Oculus Quest owners who love virtual reality (VR) animation are in for a double bill this week, Thursday in fact. Joining punk-inspired Battlescar will be Baobab Studios’ highly anticipated Baba Yaga, an Oculus Quest exclusive featuring an all-star voice cast.
Baba Yaga is based on the European fairytale where enigmatic witch Baba Yaga protects the enchanted forest in which she dwells, sometimes with good or bad intentions. In this 30-minute interactive animation, you play Sacha who alongside her younger sister Magda enter the forbidden rainforest to find a cure for your mother, the Village Chief, that Baba Yaga possesses.
Being interactive, Baba Yaga offers you choices along the way thus providing multiple endings to keep you coming back for more. As an Oculus Quest title Baobab Studios gives you the option to either use the Oculus Touch controllers or utilize the headsets hand tracking functionality.
As mentioned, the studio has managed to enlist a stellar cast of actors to voice the characters, with Oscar winner Kate Winslet (The Reader, Titanic) as Baba Yaga, Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Ophelia) as Magda, three-time Golden Globe winner Glenn Close (The Wife, Albert Nobbs) as the mother and Oscar and three-time Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls, Respect) as the enchanted forest.
As part of the project Baobab Studios partnered with the United Nations on its climate change and sustainability initiative. They’ve created a campaign for the UN ActNow app to help educate users on ways to safeguard Earth’s natural resources.
This isn’t the only project the studio has been busy with. In December part one of Paper Birds was released with the second arriving this year. Then there’s Namoo which is slated for 2021, written and directed by Erick Oh (Heart, How to Eat Your Apple).
Baobab Studios will launch Baba Yaga on 14th January 2021, for Oculus Quest, retailing for $5.99 USD. Check out the new trailer below and for further updates from the animation studio, keep reading VRFocus.