t targeted at the upcoming VR game Assassin’s Creed Nexus, but rather the non-VR game Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

Luxury Brand Valentino Launches Meta Avatar Clothing

5
Image courtesy Valentino, Meta

Meta and Italian luxury brand Valentino have partnered to launch a new line of digital clothing on the company’s Avatar Store.

Apple Reportedly Departs from Tradition with Creation of Dedicated XR Product Team

28
Image courtesy Apple

According to a Bloomberg report from Mark Gurman, Apple is changing things up with the creation of a new Vision Products Group (VPG), which is tasked with developing the company’s recently unveiled mixed reality headset, Vision Pro.

‘Space Salvage’ is a Retro Sci-fi Space Sim Coming to Quest & PC VR This Year

10

Space Salvage is an upcoming single-player VR space flight game that’s all about collecting trash and fighting enemy factions. In space!

One of PC’s Greatest VR Games Since ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ is Coming to PSVR 2 Later This Year

91
Image courtesy Zulubo Productions

Vertigo 2 (2023), the critically acclaimed shooter adventure, is officially on its way to PSVR 2.

Sales of Valve’s Index Headset Are Waning After Years of Surprising Longevity

52
Image courtesy Valve

Valve’s Index VR headset is now more than four years old. Despite its age, the headset continued to sell at a surprising rate over the years—but as they say, nothing lasts forever.

Late to PSVR 2, ‘Beat Saber’ Continues to Dominate Most Downloaded Charts

6
Created using images courtesy Meta, Sony

Beat Saber, VR’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game, came to PlayStation VR 2 well past the headset’s February 2023 launch, coming to Sony’s latest VR headset in late May. And while Beat Saber topped the May charts within only one week of being available on PSVR 2, it seems the long-standing VR favorite is showing no signs of stopping.

Asymmetric VR Game ‘DAVIGO’ Among Most-Played Steam Next Fest Demos

20
Image courtesy Davigo Studio

Steam Next Fest, Valve’s indie showcase featuring free demos for upcoming PC games, had the most demo downloads in Next Fest history last month, and among the top titles was the asymmetric VR game Davigo.

Meta CTO Says Quest 3 Announcement Timing Had ‘Nothing to do with Vision Pro’

20
Quest 3 (left) and Apple Vision Pro (right) | Based on images courtesy Meta, Apple

Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said this week that the announcement of Quest 3, which came just days ahead of Vision Pro reveal, had nothing to do with the timing of Apple’s first public foray into XR.

39,929FansLike
13,574FollowersFollow
66,541FollowersFollow
27,800SubscribersSubscribe

Latest Headlines

Features & Reviews