Vertigo Games Announces Flatscreen Entry in Acclaimed ‘Arizona Sunshine’ VR Franchise

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It’s been nearly a decade since Vertigo Games released Arizona Sunshine (2016) on PC VR headsets, serving up one of the industry’s first immersive zombie-shooting adventures. Now the Netherlands-based studio is bringing the franchise to PC and console as a “reimagined” flatscreen game.

While names can be deceiving, the flatscreen version of Arizona Sunshine isn’t a VR-to-flatscreen port of either the original 2016 version or the more recently released Arizona Sunshine Remake (2024) as such, but rather a fully reimagined third-person action game that takes the series’ zombie combat and combines it with the story introduced in Arizona Sunshine 2 (2023).

From the trailer, it also appears to be designed around larger zombie hordes and spectacle combat rather than the slower, more methodical pacing of VR. Weapons include shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, machetes, and more, with Sunny’s canine pal, Buddy, actively taking part in combat.

Slated top release on PS5, Xbox, Switch 2, and PC sometime this year, the flatscreen game promises both solo and co-op gameplay, the latter of which lets you play as Buddy.

Vertigo Games seems to be following some recent precedent set by Moss studio Polyarc Games, which announced in May it was working on a flatscreen adaptation of the VR puzzle-platformer series, which combines both Moss (2018) and sequel Moss: Book II (2022) into a single PC/console title, Moss: The Forgotten Relic.

Like Polyarc, Vertigo Games has experienced some recent turmoil, which puts the Arizona Sunshine flatscreen game announcement under an odd spotlight; last week, the studio announced was closing its Amsterdam-based satellite studio known for VR action-adventure Metro Awakening VR (2024).

Granted, this isn’t the first flatscreen game by Vertigo Games. Founded in 2008, the Rotterdam-based studio released a number of flatscreen adventure games before working exclusively on VR games.

Still, it’s a marked shift in priorities prompted by Meta’s recent Reality Labs XR pivot division, which not only saw the closure of a several internal game studios and a torrent of cancelled projects, but also the revelation it was pulling funding from a number of third-party VR projects as well.

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Following Parent Company Merger, ‘Walking Dead VR’ Studio’s Next Project Won’t Be in VR

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The developer behind The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is no longer working on VR projects following a merger last year that has effectively retooled the studio to develop a traditional PC/console title.

According to Game File, the former Skydance team—which developed VR titles The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020), The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution (2022), and Skydance’s Behemoth (2024)—is now working on an unannounced non-VR title for PC and consoles.

The change follows the 2025 merger between Skydance Media and Paramount, which recently consolidated the company’s gaming operations under the newly formed Paramount Games Studio.

Skydance’s Behemoth | Courtesy Skydance Interactive

Shawn Kittelsen, Paramount Games Studio’s Head of Creative and Production, confirmed the news with Game File, noting the former VR-focused team is currently developing an unannounced game for PC and consoles.

Kittelsen revealed the new Paramount gaming team is made up of two former internal Skydance Studios, one of which created The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners, and the other behind upcoming PC/console flatscreen game Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra.

The move seems to mark the end (or significant pause) of the studio’s tenure as a dedicated VR developer following its spin-up by Skydance in 2016, which saw its first title Archangel (2017) release across all major VR headsets.

While still unconfirmed, it was reported earlier this year that Skydance was working on an official Harry Potter VR title slated to release as a Quest exclusive, although it was cancelled as a result of Meta pulling funding to it and a number of AAA projects across the ecosystem, including a sequel to Batman: Arkham Shadow (2024) by Meta’s Sanzaru Games, which Meta closed alongside Armature Studio and Twisted Pixel.

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Vertigo Games Shutters ‘Metro Awakening’ Studio Amid “challenging” VR Market

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Vertigo Games, the Netherlands-based VR veteran behind a host of popular titles, is closing its Amsterdam studio, citing continued challenges within the VR games market.

The news was announced by CEO Richard Stitselaar in an open letter, noting “the VR market remains a challenging space,” which is resulting the in closure of Vertigo Studios Amsterdam.

Originally called Force Field before being acquired by Rotterdam-based Vertigo Games in 2021, the studio produced a number of VR games and experiences over the years, including Anne Frank House VR (2018), Coaster Combat (2017) and Landfall (2017) as Force Field, and Metro Awakening VR (2024) as Vertigo Studios Amsterdam.

Notably, the Rotterdam-based sister studio was itself acquired by Embracer Group’s Plaion (ex-Koch Media) in 2020 for $60 million, known for Arizona Sunshine (2016), Arizona Sunshine 2 (2023), and After the Fall (2021).

