The Walking Dead, Gorn Devs Provide Updates On PSVR Ports

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Two of the most anticipated PSVR ports on the horizon seem very close to release.

Both the developers of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and Gorn provided updates on their respective ports this week. For The Walking Dead, Skydance Interactive tweeted a message to assure that the team was “adjusting as best we can” to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the team also stressed “we’re working out hardest to get Saints & Sinners out to you on PSVR this Spring.”

The game won’t be making its initial Q1 2020 release window, but hopefully it won’t be delayed too much further. The Walking Dead is one of our favorite PC VR games of the year, so we’re really looking forward to its PSVR release. A Quest version will follow after that.

Gorn, meanwhile, seems a little closer to release, as it’s currently trying to pass Sony’s certification system. Developer Free Lives is currently fixing some feedback from its first pass, but stresses that release is “close”. However, as the developer and Sony’s certification team are now self-isolating, it might take longer. People have been waiting a long time on this one, so it’s good to hear that release is nearing.

PSVR fans have a lot to look forward in the future, then. Aside from these two, the long-awaited port of Form hits the platform next week and Iron Man VR arrives in May.

Will you be picking up The Walking Dear or Gorn on PSVR? Let us know in the comments below!

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VR Melee Game Ironlights Launching April 9 With Multiplayer Crossplay

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Multiplayer VR melee game Ironlights is launching on April 9 for PC VR headsets via Oculus and Steam, as well as on the Oculus Store for Oculus Quest. The game ran a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier in the year, and is now launching a full release after a limited beta that ran over the last month or so.

Unlike many other Kickstarter campaigns, the Ironlights Kickstarter presented a fully-playable game to potential backers — the aim of the campaign was to raise funds to further refine the game’s features before a full launch. This approach means that Ironlights is now launching only two or so months after its Kickstarter campaign, a rare occurrence when it comes to Kickstarter campaigns.

Some Kickstarter backers were also able to play a beta version of Ironlights after the Kickstarter ended. According to developer E McNeill, the closed beta had a few hundred players and allowed the team to refine the game before launch.

Ironlights will launch with crossplay between platforms and cross-buy for Oculus Rift and Quest on the Oculus Store. Crossplay is a crucial component for multiplayer games, especially for VR games which typically have a smaller install base. Ironlights also supports LAN play for users connected on the same network, which holds great potential for Oculus Quest users who could meet up to battle in person over a shared Wi-Fi network.

With launch only a week away, McNeill also outlined the roadmap for future post-launch content. New cosmetic options, additional single-player content and multiplayer skill tracking is coming soon, alongside an unlock system for cosmetics.

The roadmap also indicates that a 2D app for spectating multiplayer games in in the works and coming soon, which could act as a public spectator client for Ironlights tournaments, allowing them to be broadcast online.

In the long term, E McNeill wants to add new weapons and classes and also adjust some of the visual effects in the game. Users can also expect a training mode down the line, and a revamped campaign system, allowing for more ranges of difficulty.

Ironlights will launch for PC VR and Oculus Quest, available on Steam and the Oculus Store for $19.99.

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Half-Life: Alyx Mod Recreates Half-Life 2 Environments And Assets In VR

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A new mod for Half-Life: Alyx recreates environments and assets from Half-Life 2 in VR, using the Source 2 engine.

Created by Vect0r, the mod is just a showcase for now and won’t be released to the public. It features the outdoor area of City 17 which Gordon Freeman runs through in the beginning of the game and shows some other Half-Life: 2 assets. So while it’s still exciting, the mod is just a demonstration and doesn’t represent a fully playable VR version of Half-Life 2 just yet.

As you can see, despite running on the new Source 2 engine that debuted in Half-Life: Alyx, the ported assets and visuals in the mod don’t look nearly as polished, for very understandable reasons. “I took the original map file and converted to Source 2 format and added to Half-Life: Alyx,” said Vect0r, in the video description. “In process, I converted assets of Half-Life 2 to Half-Life: Alyx as well. Things I was able to do was very limited since Valve didn’t share SDK with the public yet. [sic]”

Obviously substantial work would be needed, particularly with lighting and other effects, to properly port the Half-Life 2 assets into Source 2, for VR or otherwise. That being said, the mod does allow the player to use the reload and eject mechanic from Alyx, which is exciting.

While it’s just a demonstration for now, it bodes well for the future. It would be amazing to play through Half-Life 2 in VR using Alyx’s gunplay and mechanics. A group of developers is working on porting the original game to VR more fully, though.

If you’ve finished Alyx and you’re desperate for more Half-Life in VR, the original Half-Life game has been ported to the Oculus Quest and is fully playable, from start to finish. You can read a guide on what you need and how to set that up on your Quest here.

Would you like to play Half-Life 2 in VR? Let us know in the comments below.

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Facebook Signs Exclusivity Deal with AR Display Maker Plessey

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Facebook is taking an important step towards releasing its first AR headset, as the company has signed an exclusivity agreement with UK-based AR display maker Plessey to supply the company with microLED displays.

“We have decided to work with Facebook to help achieve their vision of the next computing platform centred around people,” Plessey says in a press statement. “Under a new commercial agreement, our LED manufacturing operations will be dedicated to helping Facebook prototype and develop new technologies for potential use in the AR/VR space.”

A report by The Information alleges that Apple was interested in acquiring Plessey, citing two people familiar with the matter. Facebook’s choice to not pursue an outright acquisition however, instead opting for an exclusive licensing agreement, was reportedly to avoid what could have been “intense regulatory scrutiny,” The Information maintains, which would have allegedly slowed down the process.

