These experiences will be recognized in their own distinctive category, decided by the newly-formed Peabody Interactive Board featuring 10 experts across interactive and immersive media industries. The first set of awards will be given to “legacy media projects that demonstrate the depth of these new formats, emphasizing the foundational standards for future award winners and highlighting stories that have helped define the digital and interactive genres.”
These legacy winners will be decided and announced later in the year in a separate celebration from the regular Peabody Awards ceremony, which takes place each spring. The organization will also then announce details for future submission calendars, categories and eligibility.
Notable VR and AR members of the Peabody Interaction Board include Diana Williams (the chair), Amy Hennig, Kamal Sinclair and Sara Thacher.
Williams, among many other credits and experiences, was a member of the team that launched ILMxLAB, the studio behind VR experiences like Vader Immortal and Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge. Hennig is best known for her work creating the Uncharted series and is currently the President of the New Media division of Skydance. Skydance Interactive is of course the studio behind acclaimed VR title The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.
A Township Tale, the MMO-like VR game available on PC VR headsets since 2018, is making its way to Oculus Quest next month. In anticipation of its July 15th launch, developer Alta has opened pre-orders today, which includes a few goodies like getting a chance to play before launch.
If you pre-order the game on Oculus Store for Quest starting today (priced at $10), you’ll be able to hop into the game on July 13th. In addition to the standard dedicated server, you’ll get an exclusive outfit, toolbelt, and an additional 1,000 Talems (for a total of 2,000 Talems) of its in-game currency.
We call A Township Tale “MMO-like” because it offers a wide range of activities, crafting, and opportunities for leveling—all of it playable with up to eight players in a persistent world. You can take on tasks like building up your town through blacksmithing, mining, and woodcutting, but you’ll also have to fight all sorts of monsters too. Check out the trailer below to see it in action:
“Exploration is really the name of the game in A Township Tale, both of the world and mechanically,” Lang says. “Very little is handed to you outright, and players will need to work together to discover how it all works as they go. As you explore, you’ll learn how to improve your crafting, learn new abilities, and even upgrade the town for everyone.”
A Township Tale is free-to-play on PC, where Talems are sold in bundles for real-world cash—the lowest denomination costs $10 for 1,000 Talems. The same is true for the Quest version of the game, although that $10 initial purchase price comes with 1,000 Talems already.
Cross-play between Quest and PC isn’t supported at launch. The studio says it has plans to support “one-way cross-play” at some point, which would allow PC players to connect to Quest servers.
You can now pre-order A Township Tale on Oculus Quest, unlocking early access to the VR adventure.
The Oculus Quest port — which we revealed during this month’s Upload VR Showcase — is now live on the Oculus Store for $9.99. The full game launches on July 15 but, by pre-ordering, you’ll get early access to the game on July 13.
A Township Tale Quest Pre-Orders Go Live
Pre-order bonuses also include an exclusive outfit and toolbelt (seen above), which you can carry over to your PC VR account too (though cross-play between versions won’t be enabled at launch). Finally, players will also get an additional 1,000 Talems, the game’s in-game currency, on top of the 1,000 everyone that purchases the game at launch will get. You can use this currency to buy more cosmetic items.
A Township Tale is a multiplayer VR game with role-playing elements. You team up with friends to start a town and help it flourish by assuming different roles. You might help forge weapons as a blacksmith or fight monsters out in the wilds, for example. Every interaction in the game is built around VR, too. The game’s built up a strong following on PC VR headsets over the past few years, and we’re looking forward to seeing how it holds up on Quest.
Will you be picking up A Township Tale on Quest? Let us know in the comments below!
Arcsmith is the new Oculus Quest title from Bithell Games, the studio headed up by Thomas Was Alone developer Mike Bithell, and it’s releasing next month.
You can check out a trailer for the game below. There looks to be two sides to Arcsmith: story and puzzles. For the latter, the player solves engineering puzzles, assembling machinery like radios and drones. Based on the trailer, you’ll be putting pieces together, ensuring circuitry works.
But the puzzling is set against an interesting backdrop. Players embody an apprentice that learns from a master arcsmith named Korith Dinn. You carry out your work on a space station orbiting a planet. But, when the station becomes embroiled in a wider conflict, Korith decides to step in. It looks like an interesting blend of storytelling and gameplay, something the team’s built its reputation on these past few years.
Arcsmith will launch on Oculus Quest on July 29, and you can already wishlist the game from the Oculus Store.
This actually isn’t Bithell Games’ first VR effort. Back around the launch of PSVR the studio released an expansion to its third-person stealth game, Volume, that supported the headset. Then, when Google Daydream launched later that year, the studio also put out another VR puzzle game named EarthShape.
Will you be checking out Arcsmith when it launches next month? Let us know in the comments below.
We’re back with another look at next week’s big release, Sniper Elite VR. Today, we’re taking a look at one of the game’s sniper missions with some new options.
In our last video we showed one of the game’s larger maps with full UI options, regular killcam and without the camera riding the bullet whenever the killcam activates. For this mission, we’ve completely turned off all HUD elements save for the indicator when using the Focus mode (which is on by default in the Normal difficulty mode). You can also see what it’s like to ride a bullet into an enemy’s skull, if that’s a thing that interests you.
