‘Star Trek: Away Mission’ Multiplayer VR Game Coming to Sandbox VR This Fall

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Sandbox VR, the location-based VR facility, today unveiled a new Star Trek multiplayer game that, unlike previous Star Trek VR titles, is a free-roaming experience.

As reported by Variety, Star Trek Discovery: Away Mission is slated to arrive this fall at existing Sandbox VR locations in Hong Kong, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles; the experience will roll out in new locations in New York, Austin, San Diego and Chicago at a later date.

Unlike the franchise’s ship-bound VR games Star Trek Bridge Crew (2017) and Dave & Buster’s exclusive Star Trek: Dark Remnant, Away Mission tasks up to six players with beaming down to the surface of an ice moon to investigate a distress signal from a lost spaceship.

Being on the surface of a presumably hostile moon means phasers are involved, along with series’ iconic tricorders. Game designer Michael Hampden says it will feature some combat situations, however the game’s focus is more on collective problem solving than just single-person shooter scenarios. “We are trying to recreate the Star Trek experience,” he told Variety.

USS Discovery crew member Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) lends her voice to the experience, which is said to lasts for around 30 minutes.

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Sandbox VR takes a different approach to location-based VR pioneer The Void, which features large-scale tracking volumes, interactive sets, and real-time effects. Instead, Sandbox VR focuses more on greater scalablity, owed in part to its reduced complexity and physical footprint.

Star Trek Discovery: Away Mission is the company’s first branded VR experiences, which was built in partnership with CBS Interactive. It comes alongside three in-house developed IPs: a futuristic shooter, a haunted house, and an underwater treasure hunting adventure.

Sandbox VR hasn’t mentioned how it’s going to price the Star Trek experience yet, although the company typically charges around $40 per person for a 30-minute playsession.

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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.
  • MosBen

    This sounds fun, though I’m not the hugest fan of Discovery. I do hope that as VR hardware improves and gets cheaper that the cost of these experiences drops a bit.

    Also, I am still really hoping that Bridge Crew comes to Quest. If it’s really selling big numbers as Facebook is reporting, then a branded multiplayer experience seems like a sure fire hit.

  • Jarilo

    Another MP Star Trek game ?

  • ender707

    I am fortunate enough to live close enough to try this out. I tried their sci fi game and I liked it a lot. Looking forward to this! The show was not great so hopefully this does not include any 20 minute Michael Burnam monologues.