Category: First Contact Entertainment

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Solaris: Offworld Combat Delayed To September For Quest And Rift

Solaris: Offworld Combat, the upcoming cross-play sci-fi VR first-person shooter for Oculus Quest and Rift, is delayed until September 24th on the Oculus Home store. It was originally slated for later this month.

The delay was announced today on the official First Contact Entertainment Twitter account with the following message:

There is no reason listed in the tweet other than wanting the day 1 experience to be as good as possible. In a follow-up tweet First Contact also confirmed that PSVR is still slated for later this year, including PS Aim Controller support, but didn’t clarify a date or release window. A SteamVR release is also planned eventually.

We haven’t had the chance to properly play Solaris at all yet, but we got to see what it looks like finally during the UploadVR Summer Showcase a couple of months ago running on Oculus Rift. If you can imagine something super fast-paced like Quake or Unreal Tournament mixed with the sci-fi stylings and premise of something like Tron, you’re on the right track.

We have a bunch of details about its gameplay and concept in this feature from last year or watch this interview from our Summer Showcase. Following the release of Onward, it’s a good summer for Quest owners that dig competitive first-person shooters. Solaris should be a great foil to Onward’s realism and slow pace, offering something very fast and sci-fi instead.

Let us know what you think of the news and if you plan on playing Solaris next month down in the comments below!

The post Solaris: Offworld Combat Delayed To September For Quest And Rift appeared first on UploadVR.

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Solaris Offworld Combat Will get a SteamVR Version

Solaris Offworld Combat

Just over a week ago, First Contact Entertainment released new details regarding its next first-person shooter (FPS), Solaris Offworld Combat. Since then the studio has also begun detailing further snippets such as the videogame featuring Aim controller support for PlayStation VR. The most recent sees the team confirm intentions to release a Steam version.

Solaris Offworld Combat

When Solaris Offworld Combat initially arrives in August it’ll only support Oculus Quest and Rift through the Oculus Store, followed by the PlayStation VR version at some point in 2020. There was never any mention of other headsets or platforms.

With Steam now confirmed to be part of First Contact Entertainment’s future plans this adds in the likelihood that Valve Index, HTC Vive/Vive Cosmos and Windows Mixed Reality headsets will gain support at some point in the future.

As a multiplayer, team-based shooter, Solaris Offworld Combat will live and breathe of its player community, so the more headsets it can support the better. Oculus Quest and PlayStation VR likely do have the biggest player bases, hence why they’re already confirmed. Even so, if you are an Oculus Rift owner who loves Steam, then at least you know it’s coming; when is another matter.

Solaris Offworld Combat

Set to offer a 4v4 arena-style sci-fi shooter, Solaris Offworld Combat will feature a core gameplay mode called ‘Control Point’. This entails teams having to work together to hold an area and win the match. Everyone starts with the same loadout, a Sentinel Disruptor pistol, then as they explore the arena they’ll be able to find an even more devastating array of weaponry which can include Grenade Launchers, Rocket Launchers, and Arc Rifles. There will be other pickups like health and shields, all of which appear as holograms from the floor.

Because of the mixture of locomotion controls, you’ll be able to slide along the floor in the heat of battle to grab new armaments on the fly. Solaris Offworld Combat will also include teleport locations known as Jump Points which can be used tactically to quickly traverse the arenas and flank opponents.

Solaris Offworld Combat will hit Oculus Quest and Rift on 27th August 2020. When a released date for the PlayStation VR version is released VRFocus will let you know.

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The VR Job Hub: Schell Games, Steel Wool Studios & First Contact Entertainment

VR Job Hub

Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.

Location Company Role Link
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Schell Games Senior 3D Environment Artist Click Here to Apply
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Schell Games Senior Audio Developer Click Here to Apply
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Schell Games VFX Game Artist Click Here to Apply
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Schell Games Experienced Graphics Engineer Click Here to Apply
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Schell Games Senior Engineering Team Lead Click Here to Apply
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Schell Games Public Relations Specialist Click Here to Apply
Oakland, CA Steel Wool Studios UE4 Engineer Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Senior Concept Artist Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Lead Environment Artist Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Environment Artist Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Senior Quality Assurance Tester Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Tools Engineer Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Senior Game Server Engineer Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Senior Gameplay Engineer Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Gameplay Engineer Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Senior Platform Engineer Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, CA First Contact Entertainment Videographer/Video Editor Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

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New Firewall Zero Hour Content Drops In Operation: Syndicate Update

First Contact Entertainment revealed new content coming to Firewall Zero Hour for its fifth season, as part of the Operation: Syndicate update. It includes a new map, a new contractor and some new weapons as well.

