After an initial tease back in April, Gearbox Software has finally released details regarding its next virtual reality (VR) project, a collaboration with famous magical duo Penn & Teller. Called Penn and Teller VR: Frankly Unfair, Unkind, Unnecessary & Underhanded (or Penn & Teller VR: F U, U, U & U for short), the soon to be released title is all about magic tricks and having some fun pulling pranks on friends along the way.
Penn & Teller VR is a local party style experience based around 12+ tricks (or ‘Bits’ as they’re called in the videogame). These Bits aren’t simple magic tricks to perform and learn, oh no, they do in fact help you prank your friends if you see fit.
Just like any good magical show, there’s the magician (you) and the audience (your friends), where you’re able to test your telekinetic powers, or even guide your soon-to-be-ex-friends as they perform The Most Dangerous Act in Showbiz. It’s not all about pranking your friends though, as there are single-player elements like being chained inside a tank filling with water, from which you have to escape.
“When a new mind-blowing technology comes out, the first thing Teller and I think is, ‘How can we use this to help people play tricks, cheat, and prank’,” said Penn Jillette, the larger and louder half of Penn & Teller. “Luckily for us, (and maybe less luckily for the world), Randy Pitchford, the big cheese at Gearbox, is our buddy, and worked as a professional magician. We are the same soulless motherhubbards. So, we’ve found a way for people to use VR as a tool to monkey with their so-called ‘friends.’ It’s what we do, and we’ve done it.”
“In our collaboration, we became animated by advances in the transformative medium of virtual reality and are now excited for fans of magic, pranks, tricks, video games, and VR to be able to experience an entirely new kind of interactive experience,” said Randy Pitchford, President, CEO and Co-founder of Gearbox Software. “With Penn & Teller VR: F U, U, U, & U, you’ll have the tools and technology to feel what it’s like to *be* magicians like Penn & Teller.”
There’s not long to wait for Penn and Teller VR: Frankly Unfair, Unkind, Unnecessary & Underhanded. It’ll be available for Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift/Rift S and HTC Vive on 27th June, priced at $19.99 USD. While a PlayStation VR version will arrive on 9th July 2019. For further updates from Gearbox Software, keep reading VRFocus.