New Sniper Elite VR Gameplay
This is again recorded on PC and taken from one of the early levels in the game’s campaign.
Check back tomorrow when we’ll be talking to Rebellion and JAW about the making of Sniper Elite VR, and we’ll have more gameplay before the week is out, too. Also make sure to check out our list of four things the game seems to be getting right based on what we’ve played so far.
Samurai Slaughter House is a physics-based combat sandbox from indie developer Tab Games, and it’s looking to shake up the genre with some seriously stylish visuals which the studio calls “half inspired by manga and half traditional Japanese ukiyo-e paintings.”
It’s still early days for Samurai Slaughter House; the ambitious single-player title is promising a large “metroidvania-style open world” where you collect items, power up your character, explore towns, and interact with NPCs. It’s slated to release on all SteamVR headsets and Oculus Quest in 2022, but also the next-generation PlayStation VR too whenever that arrives—we still don’t know.
Taking to Reddit, the game’s creator explains that its core gameplay loop revolves around killing mythical Japanese monsters, called yokai, and grinding them up at slaughterhouses to turn them into crafting items. You’ll be able to accomplish goals with brute force, stealth, and creativity.
Check out some of the black and white action—dotted with more than a splash of crimson gore—in the game’s latest trailer below:
Tab Games’ sole developer Justin Rosete says that, although it won’t have “a crazy amount of depth,” he’s aiming for an experience somewhere between The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and the original Dragon Warrior games.
Gorgeous VR point-and-click adventure The Secret Of Retropolis will arrive on PC VR headsets and Oculus Quest via App Lab on July 21.
The PC release date for the Peanut Button-developed game was already known, but the studio just confirmed the Quest release over on Reddit. The studio’s currently looking for beta testers for the standalone version of the game. You can enter a raffle over on the game’s Discord for a chance to play it.
The Secret Of Retropolis Coming To Quest
The Secret of Retropolis looks stunning thanks to its art style, assembled entirely within Oculus Quill. The game itself is a classic point-and-click adventure reimagined for VR. You investigate a concerning conspiracy right at the heart of a futuristic metropolis run by robots. You’ll solve puzzles, meet new characters and scour environments for clues.
The game’s been designed as a comfortable VR experience anyone can play – your character will stretch out their hands to grab items, and the game can be played from a seated position, too.
Over on PC you can already download a demo for the game. Are you going to be checking out The Secret of Retropolis next month? Let us know in the comments below!
Chesshas exploded in popularity recently, with the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit bringing much attention to the age-old strategy game. Now Odders Lab, the studio behind VR rhythm game OhShape (2019), is set to release its next title Chess Club for Oculus Quest, which brings an immersive spin to the game.
Chess Club is set to be the first on Oculus Store for Quest to exclusively offer online chess, and is said to feature a number of game modes with either AI or online competitors, ranging from classic chess to immersive Holochess-style fight animations. It launches tomorrow, July 1st. You can find the store page here.
The game features support for both Touch controllers and hand-tracking, so you’ll be able to pick up pieces naturally for those long and pensive matches. Check out the feature set below:
Chess Clubs Features
Play against a friend or the AI
Avatars and Voice IP in online multiplayer
Casual and rated matches
Track your moves history during a match
Different time rules (bullet, blitz, real time, async)
2 environments and set pieces: Grand Palace and Stonehenge
Fight animations and sound FX
Both Hand tracking and Touch controllers are supported!
Zack “Nibre” Fannon, the creator behind VR mods for Alien: Isolation and Halo Master Chief Collection (MCC), has been hired by 343 Industries, the studio in charge of the Halo franchise.
Fannon announced the change in his Twitter profile recently, which was first noticed over on the ResetEra forums. He now lists himself as an Engineer working on Halo MCC at 343 Industries, a property of Xbox Game Studios.
This comes nearly one year after Fannon went mostly radio silent with updates to the Halo mod ‘ReclaimerVR’, which seeks to bring unofficial VR support to the entire MMC (Halo 1–4 on PC).
Back in early 2020, Fannon attracted attention from the Halo studio in a profile piece, which may have been instrumental in his hiring. There, he revealed his long-term fascination with modding Halo, and ongoing pursuit of finally playing the classic Halo titles in VR.
I really, really wanted to play the classic Halo games in VR. At the time, I had just started developing things for the Oculus [Rift] DK1 and then DK2, so I was eager to virtually explore the colossal environments of Halo. This obviously wouldn’t be possible to do on the original games themselves, so I used what I was learning to start working on a makeshift Halo VR world-viewer, built with Unreal Engine 4. After working on it off-and-on for a year or two, I had a good proof-of-concept that worked with Halo 2 and Halo 3 maps, though it required a bit more pre-processing to get the data in a UE4 useable form than I’d like. It was a good experimental learning project to keep coming back to and improving on but wasn’t really prepared for a release yet.
Continuing, Fannon says he then found himself working on MotherVR for Alien: Isolation, which helped by teaching him how to reverse engineer a game from scratch, a skill he’d later user when tackling MCC when it was released on PC in 2019.
