Category: After-H

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EVA Unveils Free-Roaming VR Esports Stadium at Paris Games Week

Location-based entertainment (LBE) is a growing sector within the virtual reality (VR) industry, and a natural subsection of that are esports. During the annual Paris Games Week (PGW) event last month Esports Virtual Arenas (EVA) debuted a 1,000 square meter stadium designed to host VR competitions. 

EVA Stadium

EVA’s VR Esports Stadium concept is built around the premise of competitive player vs player experiences which can also be viewed by large, physically present crowds. While the initial debut featured a 1,000 sq meter stadium at PGW 2019, the concept can be tailored to suit a range of factors, from location size to number of players.

The EVA stadium can be scaled from 400 m2 (4,300 ft2) to 3000 m2 (32,000 ft2), accommodating a maximum of 30 players at once. When it comes to the public, 500 spectators can be seated around the arena to witness every move the competitors make in the stadium as well as watching their in-game actions displayed on gigantic screens hung in the centre. Additionally, matches can also be live-streamed for fans online.

At PGW 2019, EVA held competitive 4v4 matches using a specifically reworked version of the VR title After-H. Built when EVA used to be called SmartVR Studio, After-H was designed specifically for LBE venues but the developer decided to expand that support to home headsets in September. So After-H can currently be found on Steam Early Access as a free download for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality and Valve Index headsets.

EVA player

EVA is offering a turnkey solution for those interested in implementing the concept which includes exclusive videogames, equipment and structures, building a facility in three months. The company plans on opening the first EVA VR Stadiums to the public during 2020 in France as well as internationally.

Having originally started out as SmartVR Studio developing Top Floor, a VR experience about fear of heights and After-H,  the company rebranded as Esports Virtual Arenas (EVA), receiving €2m EUR from the Trust Esport Venture fund to develop its stadium idea.

As and when the stadium concept becomes publicly available VRFocus will let you know. Or for LBE action now, then check out Godzilla VR in London, UK or Terminator: Guardian of Fate at Dave & Buster’s locations in the US.

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The VR Game Launch Roundup: A Sneaky September Selection

As September draws to a close, here are a host of new virtual reality (VR) videogames being released over the course of the next week. Fans of first-person shooters will not be disappointed. Make sure to stay tuned into VRFocus for up to date coverage on the Oculus Connect event, next week on the 25th and 26th September where VRFocus will be reporting and keeping you up to date on all things VR.

BlastworldEspire 1: VR Operative

Become an ‘Espire agent’ and take control of a futuristic drone armed with state of the art weapons and gadgets in this virtual reality stealth experience. Featuring full freedom of movement and varying levels of immersion, experience this full single-player story along with smaller challenges and make use of the game’s voice control to make commands and take charge.

  • Supported platforms: Oculus Rift/HTC Vive/Oculus Quest/Windows Mixed Reality/Valve Index
  • Launch date: 24th September

Blastworld

New from Finnish games studio, Hipfire Games, you can run, jump and fly across various maps in this competitive first-person PVP adventure where you swap out traditional multiplayer weapons for foam dart guns and other comedic weapons. Featuring various levels of immersion. Currently a demo, the studio is looking to release a full release in the future.

After-H

After-H

After two years in development and after gathering feedback from various sources, After-H is getting another release so users can give feedback on a much larger scale in this new early access release. Set on Mars, this FPS experience sees 2-8 players fight to take control of the solar system in this competitive experience. Currently, the game includes 3 maps, three different weapons and 3 different modes of gameplay.

Intruders: Hide and Seek

In this first-person stealth horror VR experience, you view your surroundings through the eyes of a defenceless boy stuck in a house that has just been invaded by intruders. You must work to move around unnoticed to protect your family in this four-hour-long experience.

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Arcade FPS After-H to get Free Steam Early Access Release

Plenty of home virtual reality (VR) titles have made the leap into arcades as a way to make more money for studios. The same can’t be said for the other way around though. French studio and VR operator smartVR will be doing just that later this month by releasing After-H, a first-person shooter (FPS) designed for location-based entertainment (LBE) venues on home VR headsets.

After-H

With a basic story revolving around two human factions fighting for strategic points across the solar system in 2080, After-H is a pure multiplayer shooter. With maps supporting up to 4 vs 4 player matches, After-H is a fast FPS with the Early Access release featuring three modes (Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All and Domination), three maps (The Cliff / Ruins Bay / Coliseum) and three weapons (MX42 (assault rifle), The Needle (precision rifle), T1 Gauss (shotgun)).

The Early Access release doesn’t have a fixed timeline for an eventual launch but the studio has plenty of plans for the title, saying on its Steam page: “The full version of the game will include a larger set of weapons, skins, maps, game modes, in-game player and team features. We also have high esport expectations for After-H, which means we’ll have to define a competition system.”

Currently being worked on are Earth and Io maps, pistol, long-range rifle and bow weapons, a tutorial, an account system with levelling rewards and ranked games/leaderboards, plus new gameplay features like social interactions and abilities.

After-H

“Our goal was to make a true esport game with quality graphics for optimal VR immersion. We’ve worked hard on balancing and gameplay to launch a game that’s fun and quick to pick up, where players can also develop skills,” says Jean Mariotte, co-founder of smartVR in a statement.

Supporting Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, After-H will launch on Monday 23rd September via Steam and Viveport completely free, with the studio stating even with regular updates it’ll remain free.

For those that don’t own a compatible headset, After-H is available in over 200 arcades around the world which use the SpringboardVR system. For further updates on the videogame from smartVR, keep reading VRFocus.

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VR Arcade Shooter After-H Is Coming To Home Headsets For Free

We often see successful VR games played at home make their way to arcades. After-H, however, is doing things the other way around.

This competitive first-person shooter, developed by French team smartVR first launched in arcades. This month, however, it’s coming to Steam Early Access with support for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. It’s the latest shot at combining VR and esports, with 4 vs 4 matches offering three different gameplay modes.

A Free VR FPS

The game’s set in the far-flung future, where factions of soldiers fight it out for what’s left of natural resources. Matches play out on alien planets where futuristic soldiers hunt each other down. smartVR tells UploadVR that the game will be “100% free.”

Not only that but the home release will feature full cross-play with arcades.

“We want to bring players together as much as possible so the players who don’t have a VR headset at home will be able to go to an arcade, connect to their profile and play with their friends online,” CEO Jean Mariotte told me. “We also want the owners of a VR headset to go to an arcade and play physically with their friends if they want to.”

New to the home version is user-made profiles and an experience point system. There’s even going to be a smartphone app you can bring to arcades to keep your profile when playing away from home.

Giving all of this away from free is a surprising move, but Mariotte insists smartVR has no plans to profit from the home release. “The rationale behind this business model decision is to facilitate the game access to the maximum amount of gamers,” he said. “We’ve noticed that all the other VR FPS are premium and even a price tag as low as $10 can prevent a large adoption. Our offer is a totally free high quality VR FPS.”

If you want an early look at the game you can sign up for a discovery event taking place next week. In the US it runs from September 18, 7pm -11pm PST and you can sign up here. In Europe is takes place on September 19, 9pm -1am Paris time and you need to apply here. Creating an account for the game before 23:59 GMT + 1 September 19 will net you an exclusive Pioneer character skin unlocked early next year.

After-H will arrive on September 23rd.

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