Apple Confirms Vision Pro is Launching in China This Year, Going Where Where Meta Can’t

Since its February 2nd launch, Vision Pro has been a US-only device, which means it only supports the US keyboard layout and emoji. Now Apple has confirmed that the international launch of Vision Pro is coming this year, which critically includes a launch in mainland China.

Update (March 25th, 2024): As reported by Reuters, speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed Vision Pro will hit the mainland China market sometime this year—when is still subject to speculation.

Considering Meta still has no appreciable presence in China due its products being blocked by that country’s government, this potentially gives Apple a valuable foothold in the Chinese domestic market for future releases. The original article detailing the first clues of the headset’s mainland China launch follows below:

Original Article (March 14th, 2024): According to code found by MacRumors, Apple may be soon preparing for Vision Pro’s much-awaited international launch, as 12 new languages are about to be added, one of which is simplified Chinese.

Like every other Apple device, Vision Pro needs to support a wide array of local languages if it plans to have to sort of broad international launch the Cupertino tech giant is known for.

As indicated by MacRumors, code found in Vision Pro’s 1.1 visionOS update shows 12 new languages are coming. Here’s the list of languages ostensibly soon to arrive on Vision Pro:

  • Cantonese, Traditional
  • Chinese, Simplified
  • English (Australia)
  • English (Canada)
  • English (Japan)
  • English (Singapore)
  • English (UK)
  • French (Canada)
  • French (France)
  • German (Germany)
  • Japanese
  • Korean

Apple hasn’t said exactly when it’s rolling out to other countries, or even which countries to expect from Vision Pro’s international release. The languages above however suggest it’s at least coming to Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the UK, France, and Germany.

The inclusion of Simplified Chinese may also suggest the company is entering mainland China as well, where Apple already has a firm foothold with iPhone. Granted, Simplified Chinese is also commonly used in Malaysia and Singapore, whereas traditional Chinese script is used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

In contrast to its largest US-based competitor Meta, Quest 3 cannot be purchased in mainland China. A report from earlier this year maintained that talks between Meta and Chinese tech giant Tencent had stalled, which allegedly put hopes for a Chinese launch of Meta hardware on ice.

TikTok parent company ByteDance however could have a Vision Pro competitor launching within China fairly soon, as the company has reportedly scrapped its upcoming Pico 5 headset from XR subsidiary Pico Interactive in favor of a more director competitor to Vision Pro.

Meanwhile, a report from independent tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo alleged Apple may be ramping production of Vision Pro, as Kuo predicts the company may launch in more countries sometime before WWDC this year, which is historically held in the first week of June.

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After Building One of VR’s Most Successful Games, ‘Beat Saber’ Founder Plans to Take a Break from VR

Jan ‘Split’ Ilavsky, founder of Beat Games and creator behind VR’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game Beat Saber (2018), left the studio late last month, stepping down from his position as the game’s Creative Director. Now, Ilavsky tells Road to VR he’s taking an extended break from VR altogether.

After creating one of VR’s most successful games financially to date, which generated over $100 million in revenue in 2021 alone, it’s safe to say Ilavsky deserves a break.

Jan ‘Split’ Ilavsky

Speaking to Road to VR, Ilavsky says he doesn’t have “any big plans ready now,” saying that he “most probably won’t be doing any VR for some time.”

“The last six years have been an amazing ride,” Ilavsky said on X. “When I created the first prototype of Beat Saber, I thought it might be just another small solo project, similar to some of the games I had made before. However, something felt different this time.”

First demoed publicly at GDC 2018, it was clear the Czechia-based studio had something special in their hands. Back then, the indie studio was still running under the name Hyperbolic Magnetism, although it wasn’t long before it adopted the moniker Beat Games, which was right around the time it was acquired by Meta (ex-Facebook) for an undisclosed sum.

Launching with music created by composer and DJ Jaroslav Beck in 2018, who also recently left the company, Meta’s deep pockets and industry contacts transformed the viral sensation into a revenue-generating powerhouse, striking deals with record labels to bring to the game music from a host of artists, including LizzoSkrillexBTSGreen DayTimbalandLinkin ParkImagine Dragons, and more recently Daft Punk.

While Ilavsky is taking a break from VR, he would eventually like to return to his roots: “working on innovative games,” he says. “The game industry is a challenging place to be, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the experiences I’ve had and the amazing people I’ve met along the way.”

