eMagin, the US-based developer and manufacturer of OLED microdisplays for AR/VR headsets, announced a merger agreement with Samsung Display, a subsidiary of the Korean tech giant. Samsung says it anticipates “significant potential growth” of XR devices.
Initially announced in 2021, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared an update on the company’s research partnership with BMW, which focuses on integrating AR and VR into vehicles to make people more productive, social, and entertained while traveling.
Firmament was created in the spirit of Myst, the studio’s genre-defining puzzle adventure which maroons you in a strange realm with some very imposing architecture, all of which houses a smorgasbord of some patently challenging puzzles. In this respect, Firmament is kind of an old dog with a few new tricks, as it brings modern beauty and narrative finesse, although the game’s VR implementation sadly feels like a bit of an afterthought.
Industry Direct by Mark at Fanatical
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For a limited time only, at Fanatical we are holding our annual Bundlefest celebration, offering a range of PC VR and Quest VR games at incredible prices.
As an official digital retailer of PC and Quest games, this week sees the launch of two exciting collections.
Choose from a collection of 24 Quest VR games that includes Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition, Zombieland: Headshot Fever, Death Horizon: Reloaded, Ragnarock, IRON GUARD and more, starting at 4 games for just $40. This will be a limited run collection so select your favorites as soon as you can, so as not to be disappointed.
Here is the full line-up:
For just $24.99, get a collection of four amazing VR games from the team at Bethesda. With a total value of over $150, this is truly great value and includes
To see these and other bundles launching during Bundlefest this week, check out our bundle page.
Since the release of its first (and so far, only) VR headset in 2019 and its flagship VR game in 2020, Valve has been worryingly quiet about its future plans for VR. But recent hiring and job listings suggest the company is still working toward next-gen VR hardware.
CEO Darshan Shankar sits down with the upcoming Bigscreen Beyond VR headset for a teardown and explanation of the company’s design decisions.
Eye of the Temple is one of the rare VR games that focuses on not just on pure room-scale movement, but dynamic room-scale movement. The result is a uniquely immersive experience that required some clever design behind the scenes to make it all work. This guest article by developer Rune Skovbo Johansen explains the approach.
Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus who left the company in 2017, appears to have insider knowledge of the upcoming Apple XR headset, which is expected to be unveiled at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next month. To Luckey, Apple’s hotly awaited entrance into the space is apparently “so good.”
It’s been nearly two years since Google first introduced Project Starline, a telepresence platform designed to facilitate natural-feeling remote communication between two people. While we haven’t heard much about the project, the company recently confirmed it’s still ongoing, recently revealing a more compact and affordable system.
Independent tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s highly anticipated mixed reality headset is very likely set for its reported Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) unveiling in June. Another generation is also in the pipeline, Kuo maintains, which he suggests may come at some point in 2025.
HUMANITY, the crowd simulation puzzler from Enhance and THA, is here, bringing all of its Lemmings-inspired glory to PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets today.
HUMANITY is available on PSVR, PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets starting today. As a PlayStation Plus title for May, it will also be free to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members during the month of May. You can find it here on the PlayStation Store and on Steam, priced at $30.
At the time of this writing, HUMANITY is already available in Europe on the PS Store and is soon to unlock on the platform in North America in the coming hours. We’ve included the new launch trailer ahead of the original article below:
Japan-based studio Enhance and developers THA LTD announced HUMANITY is coming to PSVR, PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets on May 16th, which also includes flatscreen support.
The game is set to launch on PS5/PS4 as a PlayStation Plus title for May, which means it will be free to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members throughout the month.
The studio also released a new trailer showing off some of the infectiously weird (and patently Japanese) marketing spliced in with gameplay which may pique your interest, embedded below the update.
Note: The previously mentioned demo is no longer available.
Original Article (February 28th, 2023): It was pretty vague what the hell HUMANITY was all about when it was first announced in 2019, however now the studio reveals its upcoming game is a “unique blend of puzzle-solving and action-platforming,” giving you control over an ethereal Shiba Inu dog who commands a massive crowd.
Like Lemmings, you control the crowd as they jump, turn, push, float, shoot, and climb their way to the end goal. Move past obstacles, enemies, puzzles, and gain unlockable skills in the main game, and upload and try out user-built levels with the in-game Stage Creator.
To create its stark and unique environments, developer Tha LTD is working with creative studio Enhance—founded by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, known as the mind behind Rez and Tetris Effect: Connected—and director and visual designer Yugo Nakamura.
Tha game is considered a VR-optional experience, offering up a fairly straightforward implementation that lets you turn the game’s puzzle-filled levels around and control your Shiba Inu buddy and direct the human horde. While nothing ground-breaking, it’s nice to see VR support from the get-go.
The game is slated to release on PSVR, PSVR 2, and SteamVR headsets sometime in May (see update). What’s more, you can now play a free demo on those platforms from now until March 6th. The demo contains 10 levels, while the full game has “90 plus”, the studio says.
In the meantime, check out the demo gameplay video overview below to learn more:
Ever-agile VR developer Joy Way announced this week that its upcoming roguelike Dead Hook will be delayed into June, a little more than a month after the previously announced released date. To satiate your appetite in the meantime, a new gameplay trailer shows more about how the game will play.
tinyBuild Games and Steel Wool Studios announced their upcoming VR take on viral indie hit Hello Neighbor is landing on PSVR 2, Quest 2, and SteamVR headsets later this month.
We’re back for another dose of mind-bending puzzles à la Bob the Fisherman. The sequel offers up a longer, more emotionally complex story while packing in a ton of new puzzle mechanics that makes Another Fisherman’s Tale feel leagues ahead of the original in almost every sense.
Red Matter 2, the sci-fi VR puzzle adventure for Quest 2 and PC VR, is bringing its best-in-class graphics and interactions to PSVR 2 next week.