Fannon now says ReclaimerVR is however “on ice for the time being.” It’s uncertain whether he is developing VR for 343i, but if they’re looking for someone capable of porting the classic titles to VR, they’ve found the right person.
We’re still some ways away from playing a full Halo game in VR; the promising Halo: Reach VR mod is now “on ice”.
That much was confirmed by modder Nibre, who now works on the series in an official capacity, serving as an engineer for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Last week the modder tweeted out that the Halo: Reach VR mod known as ReclaimerVR is “on ice for the time being”.
Halo: Reach VR Mod On Ice
Nibre was also behind the excellent Alien: Isolation VR mod. We know what you’re thinking and, yes, it could be a big deal that the developer behind two major VR mods is working on Halo in an official capacity. But Nibre also tweeted out a link to an evolved mods system for the Master Chief Collection in the same thread. That’s more likely to be what the developer is working on. Still, we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Last time we saw ReclaimerVR was December 2019, with motion controls added into the game. It seemed like it could be a very comprehensive mod of one of the best Halo games, but now a future release doesn’t look likely.
After all, Microsoft’s Xbox branch still doesn’t seem interested in bringing a VR headset to its new consoles anytime soon. The best and only real place to play Halo in VR right now is with the uninspiring Recruit app that’s exclusive to Windows VR and has you shooting holographic targets.
There’s a new Oculus Quest movie in store for later this week – Madrid Noir hits platform very soon.
The movie, developed by No Ghost and Produced by Atlas V, arrives on the headset on July 1 and is now listed in the Coming Soon section of the Quest store. That’s a busy day for Quest; Tarzan VR and Chess Club also arrive that day. Madrid Noir, however, is a little different. Check out the trailer below.
In this 45 minute experience, you follow a young woman, Lola, as she searches for her missing uncle, who has been declared dead. You’ll dive deep into Lola’s memories and uncover an alarming mystery.
As the name suggests, the film takes a lot of inspiration from classic noir movies, set against a Madrid backdrop. It was first shown at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month but the project actually dates back to a few years ago when we saw a kind of prototype for the full experience called Madrid Noir: Prologue.
Will you be checking out Madrid Noir later this week? Let us know in the comments below!
Rec Room, the popular social VR platform, has been making some big moves here recently, including securing a $100 million investment and taking its first steps towards opening a functioning digital economy. Now the cross-platform app is getting ready to hit one of the world’s largest userbases with a launch on Android devices coming this fall.
According to its Google Play listing, Rec Room is set to launch on Android versions 7.1 and up, something that accounts for around 70 percent of the market share for mobile operating systems.
The launch on Android is undoubtedly a big piece of the puzzle for Rec Room, as it will feature cross-play with all supported platforms, which includes iOS devices, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC via Steam, Oculus Quest, and all SteamVR-compatible headsets.
Rec Room is far from just a digital chatroom for VR and non-VR devices though; it offers up loads of bespoke content built by the company such as their popular multiplayer co-op adventures, but also the ability to make your own rooms and avatar accessories too. And it’s completely free.
The ability to make your own stuff has been the basis of the game’s burgeoning economy, which allows some users to create things like rooms or avatar accessories and sell them to others for the in-game token. Those tokens can be bought with cash by users to buy things, but can also be converted back to real-world cash now too, which essentially lets the studio pay certain users to create content.
The game has one of the strong userbases in the medium—the studio says 2021 seen a +500% year-over-year growth in users and over 1 million active monthly VR users—and it’s set to potentially explode in number upon release of Android support. The most apt point of comparison is the game’s 2018 launch on iOS, which the studio says saw an iOS download increase by 600% year-over-year. Combined with a fresh $100 million investment announced in March 2021, the studio now boasts a $1.25 billion valuation, making it the first VR software unicorn.
You can pre-register now for the Android version and get notified when it arrives. They’re also throwing out some free in-game stuff to everyone on the platform depending on how many people sign up.
Two years on from its initial reveal, Sniper Elite VR is finally gearing up for launch next week.
But is it going to be any good?
It’s a little too early for us to answer that question just yet, but we’ve had some time with the single-player campaign on PC and can touch on some of the things the game does seem to be getting right, at least so far. Namely, Rebellion and Just Add Water have done a good job creating an experience that has elements of authenticity without becoming too overwhelming for players, and it’s realized some of the series’ staple features in VR really well, too.
Here are four promising aspects from what we’ve played so far.
Weapon Balancing And Handling
No, Sniper Elite VR doesn’t quite have the most realistic physics or authentic weapon handling you’ll find in VR. But it does do a very decent job balancing between that believability and making the game accessible for players of all types. In terms of the sniping itself, that means holding a rifle with two hands (unless you’re using PSVR’s Aim Controller), keeping them steady as you look through the scope and then, for most types of weapons, pulling back the bolt between shots. It starts off feeling tricky but, after a little time, the motion becomes second nature.
Pistols, machine guns and shotguns, meanwhile, all have their own quirks too. Reloading generally involves physically grabbing the old clip, removing it, then inserting a new one before pulling back a pin. Plus there are no red dot sights or lasers to help aim – you’ll be relying entirely on iron sights that can make even simple shots pretty easy to miss. You can use a focus indicator to summon an artificial sight if you choose, but it still keeps your aim pretty broad. Weapons thrash around if you don’t steady them with a second hand, too.