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‘Moon Player’ Unlocks YouTube’s Immersive Video Library on Vision Pro

YouTube has a ton of videos created for immersive viewing, but without an official YouTube app on Vision Pro, it’s a bit of a song and dance to get them to play. Moon Player however launched a Vision Pro app that, with significantly less hassle, not only unlocks YouTube’s library of VR video, but lets you play basically any video format regardless of origin. Yes. Even those.

Admittedly, the paid Moon Player app isn’t exactly a one-click solution, since pulling up a VR video from YouTube requires you to select the correct format first, i.e. VR180, VR360, cubemap, top/bottom or side-by-side, etc.

Still, it delivers what it says on the tin: in addition to unlocking YouTube’s library of immersive video content, you can also play virtually every video format and every codec, which includes support for UHD, 4K, 8K and 12K playback.

Image courtesy Innovision Inc

Beyond YouTube, Moon Player’s other headlining feature is its ability to let you play downloaded files, thanks to integration with Vision Pro’s built-in Files and Photos apps. Users can directly drag and drop videos from Files and open in Moon Player, or long-press the video in Files and select to open with Moon Player, the studio says. Essentially, this lets you access content in a way Apple doesn’t allow out of the box, including content on iCloud, SMB servers, AirDrop, etc.

Granted, Moon Player is missing some functionality we hope to see in the future. For now, it doesn’t let you browse arbitrary video URLs for direct viewing, which means you’ll still need to somehow download the video in question and play locally. That’s a sight better than Vision Pro’s native video viewer though, which was primarily designed to view spatial videos captured on the headset or iPhone 15, and standard video content.

You can grab Moon Player now on the App Store, priced at $5. Created by Innovision, you’ll also find the app available across a host of VR devices, including Quest, SteamVR, Pico, and more.

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Meta Issues Voluntary Recall of Early Quest 3 Elite Battery Straps Due to Charging Fault

A widespread charging fault with Meta’s $130 Elite Battery Strap for Quest 3 forced the company to pause shipments back in December and start replacing units on a case-by-case basis. Now, it seems Meta has zeroed in on just which units could potentially be defective, and issuing what it calls “voluntary replacements”—but only if they contact you first.

Meta sent out an email recently to contact customers of its Elite Strap with Battery for Quest 3. Here’s one such email, courtesy X user @ezreeszy:

Image courtesy @ezreeszy

The charging fault, which rendered the battery useless for some users, was due to an issue with the device’s firmware, which notably couldn’t be fixed with an update and required complete replacement.

In response to widespread reports of the battery fault, Meta paused shipments of Elite Strap with Battery for Quest 3 late last year, and began shipping units with updated firmware from both Meta and its partner retailers starting sometime in mid-December. If you purchased your Elite Strap with Battery for Quest 3 after then, it’s unlikely you’ll receive such an email.

While Meta isn’t calling it a “recall” as such—to company isn’t requiring affected customers to actually send back either faulty, or potentially faulty units—it is suggesting you “follow the instructions marked on the product to responsibly dispose of it and not do it via general trash,” a follow-up email reads. So basically, keep it or bin it at your discretion.

This is only another chapter in the manufacturing woes of Meta’s Elite Strap line. Released for Quest 2 in 2020, both the Elite Strap and Elite Strap with Battery suffered premature breakage due to design issues that caused the device’s plastic struts to spontaneously crack. Meta extended the warranty of both Elite Strap variants once it unpaused sales in late 2020, or around two months after the company initially halted shipments of faulty units.

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Virtuix Omni One VR Treadmill Nabs Support for Some Big VR Games

Virtuix, the creator of the Omni One VR treadmill, announced it now has a lineup of 35 games ready for the device’s broader launch later this year, including some big ones.

Omni One was originally pitched in a crowd-based investment campaign in 2020, but is now slated to arrive to customers sometime in Q2 2024, bringing the at-home version of its VR treadmill to non-investor enthusiasts for the first time.

We say ‘at-home’ version and not consumer version because the unit costs $2,595 (plus shipping). This admittedly comes with a fully-inclusive, full-body VR experience thanks to the unit itself in addition to the included Pico 4 Enterprise headset, as well as dedicated game store with titles optimized for Omni One.

