‘I Expect You to Die’ Studio Announces Free-to-Play Skydiving Party Game ‘Project Freefall’

By
Scott Hayden
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3

Schell Games, the studio behind the I Expect You to Die series and Among Us VR (2022), announced they’re developing a new free-to-play online party game for Quest and PC VR headsets that’s all about a high-falling game of tag.

Called Project Freefall, the game pits you against seven friends as you plummet towards Earth, leaving only one parachute to scramble for.

While the rules are simple (don’t die), there’s more than just snatching a parachute from your pals as you freefall through the clouds.

Image courtesy Schell Games

Schell Games says it’s tossing a load of kit your way too, including grenades, fire extinguishers, as well as obstacles like sharks, fans, and plenty of falling structures to hide in as you escape your pursuers.

“As the ground rushes up to meet you, the intensity skyrockets. It’s a hilarious, high-skill dance of chaos where only one can claim the ultimate victory, leaving the rest to an… explosive landing,” the studio says.

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Unlike the studio’s other VR titles, Project Freefall appears to be a third-person game, which equally supports flatscreen PC and VR cross-play.

Project Freefall is slated to head into “earliest” access soon on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and on Steam and the Epic Games Store for PC and PC VR headsets.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Christian Schildwaechter

    VR coming full circle. One of the first commercial VR games available on the Oculus Rift DK1 in 2013 came from another veteran VR studio, OwlChemy Labs of Job Simulator fame, now owned by Google. "AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome" also was a free fall game where the primary objective was to survive the jump, achieved by opening the parachute in time and hitting the landing zone, with a broken bones counter, and extra points for flying close to buildings and hitting objects on your way down. youtu_be/T0Y-aglqpJw It was initially developed as a flat game, but was a very natural fit for VR. There was also a mobile version called "Caaaaardboard!" that I used for a lot of impromptu VR demos. IMHO this twelve years old game still looks visually more interesting than "Project Freefall" as yet another Fortnite look-alike on Quest.

    And OwlChemy came up with one of the first examples of tricking our perception in VR: to free fall in a natural pose, players would have to bend forwards in a 90° angle to look downwards, which would be very uncomfortable. So they altered the speed at which the perspective changes at the beginning of each level, with the player starting on a roof top sitting upright and then leaping over the edge. During that leap the camera rotates at twice the speed of the actual headset movement, so players end up at a much more comfortable 45° angle while looking down by 90°, without even noticing the disparity.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/535bd565bc1ca4e055a4a9d9f44937a07cf9fe75fe2e12fbe4d578e9d843199b.jpg

  • notshitashi

    I expect you to dive

  • Matt

    idk it looks so rigid and jank for something that is freefalling and flying.