Again, you eventually learn to compensate for all of this, making for an experience that does a good job capturing the erratic weapons of the time without leaning into simulation-style realism. But it also gives Sniper’s gunplay a methodical pace; there’s not much use running and gunning when you’re fumbling about with ammo outside of cover. On the harder difficulties at least, it’s much better to hunker down, trade shots and get back behind a wall when reloading, only moving on when you know it’s safe to.
Customizing Immersion And Authenticity
Based on yesterday’s gameplay video, lots of people want to know just how far customization goes when it comes to the game’s UI. One of the really nice touches Just Add Water and Rebellion have worked on is letting you choose just how immersive and authentic the experience can be. So, yes, there are the usual comfort options from vignettes to teleportation for those that want it. But that also extends right down to adjusting how much of the UI the game shows you, allowing you to completely remove objective markers are stelath notifications. It’s a great touch for those that don’t want to interrupt the experience in any way.
And that extends right the way up to the sniping itself. The game’s difficulty modes will directly impact weapon ballistics. Play on Easy and you’ll get a simplified, straight-shooting experience but, on Normal, you’ll have to account for bullet drop and other factors. Hard mode, meanwhile, demands lethal precision and anticipation without much help from the game itself. Oh and, yes, you can customize how often you see the X-Ray Killcam and whether or not you ride the bullet into your poor enemy’s skull. More on that in a bit.
Stealth
Stealth is very hard to do in VR. In a lot of games, the illusion can quickly crumble when you’re discovered and enemy AI starts running around like a group of headless chickens trying to decide what to do about it. Sniper Elite VR’s stealth mechanics may not be especially in-depth, but that simplicity — from what we’ve played — helps keep stealth cohesive and a legitimate playstyle even after you’ve been found out.
A select few weapons in your arsenal are silenced, allowing you start off many of the levels in a ghost state. From there you can pick off enemies sequentially or just completely avoid them until you’re found. Crouching behind cover and leaning out to survey the area is as effective here as it is in any other VR game.
Plus, the game does a great job of communicating when someone’s investigating anything strange with alert meters and status indicators. If you are discovered you’ll see a ‘Cover Blown’ message, but it’s possible to get back into hiding and clear the alert, too. Again, we might not be talking Metal Gear levels of sophistication, but it’s pretty promising from what we’ve played.
Killcams
Killcams are a staple of the Sniper Elite series but we did wonder if Rebellion and Just Add Waters would attempt then in VR. Fortunately, they’ve pulled them off pretty brilliantly; you can choose to either follow the bullet or cut straight to the character model, where you’ll get an uncomfortably close look at the damage your shot did to an enemy’s eye/rib cage/heart/unmentionables. Bits of bone shatter into tiny little pieces right in front of you making it both hard to watch and yet somehow strangely hard to look away at the same time. You’ll see a little more of what we mean later this week.
Don’t want to be cutting away to the killcam every other shot? Don’t worry – you can turn it off or even just make them less frequent.
So do Rebellion and Just Add Water hit a bullseye with Sniper Elite VR? You’ll have to wait until our full review next week to find out. Until then, we’ve got more content for the game planned this week as part of Upload Access. Check back for more gameplay and an interview with the developers soon.
Synth Riders (2018), the VR rhythm game for PC VR and Oculus Quest, is finally making its way to PSVR next month, launching with a list of 55 tracks on July 27th. Developers Kluge Interactive are also publishing an additional 20+ tracks through paid DLC Music Packs, which includes Muse, The Offspring, Parov Stelar, and more.
First launched on PC VR headsets back in 2018, Synth Riders is billed as a “freestyle dancing VR rhythm game” that gets you moving by launching orbs that you have to ‘catch’ with your hands. You have to catch notes, ride rails, and dodge obstacles, which should get your heart pumping as you play to music genres such as synthwave, electro swing, EDM, and punk rock.
The game is launching on PSVR with two different game modes: catching notes in ‘Rhythm Mode’, and punching notes in ‘Force Mode’ for a tougher workout. It doesn’t appear multiplayer will arrive at launch, as the studio has only mentioned a local ‘Party Mode’ for the PSVR version, which lets you pass the headset around to other people in the room.
Like the PC VR and Quest versions, tracks feature five difficulty levels and plenty of modifiers to change things up like ‘Spin Mode’, which makes note appear from different directions.
Here’s Kluge Interactive’s full list of main features coming to the PSVR version of Synth Riders:
Free your style with 55 diverse songs.
Get add-ons featuring Muse and The Offspring, and more.
Master your skills and climb the leaderboards.
Remix your gameplay with a wide selection of modifiers.
Explore 10+ immersive environments.
Pass the headset for fun in Party mode.
Have a great workout in the process.
Paid Music Packs include:
Adrenaline featuring The Offspring, Bad Religion, and more Punk Rock legends.
Synthwave 2 Essentials featuring Muse, Gunship, and more.
Electro Swing Essentials featuring Parov Stelar, Jamie Berry, and more.