Season Five of Firewall Zero Hour begins from today and follows up the previous update, Operation: Black Dawn, that coincided with the start of the game’s fourth season. The game was also offered as a free PS+ title around the same time, so this new Operation: Syndicate update may be the first big content drop for many new players who joined back in February.

Perhaps one of the biggest additions is the new map, which is available for free to all existing Firewall players. Called Blacksite, this latest map is set in a heavily-militarized sector of a Middle Eastern city at sunset, and will feature some tight engagement zones spread across an open-air markets, alleyways and apartment interiors.

A new contractor is also included in the update — Lucia Gallo from Italy, better known by her ‘hacker handle’, Luna. She has a unique skill called ‘backtrace’ which allows players to see an outline of all signal jammers for 4 seconds. Luna will only be available to paid Operation: Syndicate Pass holders.

The update also includes 24 new cosmetic rewards available throughout the season, plus a new weapon and legendary weapon skin — the Custom ZS and Luna’s HZU. The former is a short-range submachine gun available to players who complete the Free Mission in the first week of the season. The latter is a Legendary Weapon Skin available to Op Pass holders who redeem 250,000 Crypto and complete the 24 Free, Premium and Bonus Missions available in Operation: Syndicate.

Will you be jumping into Operation: Syndicate? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The post New Firewall Zero Hour Content Drops In Operation: Syndicate Update appeared first on UploadVR.

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Firewall Zero Hour’s Fifth Season of Updates Out Tomorrow for PlayStation VR

Firewall Zero Hour

It’s been a few months since First Contact Entertainment released the last update for its popular multiplayer shooter Firewall Zero Hour. Today, the developer has detailed its fifth major expansion for the videogame, Operation: Syndicate, adding a new map, contractor and more.

Firewall Zero Hour

First up is the new map, Blacksite. Free for all Firewall Zero Hour owners, the map is set in a Middle Eastern city with a heavy military presence just before sunset. With their teammate’s players will have to carefully navigate narrow alleyways and investigate apartments, as well as fighting through an open-air market. The Blacksite scene will also be used as the lobby environment for the season.

New Contractor Lucia Gallo is a highly trained hacker from Italy. Only available to Operation: Syndicate Op Pass holders, known as Luna, she has a skill called ‘Backtrace’ where “players can see the outline of all signal jammers in the world for 4 seconds, helping players locate and destroy the equipment in time,” describes First Contact Entertainment.

Once players complete the free mission in the season’s first week they’ll unlock a brand new weapon, the Custom ZS. A fully auto, short-range sub-machine gun, the Custom ZS is ideal for Blacksite’s short and medium-range engagement zones.

Firewall Zero Hour

Operation: Syndicate players will be able to unlock new cosmetic free mission rewards like face paints and camo skins. As usual, Op Pass holders also gain access to Premium and Bonus Mission Rewards for a total of 24 missions. Op Pass holders can also unlock Luna’s HZU legendary weapon skin by completing all Free, Premium and Bonus Missions in Operation: Syndicate as well as spending 250,000 Crypto. The Firewall Zero Hour – Syndicate Op Pass starts from $5.99 USD.

Firewall Zero Hour launched almost two years ago and retains its exclusivity on PlayStation VR. First Contact Entertainment’s next project Solaris Offworld Combat will continue that multiplayer, team-based combat theme but give it a sci-fi edge. Plus it’ll be released for Oculus Quest and Rift S first, with a PlayStation VR version to follow. For further Firewall Zero Hour updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Solaris Offworld Combat Hits Oculus Quest & Rift S in August, First Gameplay Trailer Released

Solaris Offworld Combat

First Contact Entertainment might have only released its popular first-person shooter (FPS) Firewall Zero Hour for PlayStation VR but its next title Solaris Offworld Combat will be very different. The studio has announced that it’ll be coming to Oculus Quest and Rift S first, whilst showcasing the first gameplay footage.

