Electronic Arts. EA – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

November 8, 2021

Step Onto the Battlefield Next Week in Medal of Honor for Oculus Quest 2

Respawn Entertainment only teased Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond for Oculus Quest 2 just over a month ago and now a release date has been confirmed, and there’s literally only a week to wait.

The news arrived today via the Oculus Blog, confirming that Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will be arriving on 15th November 2021. It’ll retail for $39.99 USD (slightly cheaper than the PC edition) and support cross-buy with the Oculus Rift if you already own that version. Unfortunately, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond for Oculus Quest 2 won’t support cross-play.

On the plus side, this version will still feature all the other content found on the PC version, such as the 10-hour campaign, all the live-action documentaries Respawn Entertainment filmed, and the multiplayer of course. The latter consists of 12-player maps and five game modes including Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Mad Bomber, Domination, and Blast Radius.

When it comes to the campaign Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond takes you across European battlefields with land, sea and air missions. You step into the shoes of an OSS officer during World War II, working with the French Resistance to sabotage Nazi plans. Levels task you with infiltrating a U-boat to blow it up, running across the beaches of Normandy and scuppering enemy aircraft attacks.

With all of that content Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond takes up a whopping 45GB of storage space, so if you own the 64GB Oculus Quest 2 you might need to clear a bit of space. The shooter is also the second VR title on the platform to only support Quest 2 – the other being last month’s Resident Evil 4 – with original Quest owners missing out.

Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond arrives on Monday, 15th November for Oculus Quest 2, retailing for $39.99 USD. VRFocus will continue its coverage of the WWII shooter, reporting back with any further updates.

September 29, 2021

Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is Coming to Oculus Quest 2

What a week it has been for Oculus Quest 2 owners. Monday saw a release date confirmed for Resident Evil 4 and today EA and Respawn Entertainment have dropped a big surprise announcement. WW2 shooter Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will be hitting the standalone headset at some point this year.

Previously only playable on a decent PC for headsets like Oculus Rift and Valve Index, you could utilise Oculus Link if you really wanted to play Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond on Quest. Soon that setup will no longer be required as they’ve managed to squeeze all that content onto the headset. That’s quite the achievement considering when the videogame launched you needed a minimum of 180GB space for the install, way too much for either the older or newer base models.

There’s no info regarding how much space Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will actually take up but it’ll include the full single-player campaign, multiplayer, and The Gallery with its collection of documentaries. So you may need to make some space just in case.

Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond’s campaign takes you across European battlefields over land, sea and in the air as you take on the role of an OSS officer during World War II. Working with the French Resistance to sabotage the Nazi’s, levels will see you infiltrate a U-boat to blow it up, finding yourself on the beaches of Normandy and taking down enemy aircraft.

Once all that’s done you can head to the multiplayer that’s split across five gameplay modes, and ten maps, all of which support 12 player matches involving both human and AI opponents. From classic modes like Team Deathmatch to Mad Bomber where you have to secretly plant explosives to score big points, there’s plenty of gameplay available.

At the moment Respawn Entertainment hasn’t confirmed a price or specific release date for Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. There’s been no mention of the original Oculus Quest either, so it looks like it’ll be Quest 2 only. VRFocus will continue its coverage of the launch, reporting back with further updates.

June 19, 2020

First Gameplay Trailer for Star Wars: Squadrons Unveils Modes, Upgrades & More

This week has been dominated by EA’s Star Wars: Squadrons news, from the fact that it’ll be cross-platform to the entire experience being VR compatible there’s plenty to look forward to. To whet that appetite even further a gameplay trailer has been released detailing plenty about the title.

While the first reveal trailer at the beginning of the week certainly set the scene it was purely cinematic footage, very flashy but without showcasing what the player would see. Now you get to see inside some of the spaceships you’ll be flying this October and all the intricate components and displays vital for a successful mission.

The trailer first discusses the single-player portion of Star Wars: Squadrons, how you’ll step into the shoes of both New Republic and Imperial pilots, with it’s story set after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. This isn’t the core experience however, that’s left for the multiplayer portion.

Offering team-based 5v5 battles, there are four ships classes to chose from: Fighter, Interceptor, Support and Bomber, each having unique attributes for particular missions. There will be a Dogfight Mode for those who love to test their skills in the fastest craft, while Battle Fleet is a three stage mode where players have to defend or attack. Ending with either destroying or saving the giant carriers.

Also detailed were the customisation options which players can unlock as they progress. These range from aesthetical changes like changing your ship’s colour or your character’s race to improving the core components of the ship; adding new missiles, a different deflector shield and much more.

Let’s also mention how good Star Wars: Squadrons looks, whether that’s against a carrier in space or dogfighting in the clouds of a gas giant. The action looks intense and exactly what you’d hope for from this type of videogame.

Star Wars: Squadrons will feature support and cross-platform gameplay between PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, while on the VR side PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, Valve Index and HTC Vive headsets are included. The videogame has a launch date of 2nd October 2020 with pre-orders already available. For further updates on Star Wars: Squadrons, keep reading VRFocus.

June 16, 2020

EA Recommends PlayStation VR or Oculus Rift S for Star Wars: Squadrons

Yesterday’s big videogame news was that EA’s upcoming Star Wars: Squadrons would also be coming to virtual reality (VR) headsets. While cross-platform support was confirmed new details have been uncovered including recommended devices as well as how interactive the experience will be for players.

