Monday, 3 December 2018

StarVR Creator Starbreeze Loses CEO, Files For Reconstruction

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StarVR Creator Starbreeze Loses CEO, Files For Reconstruction

It’s not looking good for StarVR creator and VR publisher/developer, Starbreeze.

The Sweden-based company today announced that it had filed for ‘reconstruction’ with the Stockholm District Court. That’s basically Sweden’s way of filing for administration. In a press release, the company stated this was due to “a shortage of liquidity”, also confirming that CEO Bo Andersson was resigning from his post and the Board of Directors. Employees will continue to be paid during this period but “no payments can be made to suppliers for services or goods relating to the period prior to the date of filing for reconstruction.”

Starbreeze attributes a lot of these issues to the poor sales for Overkill’s The Walking Dead, a recent first-person shooter for PC and consoles that seemingly failed to find an audience. The company has since thrown out financial targets for Q4 2018 and 2020.

That said, it’s also a sign that the company’s extended efforts in VR in recent years have also come up short. In recent years Starbreeze published a John Wick VR game and integrated Oculus Rift and HTC Vive support into its multiplayer heist shooter, Payday 2. It also funded and published location-based VR experiences like The Raft and Ape-X which have gone on display at VR arcades like the newly-opened VR Park in a Dubai mall, which we visited earlier this year.

These location-based experiences also ran on StarVR, a headset Starbreeze itself created for arcades and other such installations. Starbreeze eventually span StarVR out into its own company and, back in 2017 Acer became its majority investor. This left Starbreeze with around a third of StarVR and freed the company of its “remaining capital commitment” of $7.5 million. StarVR One is now available to pre-order as a $3,200 developer kit.

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To the ‘VR is Dying’ Crowd: There’s More VR Users on Steam Than Ever Before

PSVR Winners At Sony’s PlayStation Awards Are Not What We Expected

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PSVR Winners At Sony’s PlayStation Awards Are Not What We Expected

Sony has just announced the winners of the 2018 PlayStation Awards in Japan, and the list of VR titles raises an eyebrow.

Bethesda’s Skyrim VR, Aquire’s No Heroes Allowed VR! and Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo Sport all took home prizes in this category. Before you start asking where Astro Bot is, take note that these aren’t selected on quality but instead simply recognize the best-selling PSVR games in Asia region in the past year. That would explain why one of PSVR’s biggest games, Skyrim, made it onto the list despite releasing in 2017 and why No Heroes Allowed, a series better known in Japan, also thrived.

It is a little strange to see Gran Turismo Sport on the list, though. Fans will know that Polyphony’s 2017 racing sim only offered barebones, optional PSVR support compared to the rest of the game that could be played on a flat screen. It’s a shame to see the game take a spot that could have been given to a dedicated VR game, though we don’t know if Sony is judging this based upon how many people played GT Sport’s VR mode or otherwise.

Still, with Sony getting so many great games onto PSVR in recent months including the likes of Astro Bot and Firewall, hopefully we’ll see some more VR-angled games winning next year.

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Sunday, 2 December 2018

Walking In The Company Of Virtual Ghosts

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The interactive VR experience delivers a new spin on Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas tale.

While mince pies may have been out on supermarket shelves since September – spare a thought for those poor store clerks, it’s not truly the Holiday season until companies begin breaking out their annual adaptations of the Charles Dicken’s classic, A Christmas Carol

And sure enough, just as I’m getting ready to pick out my tree, news that Los Angeles-based experiential studio GreatCo is premiering a spooky rendition of Mr Dickens’ classic tale in virtual reality. Ding dong merrily on high!

The experience, which runs November 30th till January 6th, 2019, comes with a few twists. Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is a location-based mash-up of film, gaming, theatre and immersive technology that plunges you into a Tim Burton-esque Victorian London where – as you might have guessed – you’ll be guided by ghosts on a journey to confront visions of your own past, present, and future in the hopes of emerging a better and happier person at the end.  

The experience is a co-production of Here Be Dragons and MWM Immersive (Formerly Reality One) whose immersive division was behind Jon Favreau’s Gnomes & Goblins.

It’s a high-value production that includes a detailed Victorian-era set where only one audience member is allowed in at a time. Once fitted with a VR headset by a professional actor, the player interacts with a cast of live actors (using motion capture) and real-world objects throughout their experience. Producers hope this combination of real-world interaction will create a “spine-tingling journey of self-reflection and visual awe.”

“By combining the best of VR and immersive theater, Chained surpasses the limitations of each medium and lets the audience see, converse with, and even touch the impossible,” says Justin Denton, who created and directed the experience. “I grew up with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol but in my mind’s eye I always imagined the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future as much darker and more intense than most adaptations.”

“Audiences will walk away from Chained as though they have just awoken from a dark and beautiful fever dream full of self discovery, fascination, fear, and wonder,” hopes Denton, who has a track record of producing such unusual and thought-provoking immersive pieces, having previously created the Legion experience at San Diego Comic Con 2017.

