In its quarterly financial results today, Meta revealed that its Reality Lab division saw its best ever Q4 revenue but, as before, this coincides with equally growing costs.
Meta’s Reality Labs division houses its metaverse and XR groups, and some of its AI initiatives.
During its Q4 2024 earnings call, Meta revealed that Reality Labs reached a record $1.08 billion in quarterly revenue, but also had its biggest quarter in terms of costs at $6.05 billion, resulting in a quarterly loss of $4.97 billion. This just barely beats the division’s previous revenue record of $1.07 billion in Q4 2023, and significantly beats it’s largest quarter for costs of operation in Q4 2023 at $5.72 billion.
During the company’s Q4 2024 investor earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the “number of people using Quest and Horizon [Worlds] has been steadily growing,” and also that he believes 2025 is the year the company’s investments in improving the look and feel of Horizon Worlds will begin to pay off.
Regarding Q4 2024, however, Zuckerberg alluded to Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses as the main driver of the revenue milestone, saying that “Meta Ray-Ban are a real hit.”
But revenue is only half of the story, as Reality Labs’ growth in costs have far exceeded its growth in revenue. In Q4 2024, the division cost the company $6.05 billion to run. When offset by its revenue, that still puts the Reality Labs $4.97 billion in the red for Q4 2024.
To date, Meta has spent a whopping $69 billion on Reality Lab since Q4 2020, but it has only brought in $9.19 billion in the same period.
While the numbers are staggering, Zuckerberg continues to insist that Reality Labs costs are long-term investments that will eventually pay off; he’s previously warned investors that Reality Labs’ costs would continue to grow, and ultimately might not flourish until the 2030s.
Resolution Games, the studio behind XR fantasy board game Demeo (2021), announced they’re releasing a Dungeons & Dragons game in the same vein, called DEMEO X DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: BATTLEMARKED.
Demeo was already pretty D&D-esque when it launched on VR headsets in 2021, but now Resolution Games, in partnership with D&D creator Wizards of the Coast, announced they’re bringing Demeo’s action roleplaying system to the upcoming title, which is slated to be chock-full of authentic D&D lore.
Like Demeo, Battlemarked isn’t going to be the full D&D experience in VR, but rather what the studios are calling a ‘dungeon master-less system’ that focuses on “social strategy rather than social roleplay, encouraging group tabletalk focused on tactics and decision-making.”
Image courtesy Resolution Games, Wizards of the Coast
Also like Demeo, Battlemarked is slated to feature cross-platform support for up to four players across PC, console and XR headsets. Resolution Games hasn’t specified exact platforms just yet, although we’re speculating on the usual XR cohorts: Quest, SteamVR headsets, and PSVR 2.
It’s also coming with two story-based campaigns at launch with additional campaigns in different D&D settings planned as downloadable content in the future. Resolution Games also hasn’t specified when Battlemarked is coming, so we’ll be keeping our eyes glued to the game’s official website and YouTube channel in the meantime.
“With the launch of Demeo back in 2021, we began to grow an incredible relationship with the D&D player community,” said Tommy Palm, founder and CEO, Resolution Games. “Demeo and Demeo Battles quickly became a game night substitute for Dungeon Masters who wanted an out-of-campaign way to have fun with their groups, and for D&D players to introduce their friends and family to tabletop miniatures games. DEMEO X DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: BATTLEMARKED opens up that appeal even further by adapting the classes, actions, and lore of Dungeons & Dragons to this system for all new adventures and a whole new experience built from the ground up with D&D in mind.”
Miami-based VR publisher VRAL Games announced it’s acquired a 30% stake in PolarityOne, a Seattle-based indie studio developing the upcoming co-op VR shooter EXOSHOCK.
The studios say the investment aligns with VRAL Games’ strategy to expand its presence in immersive gaming, leaving PolarityOne to operate independently with publishing support from VRAL.
“We believe PolarityOne is among the most promising emerging studios in the world, leading the charge in VR game development,” said Rodolfo Saccoman, co-founder and CEO of VRAL Games. “Through our early days working together on EXOSHOCK, it was clear the studio’s founders were aligned with us on our mission of pushing boundaries in VR experiences, so it was a natural fit to enter into a deeper partnership. This strategic investment solidifies VRAL Games’ position as a prominent contender in the VR gaming industry.”
Founded in 2022, PolarityOne specializes in immersive experiences, with its first game EXOSHOCKreleasing initially as a playable demo on SideQuest in mid-2024.