Cyberpunk Essentials featuring songs from the Monstercat label.
One of the most popular and longstanding VR rhythm games, Synth Riders, is coming to PlayStation VR on July 27.
Synth Riders is a rhythm VR game that released in 2018 for PC VR, before making it’s over to Oculus Quest at the headset’s launch in mid-2019. Since then, developer Kluge Interactive has significantly expanded and updated the game with new features and content across all platforms, including multiplayer game modes, fitness-focused tracks and collaborations with other rhythm games like OhShape.
The PSVR version of the game will benefit from the past three years of content updates and DLC releases. Everything that’s been released progressively on other platforms since the game’s launch will be available immediately on PSVR, including 55 free tracks and 20 available for purchase. This includes the DLC tracks from artists like Muse and The Offspring — the latest in a string of new DLC packs that aim to bring more well-known artists to Synth Riders, no doubt to compete with rival rhythm game Beat Saber’s artist-led release strategy.
It’s been a big week for Synth Riders, with the news arriving just a few days ago that the game would receive 120Hz support on Oculus Quest 2, making it the latest game to join a growing list of titles that support the high refresh rate on Facebook’s standalone headset.
Own Demeo on Quest and want to enjoy the game with shinier graphics? Good news – it’s now available on the Oculus Rift store too.
The Rift edition of the game arrived alongside yesterday’s Realm of the Rat King update. Demeo was already available on PC via SteamVR but, with Rift’s arrival, Quest owners can download the game on PC at no extra cost. But what’s the difference between the two versions? Check out our graphics comparison video below for a quick look.
As you can see, you’ll get a few extra effects and higher quality textures, though the difference isn’t actually too big. But, if you have the PC to run Demeo you might not even really be trading off much to enjoy this version’s higher visual fidelity – AirLink would still allow you to play wirelessly and, even with a Link cable, the game’s a fairly stationary experience and it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle. Plus cross-play support means you can still play with Quest and SteamVR friends, too.
Rat King and the Rift version cross off two of the three big requests from Demeo’s launch, the last being adding mid-game save states. There’s still no word on when that will arrive, and a flatscreen version of the title is planned for the future, too along with yet more dungeons.
If you didn’t know, we think Demeo is pretty swell. “More importantly, though, it’s a near-peerless social VR experience, polished to such a degree that it transforms the kinks of its systems into enjoyable, suspenseful quirks,” we said in our 5/5 review. “Facing its brutish hordes with friends at your side is a thrilling, collaborative endurance test; defeat is met with entertained cries of anguish while victory — rare as that may be — is celebrated with the sort of group-wide elation you might have been missing in this tough past year.”
The United States Federal Trade Commission has 30 days to refile its complaint against Facebook after a federal judge on Monday threw it out as well as another case brought by dozens of individual states.
You can read through the opinionswritten by judge James E. Boasberg for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, with a report from the New York Times summarizing the judge’s dismissal of the states’ case as being because “too much time had elapsed since” key acquisitions of companies like Instagram and WhatsApp in the early 2010s. The FTC complaint, meanwhile, was tossed because it “failed to provide enough facts to back its claims that Facebook had a monopoly over personal social networking,” according to the report.
The complaints were filed in December with the FTC “seeking a permanent injunction in federal court that could, among other things: require divestitures of assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp.”
“Although the Court does not agree with all of Facebook’s contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency’s Complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed. The FTC has failed to plead enough facts to plausibly establish a necessary element of all of its Section 2 claims — namely, that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for Personal Social Networking (PSN) Services. The Complaint contains nothing on that score save the naked allegation that the company has had and still has a ‘dominant share of th[at] market (in excess of 60%),’ ” the opinion from the judge reads.
With more and more people getting into VR, Oculus Quest owners are probably looking for games they can play with friends who also own a headset.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the best multiplayer offerings on the Quest Store, plus we’ve marked which support cross-platform play (meaning that you can play with an owner of a non-Quest VR headset). Here are our top 15 best multiplayer VR games on Oculus Quest.
15. The Under Presents
The Under Presentsfalls somewhere between a game, an experience and live VR theater. It incorporates other players in an exciting and unique way that we haven’t seen elsewhere.
As you explore The Under Presents, you’ll encounter other players represented in the same way as you, dressed in a black cloak with a gold mask for a face. There’s no way to communicate besides gestures, and you have no way of knowing who they are or where they come from. Developer Tender Claws intend to use The Under Presents as a hub for rotating multiplayer and live VR content. Access to the multiplayer hub is free, as is a 45-minute introduction to The Under Presents’ world.
Do you love poker? Do you love playing poker with friends? Do your friends have VR headsets? Well, then you’re 100% set with PokerStars VR. It’s by far the most prominent poker title available on VR headsets, and you and your friends will be able to join a plethora of online tables to play poker just like in real life. You can even light a virtual cigar to get that proper poker table feel, even though a purely aesthetic cigar is rather pointless. PokerStars VR is poker with friends in VR — it’s as simple as that.
Cross-platform play: Yes, between Oculus Quest, Rift and SteamVR.
13. Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale
Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale is an absolute delight to play through with friends. Think Overcooked, but with less frantic movement across the map and more on-the-spot sandwich assembling. That being said, the general premise is the same — each person will have to prepare foods and assemble them into sandwiches for customers, often requiring teamwork and coordination to fulfill orders on time.
Cross-platform play: Yes, between PC VR platforms and Quest.
Arizona Sunshine is a zombie shooter with a 4+ hour campaign and a wave-based horde mode to boot. Even better, both the campaign and the horde mode support multiplayer, so you can jump in with a friend who also has the game on Quest (sadly, it doesn’t support cross-platform play though).
While Arizona Sunshine has been around in the VR world for quite some time now (originally launching for PC VR in 2017), it’s remains a solid option for Quest players looking for some co-operative wave-based action and/or a full co-op campaign. Plus as of April, the Oculus Quest version of the game has received all the same DLC and post-launch content as the PC VR version.
Carly and the Reaperman is a third-person platformer that puts some interesting twists on co-op play. One player controls Carly, a young girl taking a trip to the Underworld. The other embodies the Reaperman, who helps Carly by picking up blocks, torches or using switches to make or reveal new paths for her.
If you’ve got two Oculus Quest headsets, you can both play in VR. Alternatively, if you only have one Quest, the second player can use a free game client on PC to control Carly, with player one in VR as the Reaperman.
Cross-platform play: No, VR co-op with two Quest headsets only. Asymmetrical co-op available with PC or Mac.
Walkabout Mini Golf VR is exactly what it sounds like — one of the most popular VR mini golf games available on Quest. There’s matchmaking support for quick online games, as well as private room support for you and up to four other players. Each of the courses features a creative theme with some really challenging obstacles. You can find a secret collectible ball at each hole as well, giving you a bit of a secondary goal to keep an eye out for.
What this military-themed shooter lacks in visuals on Quest, it makes up for in performance, content, and gameplay.
Similar in pace to a Call of Duty game, Contractors features a wide selection of loadout options and different guns, all with active reloading. There’s tremendous freedom of movement as well, if your stomach can handle it, like being able to jump, sprint, and slide around maps. You can play solo missions, but the real focus is multiplayer, where you’ll be able to choose between co-op objectives and online competitive PvP matches.
Cross-platform play: Yes, between Quest and PC VR platforms.
Spaceteam originally released as a mobile game in 2012, but has since found a new life and natural home in VR. You can play with up to six players on a mission to communicate clearly and effectively while piloting a ship through space. You’ll need to call out commands to your friends to instruct them to press buttons or perform certain actions, but a bunch of chaotic elements get thrown in the mix. Not only are the commands often confusing or tongue twisting in nature, but your console might burst into flames or your voice could become modulated while issuing commands.
It’s hectic good fun and one of the best party multiplayer games available on the Quest. Plus, you can even play with non-VR users — at least one VR user can play with up to five players on mobile devices, provided you’re all in the same room.
Cross-platform play: Yes, between Quest and PC VR platforms.
Much like PokerStars VR, this one is fairly simple — it’s fishing in VR with multiplayer support. If you’re looking to go cast your line with a friend in VR, then Real VR Fishing is the best (and perhaps only on Quest) option. The game has been around for a while, but multiplayer support is a much newer addition to the game. It supports up to 4 users at once in multiplayer, and Ian had a fantastic time when he tried it out on release. In a time when many of us are restricted in our movements and only have limited access to outdoor activities, going for some Real VR Fishing with your friends might be exactly what you need.
Larcenauts is a new competitive team shooter from Impulse Gear that provides lots of options — it’s a hero shooter that offers several classes and emphases strategy and teamwork in a manner similar to Overwatch or Valorant. It takes visual and stylistic cues from those titles too, with a bright color palette and a diverse cast of characters to choose from with different weapons and abilities.
It’s certainly not perfect — there are a few hiccups along the way that feel a bit awkward at times and make the game feel slightly less accessible than other VR shooters. But it makes up for those few missteps with a rich and deepingly rewarding competitive game, if you commit to learning it and putting in some work. It’s early days yet but, depending on how Impulse Gear supports Larcenauts, it could climb this list.
When push comes to shove, Eleven Table Tennis is really just table tennis in VR. However, to leave it at that would be to do it an injustice — it’s not just table tennis in VR, it’s really good table tennis in VR. There’s something special about being able to take your Quest anywhere and — provided you have an internet connection — play against a friend (or a random) online with a 1:1 perfect recreation of a table tennis table.
It also works so well because it feels like the real thing — there’s relatively little physical resistance when hitting a ball in table tennis in real life, so a VR translation feels scarily accurate. Slight vibrations when you hit the ball are all that’s needed to make Eleven Table Tennis feel properly authentic. Plus, the game supports LAN matches for a lag-free experience, and you can even use a 3D printed paddle with your Touch controller for the full authentic experience. It’s table tennis in VR, recreated in impressive detail.
Cross-platform play: Yes, with Rift and SteamVR users.