Some of the most notable games to pledge support for Virtuix Omni One are AFFECTED: The Manor, Breachers, Compound, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, In Death: Unchained, RUINSMAGUS and Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate—meaning you’ll be able to run, shoot and crouch in a way you simply can’t with stick-controlled movement.

Here’s a look at the complete lineup of 35 supported games coming at launch:

  • AFFECTED: The Manor
  • Ancient Dungeon
  • ARK and ADE
  • Breachers
  • Craft Wars
  • Crimen – Mercenary Tales
  • Compound
  • David Slade Mysteries: Case Files
  • Dead of the Sea
  • Dead Zone
  • Death Horizon: Reloaded
  • Doctor Who: The Edge of Time
  • Darksword: Battle Eternity
  • DYSCHRONIA: Chronos Alternate
  • Elite Force
  • Eolia
  • First Steps
  • Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
  • Hubris
  • Hunt Together
  • Hyperblast
  • In Death: Unchained
  • Ionia
  • Journey To Foundation
  • Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom
  • Primal Hunt
  • RUINSMAGUS
  • The Exorcist: Legion VR
  • The Jade Cipher
  • The Patcher
  • The Secret Pyramid
  • The Twilight Zone VR
  • Titanic: A Space Between
  • TOTALLY BASEBALL!
  • Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate

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Vision Pro Games Are Starting to Blend 3D with Flatscreen-native Gameplay

Apple announced that Vision Pro-native versions of two popular iOS games are coming to Apple Arcade next month, Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories, both of which put an immersive spin on inherently flatscreen gameplay.

Coming to Vision Pro on April 25th, Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories seem to highlight how the company is directly supporting development of games on its first XR headset. First, a look at the games for the uninitiated:

Crossy Road Castle, created by Hipster Whale, tasks players with platforming their way through an endlessly spinning tower. Collect Everything. Unlock Crossy Chicken and friends. Dress up in silly hats.

View post on imgur.com

Launched in 2020, the co-op game originally targeted iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV, although the Vision Pro version is doing something a bit different. It still allows for co-op across those devices in addition to Vision Pro soon, but you’ll notice as you smash your way through levels, that coins and blocks fly out of the game’s window and onto the floor. The UI floats above makes full use of the free real estate too. Input is also entirely hand-tracking based.

Like Resolution Game’s Vision Pro-exclusive Game Box (2024), Solitaire Stories from Red Games on the other hand virtualizes solitaire by adding a new measure of three dimensions, putting the tabletop classic either into both an old timey-looking radio set sitting on your coffee table, or floating in the air in full 3D. Like Crossy Road Castle, Solitaire Stories is also a flatscreen native, supporting standard iOS devices and Apple TV when it launched on Apple Arcade in 2021.

View post on imgur.com

At least from a modern VR gamer’s perspective, the company appears to be promoting game development through its third-party app creators in a distinctly ‘backwards‘ fashion. In contrast, Meta and Pico have typically encouraged studios to create or port games with an emphasis on immersive environments, and, in the case of mixed reality, gameplay that dynamically uses your room.

Notably, a majority of games Apple promotes with its Apple Arcade game subscription service aren’t exclusive to Vision Pro, with the two sole Vision Pro-only titles marked in bold below:

Everything else, like Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories, started with 2D gameplay first, and then were later retrofitted to feel more at home in mixed reality. Granted, without controllers, which has stymied veteran VR developers from bringing their games to Vision Pro, it isn’t so much a ‘backwards’ move for Apple, but likely a different path of convergence.

Like with Samsung Gear VR, which was controlled by both a head-mounted touch pad and optional un-tracked touchpad remote, by default developers will need to engage users with the lowest of the low-hanging fruit first, which in both cases included cheap and cheerful titles that played squarely within the platform’s limitations. Still, it’s early days for Apple’s $3,500 headset, which should hopefully evolve the closer we get to its rumored second iteration.

– – — – –

Whether Apple ever plans to support more ambitious immersive projects with Apple Arcade remains to be seen. Even with support for more pro-focused controllers like the recently patented stylus-style XR controller, the company may continue to sideline gaming until it’s too big to ignore. Or possibly later.

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VR Horror ‘HappyFunland’ Coming to PSVR 2 & SteamVR This Month, Trailer Here

Perp Games and Spectral Illusions announced the VR horror title HappyFunland is coming to PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets this month, letting you explore the abandoned remains of a theme park that promises some darkly comedic frights.