The company didn’t provide details regarding the number of employees affected, a timeline for the closure, or whether any projects currently in development (or staff) will be transferred to other teams within the organization.

The shutdown reflects an all too familiar trend facing both the VR industry and games industry as a whole. Earlier this year Meta announced it was shutting down a number of internal VR studios amid a wider shift in its Reality Labs XR division to instead focus on AI and smart glasses.

This included the cancellation of a number of unannounced games, such as a Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel from Meta’s Sanzaru Games, an unannounced Harry Potter VR game for Quest from Skydance Games, and a major project from Moss developers Polyarc.

Survios, one of VR’s most senior game studios and developer behind Alien: Rogue Incursion (2024), has also effectively shut down following a layoff of a majority of staff.

Additionally, social VR platform Rec Room, once valued at $3.5 billion, shut down on June 1st. Meanwhile, Meta’s own Horizon Worlds is now focused “almost exclusively” on mobile in the future as Quest players will no longer have access to future content.

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Snap Acquires AR Startup Illumix to Boost Next-gen ‘Specs’ Glasses

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Snapchat parent Snap has acquired Illumix, an augmented reality software company behind Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery (2019), an AR adaptation of the popular horror franchise. The acquisition goes far beyond developing games for Snap’s upcoming AR glasses though.

As first reported by Variety, Snap has acquired Bay Area-based Illumix for an unspecific amount, something that’s slated to boost the company’s AR glasses efforts—and not by stocking the next-gen pair of Snap Spectacles with AR games.

Founded in 2017, Illumix is building a perception layer for phones, AR glasses, and robots that essentially lets software understand and interact with the physical world.

As noted by Variety, Snap is primarily interested in Illumix’s work in scaling that mapping technology and building it out for real-world experiences. Notably, Snap is slated to adopt Illumix’s technology and platform, and retain most of Illumix’s staff.

Snap Spectacles (gen 5) | Courtesy Snap Inc

Illumix’s proprietary spatial mapping and AR platform is “designed to make AR experiences work reliably in […] real-world environments—persistent, context-aware, and anchored to the spaces around us,” Illumix CEO Kirin Sinha says.

“That work has powered AR experiences across real-world venues, spanning location-based entertainment, enterprise, and gaming. This acquisition is a major milestone for Illumix and a powerful next chapter for the technology, platform, customers, partners, and team we’ve built,” Sinha continues. “Snap’s bold vision for AR and AI strongly aligns with what we have always believed: that the future of computing will be more immersive, more intuitive, and ultimately more human.”

The acquisition follows recent layoffs at Snap, which notably didn’t affect Specs Inc., its recently formed AR glasses subsidiary. They did however affect 1,000 team members, including 16% of Snap’s full-time employees, and came alongside a closure of more than 300 open roles—something Snap CEO Evan Spiegel described as a part of the company’s “crucible moment.”

While Snap hasn’t shown off its next-gen AR glasses yet, we’re hoping to learn more at Augmented World Expo (AWE) later this month, which takes place in Long Beach, California on June 16th. There, Spiegel is set to deliver a keynote titled ‘Making Computing More Human‘.

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Valve Confirms Steam Frame and Steam Machine Coming This Summer

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We still don’t know exactly when Steam Frame, Valve’s standalone VR headset, is set to launch, although now the company has confirmed both it and Steam Machine are slated to arrive this summer.

Valve previously aimed to launch Steam Frame and Steam Machine, its console-style PC, in early 2026.

Due to the ongoing component crisis though, which has seen RAM and storage prices skyrocket, Valve said in February it had to rethink release and pricing around both devices.

Now, Valve has at least confirmed in a Steam news update that its wayward VR headset and Steam-flavored mini-PC are coming sometime this summer.

As a part of the announcement, Valve reiterated it’s added both Steam Frame and Steam Machine to its Verified program, which lets users know how well a game works across specific Steam hardware, including Steam Deck.

While Valve says Steam Frame primarily targets wireless PC play, specific games can also feature a Steam Frame Standalone Verified badge.

According to Valve’s guidelines, flatscreen games must run at a minimum 30 fps at 1,280 x 720 during normal play, whereas standalone VR titles must run at a minimum of 72 fps at 1,728 x 1,728 during normal play. Valve says VR games below 1,440 x 1,440 will appear with an ‘Unsupported’ badge, which notably won’t stop users from buying or attempting to play the game in question.

Although Valve seems to be getting its ducks in a row for the launch of both Steam Frame and Steam Machine on the software side of things, one very big missing piece of the puzzle is pricing.