Over on a support page for Star Wars: Squadrons, it states that while there’s “full Virtual Reality (VR) support throughout the game and a cockpit view” for some reason only “PSVR or Oculus” are recommended. The Steam listing confirms support for HTC Vive and Valve Index so its slightly unusual for a big developer to recommend one over another – it’s more common with indies if they haven’t managed to test a particular headset.

Further details also reveal how interactive Star Wars: Squadrons is going to be from a VR perspective. Good news is that “controller, joystick, and hands on throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) support,” are included, so those with the kit will be able to enjoy X-wing, A-Wing or TIE fighter and TIE Bomber.an immersive Star Wars experience. Which sticks will be supported will be announced closer to launch.

Motion controls like Oculus Touch or PlayStation Move aren’t mentioned, however. The Steam listing goes so far to say: “The VR mode for this game requires the use of a gamepad or a keyboard and mouse.” So that’ll probably mean no interactive cockpit to play with which is a shame.

Even so, there’s still plenty to look forward to. Namely diving into the Star Wars universe once again, this time controlling some of the most iconic vehicles from the franchise. These include the X-wing, A-Wing, TIE fighter and TIE Bomber.

There will be a single-player campaign mode set after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, but the core experience will be the team-based 5v5 multiplayer where you can be a Rebel or Imperial pilot. Star Wars: Squadrons will also feature upgradable ships so players can unlock new weapons, engines and shields.

Star Wars: Squadrons isn’t the only title from the franchise coming to VR headsets this year. Oculus and ILMxLAB recently announced Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge. As further details on both videogames are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.

October 16, 2018

The Sims FreePlay Brings In Multiplayer AR

The Sims is incredibly popular in all its various forms. Evolving from the iconic SimCity franchise, it has sold over 200 million copies worldwide. The Sims FreePlay is the free-to-play smartphone iteration of the franchise, which has just launched a new content update which includes some new augmented reality (AR) features.

The new update includes a range of Autumn-themed content, including new plants, seasonal clothing, an outdoor kitchen and the return of previous Halloween seasonal content. Also included is an AR-based cooperative build mode.

The new cooperative build mode lets players work together to build virtual dream homes as if they were located in the real world. The new feature uses the Apple ARKit 2 platform, which lets players select a flat surface in the real world, and then begin to build a house from the ground up, using a huge range of virtual objects, such as different types of furniture or different decorations for the virtual house.

Players can invite fellow players to work with them on building virtual houses in real-time. There is even a ‘Sims Tracker’ that can call the player’s Sims family to the AR building, and then players can watch them interact with the AR objects, similarly to the standard videogame mode.

“We thought it was a really cool idea, and as we continued working on the feature, we thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we could build together?,’” said Chris Brousseau, Senior Product Manager for The Sims FreePlay, during an interview: “I saw people’s eyes light up, so, we said “Yeah, let’s do it!”, and we got to work whipping up a prototype. Once we got multiplayer build mode in the game and we started editing and adding things to the same house within AR, we thought it was the coolest thing.”

The Sims FreePlay ‘Brilliant Backyards’ update is available now on the Apple App Store. A full list of changes can be found on the EA website. For future coverage on AR content, keep checking back with VRFocus.

June 29, 2018

Uncharted Creator Amy Hennig Has Left EA, Looking To Make Virtual Reality Content

If you have been keeping up with the many different Star Wars videogames that have been in development in recent years then you might recall the news last October of publisher Electronic Arts (EA) closing down developer Visceral Games. This news meant that the studios Star Wars project led by Uncharted creator Amy Hennig – codenamed Ragtag – was in a state of limbo along with the staff who had were now without a job. Speaking recently with Eurogamer, Amy Hennig has revealed more on the events of last October along with what she plans to do next.

Hennig reveals in the interview that she had in fact left the company back in January of this year and is in the process of starting up her own, independent studio with a strong interest in developing virtual reality (VR) content. “I’m working independently and staying independent.” Hennig explains: “I just started my own small little independent studio and am consulting with some people. I’m hoping to bring some people on board, I would love to have a little company of about six to eight people, 15 at the most, and do some more projects, do some VR stuff – I’m consulting with some VR companies and doing a ton of research because I haven’t played a lot to immerse myself in it.”

Though she has nothing to announce at the minute in regards to this new studio, it is exciting to know that Hennig is looking to explore creative possibilities within virtual space. Having a long and successful career in the videogame industry working on titles such as the Uncharted and Legacy of Kain series’s, her talent will be interesting to see within VR.

Of course, the news of Hennig leaving EA does not hold well for Ragtag which after the closure of Visceral Games show the project being moved to EA Vancouver. Many have questioned if the title will still make it to see the light of day and if so, will it be in the same style that Hennig was hoping for. Sadly, it is bad news as Hennig explains: “The Vancouver studio is working on something pretty different. It’s really not… Y’know, once you go more open world it’s such a different game to the one we were making. Everybody loved what we were doing and I’d love to see us resurrect that somehow, but it’s complicated.”

As EA continue to keep a tight lid on Ragtag, whatever state or form it is in, it seems that it won’t be the same now that Hennig has left the company altogether. As she continues to set up her own company and explore the creative reaches of VR, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest so stay tuned for more. You can see and hear a bit more about Ragtag in the below video.