If you’re looking for a competitive multiplayer shooter on Oculus Quest, then Onward has to be your pick. In his review, David dubbed Onward as the definitive military sim FPS — you play in 5v5 battles against other players online, with an array of weapons and three game modes to choose from. While it’s missing the visual fidelity and some of the custom features from the PC VR version of the game (many of which have been promised to arrive in a future update), it is still easily one of the best multiplayer VR games on the Quest. As David put it, “this should be in every Quest user’s library that enjoys shooters — hands down.”
Cross-platform play: Yes, between Quest and PC VR platforms.
With the success of Fortnite and the battle royale genre, something similar coming to VR was inevitable. Late last year, Population: One filled that gap in the market.
If you’re looking for a VR battle royale to play with friends, then look no further. This three-man squad-only shooter follows the same basic premise as Fortnite complete with a basic wall-building system, but the addition of climbing and a deployable wingsuit for gliding sets it apart by letting you scale any building or structure.
The game has received plenty of post-launch support and content updates, so if you’re looking for a multiplayer VR shooter to sink your teeth into long-term, Population: One is probably your best bet.
Cross-platform play: Yes, between Quest and PC VR platforms.
Echo VR is a competitive multiplayer game that could only work in VR, and that’s why it’s so high on our list. In terms of multiplayer experiences available on the platform, the game remains conceptually and practically unmatched — it provides unique gameplay, an ingenious movement system and thrilling competitive action.
The core premise sees you play in teams in a zero-gravity room with a single disc floating in the middle. There’s a goal at each end of the arena and you can push off of objects or use wrist boosters to move around the environment while throwing, passing and shooting the disc toward the goal. It’s not a hard concept to understand but, like any competitive sport or game, it’s a lot harder to master. Even better — Echo VR is available for free on Oculus Quest.
Demeo is the latest from VR developer veterans Resolution Games, this time translating the social, tabletop RPG campaign genre into a well-packaged VR experience.
Up to 4 players can tackle Demeo’s randomized run of three dungeon levels in the first campaign, which is appropriately challenging and can last anywhere from a few minutes for the careless to approaching three hours or more. A second campaign, Realm of the Rat King, is also now available and features five levels to work through.
There’s many staples of a tabletop RPG – turn-based combat, fantasy setting, class options – but really, it’s not the gameplay itself that makes Demeo worthy of #1 on this list. Demeo is an engaging tabletop RPG, but more importantly it’s a near-peerless social VR experience, polished to such a degree that it transforms the kinks of its systems into enjoyable, suspenseful quirks.
Not only is it available on Quest now, but it’s available on PC VR with crossplay as well. There’s also plans for a flatscreen PC release in the future, along with more DLC campaigns.
Acron! Attack of the Squirrels: Play in VR as a tree trying to knock away squirrels (who are playing the game on a phone or tablet) from trying to get your acorns.
Rec Room: Free collection of activities like paintball to play with friends or family with cross-play supported on practically every kind of system, including PS.
Crisis VRigade: You’ll either have to install this one via sideloading on SideQuest (here’s how to do that) or via App Lab, as it’s not a full store release, but if you’re looking for an arcade game shooter experience with friends that’s similar to Time Crisis, this is it.
Those are our picks for best multiplayer games on Oculus Quest, but what are yours? Let us know in the comments.
Upcoming VR MMO Zenith is now planning to launch its second alpha testing phase at the end of July.
Over the weekend developer Ramen VR updated fans with a refreshed timeline. Originally planned for earlier in June, the second alpha now launches on July 24 and runs through to August 1. As with the first alpha, this test will be available to Kickstarter backers, founders and those that have pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition of the game. There’s still no dates for the game’s two planned betas, though.
Going forward the team plans to reveal new gameplay footage and mechanics for the MMO more often. That includes the below look at the gliding feature, which sees players travel through floating rings by stretching their arms out like in Population: One. Catching updrafts allows them to travel further, too.
We will be revealing some of the work we are doing over the next few weeks as wellThe first one is Gliding Quests and Updrafts! What do you think? https://t.co/4SGlNTXwVX
It all looks quite lovely, though we’re still waiting to see if Zenith really is ‘the one’ when it comes to delivering a truly immersive VR MMO. Zenith is still planning to launch on Quest, PSVR and PC VR later this year. Eagerly awaiting more news? Why not check out our Q&A with the developers in the meantime?
Surprise! We’re kicking off a week-long mini-Upload Access with Rebellion’s Sniper Elite VR, and it starts with some exclusive gameplay.
We’ve recorded over 12 minutes of footage from the upcoming VR shooter below. This is taken from around midway through the game’s campaign in a level that nicely mixes some of the different playstyles. It’s running on SteamVR.
Sniper Elite VR Gameplay
For starters, we’ve got a look at some of the sniping, which relies on a steady hand and excellent timing. A plane overhead gives players a moment to strike by masking the sound of gunfire, letting you pick off targets without giving up your position. And, of course, there’s plenty of the game’s bloody glorious X-RAY killcam.
You can also see some of the stealth mechanics at work here – not every level of Sniper Elite VR will allow you to sneak around, but it’s often best to stay silent for as long as possible. But, when you’re inevitably discovered, you’ll also have more than enough firepower at your disposal to stand your ground. The game replicates a number of WW2-era weapons, with realistic reloading and hefty weapon handling.