Here’s how the studios describes it:

You had never heard of HappyFunland theme park, or it’s tragic tale, when you agreed to meet a total stranger, named Larry, in the middle of a South Florida swamp. Perhaps if you would have known about the grisly events that happened there, you wouldn’t have agreed to the job!

In addition to a swath of spooky rides, the VR horror adventure also includes puzzles and combat too, as you defend yourself against the park’s enemy automatons which have mysteriously come to life.

It’s pretty clear from the trailer that HappyFunland isn’t exactly a kiddie ride, as in the UK and Europe it’s provisionally rated PEGI 18. The studios say this includes cartoon violence and gore, crude and mature humor, strong language, suggestive themes, as well as tobacco, drugs, and alcohol references. All the good stuff.

Notably, the studio also describes HappyFunland as a “high speed turbulent insane VR thrill ride that may cause motion sickness in certain users,” so if you’re particularly sensitive, you may want to sit this one out.

You can get it on PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets digitally on March 22nd, priced at $30. There’s also a physical PlayStation 5 edition in the UK, which you can grab direct from Perp Games.

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Roadmap for Mech Brawler ‘Underdogs’ Shows Multiplayer is a Possibility, But Not a Promise

UNDERDOGS (2024), the underground mech brawler from Racket: Nx (2019) studio One Hamsa, recently revealed the game’s development roadmap, which could also include a multiplayer mode in the future.

The studio outlined a number of future updates coming to Underdogs, which launched on Quest 2/3/Pro and SteamVR headsets earlier this year.

Here’s a brief rundown according to the game’s developer roadmap:

  • The Sandboxxer – will feature Sandbox Mode, which One Hamsa calls “a large kit of UNDERDOGS building blocks to play around with,” which includes test builds, enemies and props, and the ability to save and load scenarios and share with the community. It will also include a ‘Big Balance’, bringing new events and enemy balancing.
  • Corruption –  will let you customize your runs, either through ‘Corruptions’ – take on extra challenges and customize how you start your run, or ‘Content Boost’, which include new enemy variants, items and more.
  • Aggressor – will refresh the arsenal with new weapons (chainsaw), enemies, and events.
  • Challenger – will include new challenges in “a new game mode,” which includes leaderboards with big names, cosmetics for your mech, and rewards.
  • The Alternative Path – called a “huge content update,” it will bring “a new twist in the story,” which includes new enemies, weapons, status effects and arena.‎‎

Finally, One Hamsa says it’s planning on an update called ‘Rampage In New Brakka’, which could include a multiplayer mode.

“We’ll be honest with you. We want to give UNDERDOGS a Multiplayer Mode, and if we do, this will be the update. We have ideas, we have a basic plan, but it’s too far off to be making promises, so here’s hoping,” the studio says.

Again, it’s no promise from the devs, but Underdogs is too cool, too stylish of a game not to want to share with friends. In the meantime, we’ll be following along with the game’s X profile and its Discord channel (invite link) for the most recent developments. Check out the trailer below to see it in action:

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The Sequel to One of Quest’s Best-rated Games is Now Available, Trailer Here

SWARM (2021), the high-flying arcade shooter from Greensky Games, is one of the best-rated paid games on Quest, serving up fast-paced, arcade-style grapple shooting action as you battle against the titular Swarm. Now you can get your hands on the sequel, SWARM 2 (2024).

Announced late last year, single-player game Swarm 2 brings back more electrifying action in a rogue-like shooter package, including new environments, rogue-like progression, and globally competitive leaderboards.

In it, you play as Marv, the last surviving ‘grapple commando’, who uses their trusty pistol and grappling hook to battle back the Swarm and save Earth. Following the original Swarm, which is historically one of the best-rated Quest games by user reviews, you basically swing around like Spider-Man and blast away at Galaga (1981) style mini-baddies as well as a host of giant bosses.

Greensky Games says every mission “brings unexpected challenges as you navigate through the neon-lit ruins of Earth, now a constantly changing battleground. Each encounter with the Swarm is a unique experience, with tactics and strategies evolving to match your growing skills.”