Solaris Offworld Combat

First teased back in October 2019, Solaris Offworld Combat is a team-based 4v4 arena-style multiplayer shooter. Set in the year 2150, there’s a narrative which images what VR esports could become in the future.

“You play as an elite, engineered VR athlete known as an Athlon. Much like the array of weapons at your disposal, you are a finely tuned, precision piece of future technology,” explains the synopsis. “Leaving the confines and limitations of Earth, future sports now take place in Holofields located in Offworld Arenas.

Solaris Offworld Combat is built around a singular gameplay mode ‘Control Point’, where teams have to work together to hold an area and win the match. Everyone starts a round with the same weapon, a Sentinel Disruptor pistol, with mode advanced weaponry found in the arenas. These can include Grenade Launchers, Rocket Launchers, and Arc Rifles. Plus there are Health, Armour, Mines, Shields, and other Utilities to pick up.

Solaris Offworld Combat

It’ll feature full locomotion controls as well as comfort options. Players will be able to sprint and slide maintaining the fast-paced action. There will also be teleport locations known as Jump Points which can be used tactically to traverse the arenas and flank enemies.

“Our vision for Solaris is for it to be an accessible game, but also one that can be played competitively against groups of friends,” says Damoun Shabestari, Game Director on Solaris Offworld Combat in a statement. “Players can expect dedicated servers at launch, followed by a stream of content updates to follow, such as customizable features in-game, like character skins and helmets, and squads!”

Solaris Offworld Combat will launch on Oculus Quest and Rift S on 27th August 2020 with the PlayStation VR version to follow at an unspecified date. For further updates from First Contact Entertainment on the videogame, keep reading VRFocus.

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Watch First Ever Solaris: Offworld Combat Gameplay Here

We’ve been following Solaris: Offworld Combat ever since we announced the game at our first-ever E3 Showcase last year. Now see the first-ever gameplay in this brand new reveal trailer we just debuted to open up our Summer Showcase!

The footage below is from the Oculus Rift version of the game:

In Solaris, players will engage in tense multiplayer PvP combat in virtual environments that look and feel like they’ve been ripped out of an esport from the future. In fact, that’s whole premise of the game. You take on the role of a futuristic cyber athlete that uses VR to compete in first-person shooter competitions, similar to Disc Battles from Tron, but with guns. It’s got a very meta atmosphere to it all.

This will be a very fast-paced experience with quick respawns, guns laying around arenas for quick picking up similar to old-school shooters like Quake and Unreal Tournament, and should be a great option for easy and quick pick-up and play action.

This isn’t First Contact Entertainment’s first forray into VR, though. Their first attempt was a visually striking wave shooter named ROM: Extraction for PC VR and then a squad-based tactical shooter named Firewall Zero Hour for PSVR. This makes Solaris their third VR game and first release for Oculus Quest.

Solaris: Offworld Combat is releasing this August 2020 for Oculus Rift via Home and Oculus Quest, with crossplay and dedicated servers. First Contact Entertainment is also planning to release Solaris later this year for PSVR, but there’s no date on that version yet.

Check out every trailer, article, announcement, interview, and more from the UploadVR Showcase right here.

The post Watch First Ever Solaris: Offworld Combat Gameplay Here appeared first on UploadVR.

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Watch UploadVR Play Firewall Zero Hour Tonight Live With Devs And Kinda Funny!

For today’s livestream we’re playing the hardcore tactical first-person shooter, Firewall Zero Hour, with the developers from First Contact Entertainment and our friends over at Kinda Funny! If you’re curious about how we livestream the way we do then look no further than this handy guide for general tips and this guide specific to our Oculus Quest setup.

Firewall Zero Hour is one of the only VR games that has sustained a large chunk of its popularity over a year after its initial release. It’s a hardcore tactical squad-based FPS that pits two teams of four against one another in a battle to either capture or defend an important laptop. We reviewed the game highly at release and have continued to cover its ongoing updates ever since.

The stream is planned to start at about 6:00PM PT and will last for about an hour or so. We’ll be hitting just our YouTube and we’ll actually be joined by the developers themselves as well as our friends over at Kinda Funny, such as Greg Miller. We’ll be playing in live, open lobbies so if you want to come across us meet us on the battlefield, just join up in a public match and maybe we’ll run into you:

Embedded livestream coming soon

You can see lots of our past archived streams over in our YouTube playlist and various other gameplay highlights. There’s lots of good stuff there so make sure and subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up-to-date on gameplay videos, video reviews, interviews, and more original content!