The full game, which is slated to release in early access on Quest 2 and above in Q2 2025, aims to redefine cooperative VR combat, drawing inspiration from Halo, Doom, and Gears of War. Additionally, the studio says the upcoming co-op shooter features a “grimdark sci-fi universe teeming with corporate intrigue and galactic conflict, combining moody, cinematic visuals with an atmospheric soundscape.”
VRAL Games says it’s gearing up to showcase its portfolio of titles at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March, including past titles VRIDER SBK (2024) and Squingle (2024), as well as an exclusive preview of EXOSHOCK before its early access launch on Quest later this year. GDC is scheduled to take place at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from March 17th – 22nd.
Path of Fury – Episode I: Tetsuo’s Tower is an upcoming combat sim that’s all about punching your way through gangsters while making a one-way trip through the ’80s-inspired underworld. We went hands-on with the first two levels ahead of its March 12th release on Quest, so read on to find out more.
I grew up on a steady diet of films like Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and a countless parade of ’80s and ’90s Chinese kung-fu flicks as a kid, which means I’m somewhat of sifu myself—at least that’s what Path of Fury wants me to feel, as it tosses a Shaolin Temple’s worth of Cantonese and Russian-speaking gangsters to punch through as you make your way to increasingly tough underworld bosses.
Even after a quick intro, I’m still not quite sure why I’m blasting through armies of dudes, dealing out successive body shots, uppercuts and blocking kicks, but what I can tell you it’s definitely a workout. I can also say that, despite the game’s on-rails design, the world-building is very much on point, serving up a mix of low-poly, PS1-era baddies in a vibrant, varied world.
Without giving too much away, you start out by interrogating a captured gangster for information, leading you to start your first mission at Tetsuo’s Tower, a typical crime lair that’s fronted by a night club full of heavies. As I mentioned, it’s on-rails, which means every step forward is essentially an automatic teleportation through the corridors leading to your next gang of dudes. That did little to distract from the mission at hand though: punch, punch, block, punch.
While fairly simple, the punch and parry system feels delightfully like a retro game, giving off arcade cabinet vibes that feels like its drawing from mid-90s titles like Time Crisis (1995). Instead of ducking behind cover and reloading though, I’m parrying incoming punches by tapping a highlighted target on a fist or foot, and going in for a flurry of blows with the other.
Beating an enemy is as simple as timing your punch to the highlighted body part, and doing it at the required power; red for hard and strong, grey for quick and soft.
This effectively means you don’t have much freedom on how to take down bad guys, although the flipside though is Path of Fury is all about the sort of Instructed Motion you see in games like Until You Fall (2020) or Beat Saber (2019), which prioritizes making you feel like an expert badass at specific moments. And it totally does the job.
Path of Fury is being developed by Leonard Menchiari, the indie dev behind a slew of non-VR games such as side-scrollers Trek to Yomi (2022) and The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] (2019). Looking at Menchiari’s previous titles, it’s no wonder why Path of Fury feels nailed the classic side-scrolling beat-’em-up feel. What’s more, despite being the developer’s first jab at the medium, it’s a really well-informed VR-native experience too.
Image courtesy Leonard Menchiari, Abonico Game Works
For now, I have very few gripes with the two levels I played. I didn’t leave me overly winded, but I can bet a full 30 minutes of punching non-stop will easily fill out your default daily activity goals. For being such a low-poly affair, it’s exceedingly good at setting up scenes and offering up detailed environments that I wish I could linger in and explore.
It does feel a little sparse on options at the moment, giving you only a pause and restart button during gameplay. The two-level taster I played didn’t feature a seated mode, and when you’re blasted too many times, visually reeling over can feel overly uncomfortable, which I would hope can be changed before the final game comes out in March. There’s also currently no difficulty slider of any sort, which is a bummer if you’re just looking to waltz your way through for the sake of the story.
That said, more than anything, Path of Fury feels like one of those cool and stylish additions to your workout routine that offers enough fun and engaging gameplay to trick you into getting your heart rate up, even if you weren’t planning to in the first place.
Path of Fury: Episode I – Tetsuo’s Tower is slated to launch on March 12th on Quest 2/3/Pro, priced at $9.99. You can wishlist it on the Horizon Store here.
Gaijin Entertainment, the studio behind War Thunder (2013), announced that its upcoming aerial VR combat game Aces of Thunder is headed to PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets sometime this year.
Announced in 2023, Aces of Thunder was originally supposed to launch in Q4 2024, tapped to bring a host of the world’s most recognizable World War planes to SteamVR and PSVR 2.