Considering Valve announced last week that Steam Deck is getting a sizable price hike, bringing an increase of $240 to $300 to its handheld gaming PC, it could be a sign of sticker shock yet to come.

Still, if Valve is confident enough to announce a summer release window now, we should know sooner rather than later.

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Meta is Spinning out ‘Supernatural’ a Mere 3 Years After $400M Acquisition

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Supernatural won’t be in ‘maintenance mode’ for long, because Meta announced it’s effectively spun out the VR fitness app into an independent company, Supernatural Health.

The founders and coaches behind Supernatural are parting ways with Meta. Soon, users can look forward to more fresh content, which has notably been missing from the subscription-based VR fitness app since Meta announced in January that it would no longer be pushing content updates as a part of a wider pullback from VR gaming.

And it’s going to be clean break, as the new studio says in a community post that Supernatural is set to be independent from Meta, and will be a new, separate app in Quest’s Horizon Store.

While the current version of Supernatural will be winding down on December 3rd, which includes all associated subscriptions, the studio expects the new app to launch later this fall, noting it plans to build “major parts of the technology from the ground up as a much smaller company.”

That also means subscription prices will change from its current $10/month, or $100/year rate:

“A while back, the subscription price was lowered to make Supernatural more accessible, and we still believe in that goal. To keep building independently, and continue delivering the experience you expect, we need to return to the original $20/month and we haven’t made that decision lightly.”

The studio says it’s offering a ‘Founding Member’ rate, which will cost $180 for the first year. After that, the price jumps to $20/month, or $200/year. That said, the upcoming version of Supernatural will include all original coaches “back on day one,” as well as new workouts and future features.

“The early days won’t be perfect, but our small team is committed to building the Supernatural you know and love and taking it to the next level,” the studio says. “We are so grateful for everything you’re capable of, in the app and outside of it. Thank you for showing up for Supernatural, and for each other.”

This follows a lengthy battle to acquire Supernatural, which seems so distant now in retrospect. In late 2021, Meta announced it was acquiring Within, the studio behind Supernatural, for a whopping $400 million.

It wasn’t a smooth transition though, as the deal quickly drew the ire of the US Federal Trade Commission, which claimed Meta was unfairly monopolizing the VR fitness space. After more than a year of costly antitrust battles, the FTC eventually dropped the suit in early 2023, noting that it would seek no further appeal.

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This Quest Accessory Wants to Turn Your Brain Activity Into VR Avatar Control

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PiEEG, a Scotland-based brain-computer interface (BCI) startup, announced it’s launching a facial interface for Quest headsets that aims to turn your brain signals and facial micro-expressions into real-time avatar control.

PiEEG has specialized in BCI since it was founded by Dr. Ildar Rakhmatulin in 2022, specifically to provide low-cost solutions for researchers, developers and hobbyists. Now the company says it’s getting ready to launch a Kickstarter soon for its PiEEG XR, a neural facial interface for Quest.

The device, which includes built-in electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, is of course targeting developers and researchers hoping to integrate EEG data into XR applications, although it’s also slated to arrive with native VRChat integration, letting users “control [avatars] directly from your brain and facial expressions,” the company says.

Notably, EEG sensors measure electrical activity generated by the brain. However, consumer EEG systems generally don’t “decode” specific thoughts. Instead, they can detect broad signals associated with states such as attention, relaxation, or cognitive workload, which can then be mapped to software actions.

That said, the company maintains its sensor-studded facial interface for Quest will enable more expressive avatars and additional hands-free input methods, which can be translated into various effects, modifying environments, or altering avatar animations based on attention-related signals using its ‘Focus-to-Action’ API.

Pre-production prototype PiEEG XR | Courtesy PiEEG

And like its other BCI hardware, the company says PiEEG XR is set to be fully open-source, providing access to software tools and raw data streams for developers, educators, and researchers.

“Whether you are a developer looking to build ‘thought-controlled’ horror games, or a researcher studying emotional responses in VR, the VR-Link provides the raw data and tools you need to innovate,” PiEEG says.

The EEG facial interface itself is powered by the company’s IronBCI platform, which includes 24-bit resolution, 250 samples per second acquisition rate, Bluetooth Low Energy 5 (BLE 5) connectivity, and low-noise signal acquisition.

We’re hoping to learn more soon about pricing tiers and more use cases when the campaign goes live, which is expected soon. In the meantime, you can check out the Kickstarter here and sign up for launch notifications. You can also see a short demo of PiEEG XR below, showing an avatar animated via EEG signals.

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