The commercial agreement is said to supply Facebook with AR displays over the course of several years.

SEE ALSO

Facebook is Building an AR Headset, Starting By Making a Digital Copy of the Real World

Facebook most recently acquired Scape Technologies, a London-based startup specializing in building a computer vision-based positioning system that is  to precisely determine the location of any camera device with more accuracy than GPS.

Plessey’s microLED displays are said to combine very high-density RGB pixel arrays with high-performance CMOS backplanes to produce what it calls “very high-brightness, low-power and high-frame-rate image sources” for AR and VR headsets.

Vuzix, a maker of smartglasses and AR headsets, entered into a similar agreement with Plessey last year, which at the time was said to simplify existing AR optical systems of red, green and blue light sources by replacing it with a single self-emitting display which has integrated micro-optical elements. At the time, Vuzix’s agreement was seeking to use Plessey’s displays to reduce size and weight of their headsets.

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‘It’s part of my job as a VC to remain calm,’ says Anorak’s Greg Castle

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As the venture landscape adjusts to the COVID-19 pandemic and seismic shifts in public markets, early-stage VCs are reassessing which bets they’re making, along with questions they’re asking of founders who are exploring bleeding-edge technology.

Anorak Ventures is a small seed-investment firm that bets on emerging tech like AR/VR, machine learning and robotics. I recently hopped on a Zoom call with founder Greg Castle to talk about what he’s seen recently in seed investing and how the sector is responding to the crisis. Castle was an early investor in Oculus; his other bets at Anorak include Against Gravity, 6D.ai and Anduril.

Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

TechCrunch: Has this pandemic affected the types of companies that you’re looking at?

Greg Castle: From my experience as an investor thus far, being reactive as an investor and looking at “hot” areas has a lot of pitfalls to be mindful of. I think a lot of the areas that excite me as an investor could benefit from what’s going on here, those areas including robotics, automation, immersive entertainment and immersive computing.

Just generally, do you feel like a recession is more likely to negatively impact emerging tech more so than other areas?

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YUR Levels Up VR Fitness With Calorie-Counting Virtual Watch, Native On Quest

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VR fitness platform YUR is levelling up at-home workouts during COVID-19 isolation with the launch of a virtual watch in several Oculus Quest games and on PC.

The YUR.watch, as it’s called, is a new interface that mimics a real-life smartwatch, attached to the user’s wrist. It counts the calories you burn off while playing games. It also keeps track of a heart rate estimate calculated on your height and weight, and it’ll count the number of squats you do over a play session. Once you’ve signed in, you’ll be able to keep track of your daily targets and rise through a levelling system to unlock new tiers of watches.

Previously YUR integration on Quest came by way of SideQuest, which gave you a floating menu in-game. But the watch is being natively integrated into Quest apps via updates. I tried it out with Synth Riders, which you can see in the video below.

After a quick play around, the watch seems like a pretty fantastic addition for any VR gamers that want to keep fit. Being able to track progress persistently across multiple games is a huge advantage, and the interface can be summoned and disregarded with a flick of a wrist. There’s no physical interaction, which is a shame given that it could allow for great UI control, but understandable given you don’t want it to interfere with gameplay.

Right now the watch is officially integrated into Sairento VR, Racket: Nx and Synth Riders, with support for the excellent OhShape arriving tomorrow. We’d definitely like to see it get added into more Quest games in the future. On PC, though, the watch can be more easily integrated into games, as evidenced by this excellent Half-Life: Alyx GIF.

Will you be using YUR.watch to keep fit in VR while you stay indoors? Let us know in the comments below.

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Half-Life: Alyx Is The Highest Rated PC Game So Far In 2020, According to Metacritic

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One week after release, Half-Life: Alyx currently sits at number one on Metacritic’s list of Best PC Video Games for 2020. The game has an average score of 93, which is higher than any other PC game released this year so far, including traditional non-VR games.

Although you could argue that VR titles are a whole different category of game, Metacritic counts them as PC entries and so they compete with any other PC release in a given year. With this in mind, it’s impressive that Alyx has hit the top of the Metacritic charts for the year so far. That being said, it is only March but games like Doom: Eternal are providing stiff competition. However, many movies, TV shows and video games are being delayed and impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. With the fate of scheduled game releases now uncertain, who knows what competition Alyx might face throughout the rest of the year.

The only other VR game to get close to Alyx’s score on the PC list is The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, which sits at 9th on the list with a score of 81. Console games, such as those on the PS4 or Nintendo Switch, have their own separate list. For comparison, the highest rated PlayStation 4 game on the list is Persona 5 Royal with a score of 95. After that is Dreams with 89, which we also know is receiving VR support at some point in the (near?) future. On Nintendo Switch, the highest rated title is Animal Crossing: New Horizons with a score of 91.

This means that, across all platforms, Alyx is one of the highest rated games of the year so far. Despite it being early days, that’s still pretty impressive. According to SteamSpy, the game is owned by over 500,000 people as well. However, that number comes with two caveats. There’s no way to verify SteamSpy’s data. Plus, the game was also gifted for free to owners of the Valve Index and Vive Cosmos Elite. Therefore, the number wouldn’t accurately represent sales, only those who own the game irrespective of whether they bought it or received it for free.

If you missed our Half-Life: Alyx review, be sure to read or watch it right here.

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