So far, Gaijin has shown off not only a wide range of WWII-era planes, but now also a slate of WWI-era planes too.
This comes in addition to the roster of WWII planes, including the American P-51 Mustang and P-63 Kingcobra fighters, the German Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters, the Soviet IL-2 attack aircraft, the British Spitfire fighter and the Japanese A6M3 Zero.
While we don’t know exactly when Aces of Thunder is set to launch, the studio tells Road to VR it’s now “planned for 2025.” In the meantime, you can wishlist it on Steam and the PlayStation Store for PSVR 2.
There’s no pricing info yet, although we’re keeping our eyes on the skies for any and all new details about Aces of Thunder.
COLD VR was supposed to launch on January 21st, but was delayed last minute by developer ALLWARE and publisher Perp Games, which maintained it still needed a little more polish. Now the studios have announced the game’s new, definitive launch date: February 11th.
Couched as a spiritual successor to smash-hit game Superhot VR, Cold VR aims to serve up time-distorting action, albeit flipping the script somewhat.
Like Superhot, Cold VR’s movement mechanic is all about how movement interacts with the game clock; when you move, time actually slows, forcing you to think quick on your feet and never take too long to figure out your next move, otherwise the game’s enemies speed up.
Cold VR is coming first to Quest and PC VR headsets, available over on the Horizon Store for Quest 2/3/Pro and Steam for PC VR headsets, priced at $20.
The studio says its also bringing the game to PSVR 2 “soon,” which we tend to believe since you can already wishlist the game on the PlayStation Store.
OrbusVR (2019), the MMORPG for VR headsets, is shutting down, with creator Orbus Online stating it will stop sales on all platforms starting next month and shut down servers completely in April.
The studio released the news in a community update (seen below), stating that it’s pulling OrbusVR from Steam and the Horizon Store come February 10th, 2025. Servers are planned to go offline on April 6th.
Released first in Steam Early Access in 2017, OrbusVR was an ambitious project for the time, as it appealed exclusively to PC VR users—a population that wasn’t particularly ‘massive’, but very ardent in their support for the fledgling MMO.
With the birth of its full 1.0 version, OrbusVR took on the name OrbusVR: Reborn in 2019, bringing along with it a fair slice of free gameplay to get curious users hooked on the world’s overarching story, five-player dungeons, 10-player raids, enemies, jobs, and the community that supported it all.
Unlike many traditional MMOs, OrbusVR wasn’t subscription-based, but rather a one-time purchase. At launch, that was $40, however the studio since lowered the all-in price to $20 across PC VR headsets via Steam and all Meta headsets via the Horizon Store.
The studio also relied on in-world purchases for a continued revenue stream, including in-game shop with items such as mounts and cosmetic pets for sale, as well as through ‘Mini Story’ expansion packs, which included new zones, NPCs, and questlines.
Here’s the studio’s message in full:
We wanted to start off by thanking the community. Since the start of development in 2016, to our launch into Early Access of OrbusVR in December of 2017 all the way through this last year, we have always been blessed with the best community. This community has supported us through the last 8 years and allowed us to create the game and social environment that we are proud of. For that and everything you all have done for us, we are forever grateful.
With that said, it saddens us to announce that on February 10th 2025, we will be stopping sales on all platforms, with the server officially going offline on April 6th 2025. While we as a company have tried to sustain the game as long as possible, we have made the difficult decision to take this next and final step.
In the coming months leading to the server shutdown, we will be planning a few farewell events, including increased drop rates on legendaries, unlocking the DLC for all players that may not have experienced it yet, and hosting the last official Mage Tournament in-game. While we are truly sad to say goodbye to this game, we want to celebrate the fun, friends, and memories that have been experienced in our games’ long history. We plan on doing an end of game wrapup, sharing stats like total hours played, monsters killed, etc., in the coming months.
While there are still many things we would like to highlight like standout moments we have had from playing and interacting with the community, to favorite places, or even some of the lesser known lore of the game, this will not be the last post.
We are still hopeful this market gets the love and attention it deserves in the future, and wish all future developers the greatest of success in reaching their goals! We hope this game has given you more friends and memories than one can count. We are so proud of the work we have all put into this game, along with being part of pioneering the future of VR in our small way.
Thank you for making every second of this journey worth it,
During the company’s Q4 2024 investor earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the “number of people using Quest and Horizon [Worlds] has been steadily growing,” and also that he believes 2025 is the year the company’s investments in improving the look and feel of Horizon Worlds will begin to pay off.