And please let us know which games or discussions you want us to livestream next! We have lots of VR games in the queue that we would love to show off more completely.

The post Watch UploadVR Play Firewall Zero Hour Tonight Live With Devs And Kinda Funny! appeared first on UploadVR.

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PlayStation VR’s Firewall Zero Hour is Free in February With PS Plus

The free videogames that come with PlayStation Plus each month can be really hit and miss, sometimes the selection is awesome while other months less so. February 2020 is definitely a postive month for free titles on the service because not only do you get the rather good Bioshock: The Collection but PlayStation VR gets one to, Firewall Zero Hour by First Contact Entertainment.

Firewall Zero Hour - Operation: HeartlandExclusive to PlayStation VR, Firewall Zero Hour has been available since mid-2018, offering team-based 4v4 combat. You play a military contractor with missions revolving around either securing or protecting sensitive information.

Not only does Firewall Zero Hour have a wealth of content thanks to the studio releasing regular season updates featuring new maps, characters, weapons and other goodies, the videogame also supports the PlayStation Aim gun controller. The controller helps to add that extra level of authenticy and immersion when engaging in the fire fights.

VRFocus gave Firewall Zero Hour a full five stars in its original review, stating: “Firewall Zero Hour has managed to avoid many of the common pitfalls of VR online multiplayers and add its own interesting twist to the military FPS genre.”

Firewall Zero Hour - Screenshot (E3 2018)

All the titles in next months PS Plus offer will be available between 4th February until 2nd March, so you’ve got a few days left to get January’s free videogames. The 4th February also happens to be the day First Contact Entertainment release the new season – Operation: Black Dawn – featuring a new map called Oil Rig as well as more content yet to be revealed.

The studio is also in the process of developing its next VR title, Solaris: Off-World Combat, another first-person shooter (FPS) with team-based 4v4 gameplay, this time with a sci-fi aesthetic. Few details have been released so far, but it won’t feature load-outs like Firewall Zero Hour. Instead you’ll start each match with a pistol and look for other weapons on the map.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Firewall Zero Hour and First Contact Entertainment, reporting back with further announcements.

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February PlayStation Plus Games Include PSVR Shooter Firewall Zero Hour

For this February’s line-up of free PlayStation Plus games Sony is including the highly-rated and popular PSVR shooter, Firewall Zero Hour. Other non-VR games include the Bioshock Collection and The Sims 4.

This isn’t the first time Sony has thrown a PSVR game into the short list of free-to-download titles for the paid membership service, but it’s certainly not common. The way the program works is that while being a PS Plus member (which is required for multiplayer in most games) you must log onto your PS4, navigate to the PS Plus tab, and then click “Add to Library” on whatever games are featured that month. Once you do that, all of those games are free to download as long as you’re a member.

Technically you could argue the game isn’t actually free because you only get access to it as long as you’re a PlayStation Plus member, but it’s just as free as anything else that’s in a subscription service — and the games are downloaded directly to your hard drive, not streamed.

What Is Firewall Zero Hour?

If you’re unfamiliar with Firewall Zero Hour, it’s a competitive 4v4 tactical first-person shooter developed by First Contact Entertainment that’s exclusive to PSVR. There is only one single game mode that involves attacking or defending valuable intel on a laptop. The format is extremely similar to Rainbow Six Siege and utilizes a similar system of no respawns after death, watching security cameras once you’ve died, and picking different contractors with various skills and loadouts for each round.

The game is extremely intense and very immersive with a PS Aim controller, although it is still technically playable with just a DualShock 4 gamepad as well.

firewall dark web new camo

If you’re a PS Plus subscriber, you should absolutely redeem this game — even if you don’t own a PS VR headset and/or a PS Aim controller right now. The game is regularly updated with new free maps and also has an optional paid Op Pass (like the Battle Pass in Fortnite, PUBG, Dauntless, etc) for extra rewards.

The post February PlayStation Plus Games Include PSVR Shooter Firewall Zero Hour appeared first on UploadVR.