The list of impressive A-list talent involved in the project doesn’t end there. Aaron Sims, whose Hollywood credits include Transformers, Planet of the Apes, The Thing, and Stranger Things, provided art direction and software development, while Bruce Straley, co-creator and game director of The Last of Us, provided story consultation.

Ethan Stearns, producer of the Academy Award-winning VR project Carne y Arena was an Executive Producer on the project, and stresses that the experience uses immersive technology in the service of telling a compelling story rather than a gimmick.  

Chained embodies the creative drive and spirit of everyone at MWM Immersive. We empower directors and writers to use whatever mediums are necessary to create the narrative experience they want and leave audiences delighted and awed,” he says.

Tickets for the Los Angeles experience can currently be purchased for $40 on Eventbrite and there are plans for Chained to tour other cities – dates to be announced “soon.”

Image Credit: Aaron Sims Creative

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Oculus Rift+Touch Is Just $329 At Amazon & Best Buy Today

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Oculus Rift+Touch Is Just $329 At Amazon & Best Buy Today

US retailers Amazon & Best Buy are offering $70 off the Oculus Rift+Touch package today, bringing the price down to $329. This represents a saving of 17.5%.

This is the best direct price we’ve ever seen for the Rift+Touch in the US. If you knew someone with an Oculus headset you could get the Rift+Touch package for $314.10 on Black Friday from Oculus.com, but if you didn’t the direct price was $349.

The offer doesn’t include the Marvel Powers United VR game which many other retailers are bundling, but that game is $39.99 so this is still the better deal.

The Oculus website has the Rift for $349, not as low as this. The deal appeared on Best Buy first as a daily deal and Amazon have seemingly price matched it. It’s possible that this will be the best deal this month, o if you’ve been wanting a Rift under your tree this Christmas this might just be the time to order it.

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Marketing Through Smart Speakers? Brands Don’t Need to Be Asked Twice


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VR Game Releases For December 2018

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VR Game Releases For December 2018

Every month we aim to round up each and every VR game release for you in one single place — this is December’s list. Don’t worry — we’ll continue highlighting the best ones at the end of each week too.


With the door closed on November, we’ve just been through another great month of VR content. Between Echo Combat, Tetris Effect, and the incredible puzzler Transpose, there were lots of titles to look forward to last month. Now with December upon us, it’s time to take a look at what’s coming down the line next.

And if you’re a VR game developer planning to release a game soon — let us know! You can get in touch with me directly by emailing david@uploadvr.com or hit all of the editorial team by emailing tips@uploadvr.com. Please contact us about your upcoming releases so that we can know what you’re working on and include you in release lists!

Rift, Vive, and Windows VR Game Releases For December 2018

Palace of the Azure Dragon ($4.99) – December 1st – Vive
Puzzle Out VR ($5.99) – December 1st – Rift, Vive
TendyTrainer ($TBD) – December 3rd – Rift
Flying Aces – Navy Pilot Simulator  ($TBD) – December 3rd – Rift, Vive
MiniTracks ($TBD) – December 3rd – Vive, Windows VR
Arca’s Path – December 4th – Rift, Vive, Windwos VR (Read Our Preview)
Tippy Tree ($TBD) – December 4th – Rift, Vive, Windows VR
Paradise Checkers ($TBD) – December 5th – Rift
Jake and the Giant ($TBD) – December 5th – Rift
VRetired ($TBD) – December 7th – Rift, Vive
Ball Out ($TBD) – December 7th – Rift, Vive
The Spy Who Shrunk Me ($TBD) – December 18th – Non-VR Only This Year
Contractors ($TBD) – December 10th – Rift, Vive, Windows VR
Virtual Army: Revolution ($TBD, Free Demo Out Now) – December 2018 – Rift, Vive
Blade & Sorcery ($TBD) – December 2018 – Rift, Vive, Windows VR (Read Our Preview)

 

Mobile VR Game Releases For December 2018

Virtual Desktop for Go ($9.99) – November 30th, but too good not to include) – Oculus Go/Gear VR (Our Full Review)

 

PSVR Game Releases For Dovember 2018

Prison Boss ($TBD) – December 4th (Read Our PC VR Review)
Rush ($TBD) – December 4th
Arca’s Path ($TBD) – December 4th (Read Our Preview)
Red Matter ($TBD) – December 6th
Gungrave VR ($39.99) – December 11th
Borderlands 2 VR ($49.99) – December 14th
Scraper: First Strike – ($TBD) December 18th (Read Our PC VR Review)
Kingdom Hearts VR ($TBD) – December 2018
Persona 3 and Persona 5 Dancing – ($59.99/ea or $99.99 bundle) – VR “viewer” mode only
Dreams Open Beta (Free) – December 2018 (Read Our Coverage)


As a point of emphasis: reach out to david@uploadvr.com or tips@uploadvr.com to let us know about your upcoming VR game releases!

Editor’s Note: This list will be continuously updated.

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