We’ve got more to come from Sniper Elite VR later this week. Check back for an interview with Rebellion and co-developer, Just Add Water, soon. We’ll have more gameplay to show towards the end of the week too.
Sniper Elite VR hits Quest, PSVR and PC VR on July 8 – what did you make of our Sniper Elite VR gameplay? Let us know in the comments below!
Demeo (2021), the tabletop dungeon crawler from Resolution Games, launched back in early May with a single adventure module, which pits up to four co-op players against a mountain of ghoulies and one very powerful Elven Queen. The studio is launching today its first post-launch module, which essentially doubles the game in size.
Update (June 28th, 2021): Demeo’s first big campaign update arrives today, bringing with it new challenges. Not to spoil too much, but Real of the Rat King includes a new sewer environment, new enemies including poisonous Spore Fungus enemies and multi-headed Gorgons inspired by Medusa, cards featuring anti-venom (plenty of poisonous things lurk in the sewer) and The Rat King end boss himself.
Realm of the Rat King is just the first addition of what the studio calls “many new adventures we have in the works.” You can expect more campaigns, magic and heroes over time. Check out the new trailer below:
Original Article (June 15th, 2021): Called ‘Realm of the Rat King’, the new adventure is said to take you “deep into the sewers on your quest to find the Rat King.”
Revealed during UploadVR’s E3 showcase video (seen below), we only managed to get a brief peek at the dungeon. Here’s a bet with good odds: it’s set to feature plenty of those pesky rat nest-spawners everyone hates so much.
The game’s first module, ‘The Black Sarcophagus’, offers a fairly steep learning curve for new players, however once you figure out which cards to hunt for, and where best to spend your time in searching for gold, it becomes much easier over time since the only truly significant thing to change between runs is the level layouts themselves.
The next module will be a welcome addition, as it inevitably attracts early players of the game back to the game whilst making sure the servers are well-populated for new players too. Make sure to check out our full review of Demeo to find out why we gave it a respectable [7/10].
Realm of the Rat King is coming for free to all supported platforms, which includes Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, and SteamVR headsets. Resolution says the game is slated to receive regular post-launch updates for free, which will feature new environments, enemies, and ability cards.
VRChat, the popular social VR platform, announced its secured a Series D funding round of $80 million, which brings to the startup more than five times its overall lifetime investment.
The round was led by Anthos Capital, alongside participating investors Makers Fund, GFR Fund and others. According to Crunchbase, this brings VRChat’s overall outside investment to $95.2 million.
VRChat is a free app that brings together VR and non-VR users in user-generated spaces that can range from the mundane to the truly fantastic. Having celebrated its first taste of virality back in 2018, the PC and SteamVR-compatible app went on to include support for Oculus Quest in late 2020, which propelled it yet further with record-setting concurrent user numbers. The company now boasts over 40,000 concurrent users.
The company says the investment will “expedite development of a creator economy where members can earn, an enhanced social discovery system for more meaningful experiences, and expansion to more platforms. These enhancements will contribute to VRChat’s rapid growth and allow more people to access this virtual universe.”
Last year, social VR app Rec Room also dipped its toes into the digital economy by offering its creators real financial reward for developing on the app, which includes things like premium experiences, avatar accessories, and in-game gadgets. Rec Room also posted some pretty substantial funding, as its latest round garnered it a $100 million Series D and a $1.25 billion valuation.
This means Rec Room and VRChat now rank among some of the most valuable VR companies outside of platform holders Facebook, Valve, and HTC.
The Realm of the Rat King expansion is available now, free for existing Demeo owners on all platforms.
https://youtu.be/pbHixcO9kuY
You can check out the launch trailer for the expansion embedded above. From a lore perspective, here’s how the Realm of the Rat King fits into Demeo’s story, according to Resolution Games:
Once players have proven victorious in Demeo’s first adventure, ‘The Black Sarcophagus,’ the heroes learn that the town of Sunderhaven is suffering from an unlikely infestation. Feral rats have begun to appear, and the rumors among the locals suggest that they’re being steered by someone… or something. Adventurers will delve deep into the sewers beneath Sunderhaven to locate the source of this mysterious scourge and eliminate it by any means necessary.
According to Tommy Palm, CEO and Co-founder of Resolution Games, the Rat King campaign is “just the first addition of many new adventures we have in the works” for Demeo.
The Rat King campaign boasts a new environment set in the sewers, new enemies included a poison-filled Spore Fungus and a multi-headed ‘Gorgon’ (pictured above) that can turn you into stone if you catch it’s gaze. As previously reported, there’s also new cards such as the Torch and Antitoxin and, of course, the titular new boss, the Rat King.
Resolution Games also confirmed that you’ll be fighting the Rat King while you’re “five levels underground,” seemingly confirming that the new campaign is two levels longer than the game’s first.
Demeo has also been submitted for approval on the Oculus Rift store, and will support cross-play when it launches over the “coming days.”
The Realm of the Rat King expansion is available now for free to existing owners of Demeo. The game is available for $29.99 on SteamVR and the Oculus Store for Quest. You can read our review here.
The first one is Gliding Quests and Updrafts! What do you think? 