Swarm 2 is now available across Quest 2/3/Pro and Pico headsets, priced at $25. The studio says a port for SteamVR headsets is currently on the roadmap. If you’re looking to train up before hitting the Swarm with all you’ve got, check out the game’s training guide for tips and tricks.

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The Apple Effect: Magic Leap Founder’s Previous Company Launches App on Vision Pro

Apple’s significant impact on the market tends to draw attention from companies that might not have otherwise entered a specific product category—aka “The Apple Effect.” With the entrance of Apple Vision Pro, one such entity to follow suit is Stryker’s Mako, a robotic surgery group initially founded as a standalone company by Rony Abovitz, the founder and first CEO of AR unicorn Magic Leap.

Abovitz founded Mako Surgical in 2004, and left the medical robot company when it was acquired by Stryker for $1.65 billion in 2013, or just around three years after Magic Leap was founded by Abovitz in stealth mode.

Now, Vision Pro users can download the myMako app, which lets surgeons visualize and review surgical plans in an immersive way. It’s not exactly ironic that Mako (by way of Stryker) chose Vision Pro and not Magic Leap, but the link is certainly telling of how the broader market is reacting to Apple’s first headset.

View post on imgur.com

Released in 2018, Magic Leap’s first headset actually had a lot in common with Vision Pro; it was multi-thousand dollar standalone mostly targeted at developers and professionals. At risk of comparing mixed reality Apples too closely to augmented reality oranges, one of the key differentiators was the lack of broad app integration that would make it more usable for prosumers looking for “the next big thing.”

Palmer Lucker donning ML1 | Image courtesy Palmer Luckey

There are a few more reasons ML1 didn’t fare well. It was supposed to change the entire industry, but with a relatively narrow field of view (FOV) and less-than-cutting edge optics, it was famously lambasted by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey at launch as a “flashy hype vehicle that almost nobody can actually use in a meaningful way, and many of their design decisions seem to be driven by that reality.”

Precisely one pivot and one CEO change later, which would see Abovitz eventually leave the company, Magic Leap abandoned any notion of serving prosumers, instead appealing solely to enterprise with the launch of Magic Leap 2 in 2022.

To boot, myMako is very much the sort of thing that could have launched on any number of XR headsets—Magic Leap (1 or 2), Microsoft HoloLens (1 or 2), or any VR headset for that matter, as it basically presents surgeons with 3D images obtained from computer topography (CT) based scans. Many such examples of pre-op medical apps already exist, including SurgicalAR from Medivis, which launched on HoloLens 2 prior to coming to Vision Pro last month.

So why Apple, and why now?

Big Apple, Big Stability

For the newcomers like myMako, some of it may come down to the stability Apple represents. As a the second-most valuable company in the world behind Microsoft, Apple not only brings brand cache, but a whole interlocked ecosystem of apps and services that appeal to a wider audience, ranging from prosumers to professionals—something Microsoft tried to do with Windows Universal Apps on HoloLens, but failed to make it into the sort of general computing device Vision Pro is now.

Notably, a part of Vision Pro’s immediate success can be attributed to its support for over a million iOS apps, and more than a thousand visionOS natives. And that’s in spite of its $3,500 price tag.

Image by Road to VR

And unlike Microsoft, Apple’s primary focus on consumer hardware makes it the ideal “rising tide to lift all boats” when it comes to XR headsets. Now a little over one month since launch, we’re starting to see how the competition is reacting to Vision Pro.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has gone on record to say he thinks Quest 3 is just “better for the vast majority of things that people used mixed reality for.” Fighting words aside, Meta announced late last month it was partnering with LG on what is rumored to be Quest Pro 2, which ought to more directly compete with Vision Pro.

Meanwhile, Samsung has partnered with Google to release its own Vision Pro competitor, which will include Android XR at its core—a first salvo from the beleaguered AR/VR team at Google, which previously headed its dashed Daydream platform ambitions and internal AR glasses research, which was also summarily shuttered.

It seems ‘The Apple Effect’ is pushing every major hardware company to rethink its next steps on the road to XR, and how it will remain competitive with the Big Apple in the long term now that Vision Pro is here. Whatever the case, it’s certainly enough to bring XR-adjacent companies like Stryker’s Mako sub-brand into the fold, which we expect will continue as Apple prepares its cheaper, more accessible follow-up to Vision Pro, which is reportedly arriving sooner than expected.

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