It’s finally happening! We have the Golem release date!
Oddly enough Highwire Games’ long-delayed PSVR exclusive will be arriving first as a physical disc… in Europe. The game comes out on disc on November 8th, published by physical specialists, Perp Games. Perp is also aiming to bring it to North American stores either on or very close to that date.
But don’t worry digital lovers; the PlayStation Store release follows on November 12th.
Golem was first announced all the way back in 2015, before the PSVR itself had launched. It tells the story of a young girl confined to her room. She discovers the power to possess stone Golems, which she utilizes to access the outside world. Played with a Move controller, the game has you locking stone blades in combat with other Golems and more. We haven’t been hands-on with the game since 2017, so we’ll be eager to see if it still resembles earlier builds.
The game has been shaping up for an early 2018 release before a last-minute delay. At several points over the past 18 months we’d begun to worry it had been canceled. Thankfully it resurfaced at our E3 VR showcase earlier in the year. Highwire itself consists of developers that previously worked at Halo and Destiny developer, Bungie.
“It’s so gratifying to see our original vision for Golem come together into a full experience,” Jaime Griesemer, Creative Director at Highwire said in a prepared statement. “We’ve really had to push ourselves and the technology, but I think the game is beautiful and I can’t wait for everyone to be able to play it.”
We’ll be excited to finally check the game out in the coming weeks, then.
It’s been a long, long road for Golem, the upcoming PSVR exclusive title that’s been in development since even before Sony’s VR headset launched in 2016. After several major delays, Golem is finally due to launch, albeit a little later than previously planned.
Update (November 14th, 2019): It seems Highwire Games has again shifted the digital launch schedule for Golem; it’s now set to release digitally world-wide tomorrow, November 15th, which comes along with a physical launch in Europe. The physical North American release is still slated for November 22nd.
To kick things off right, the studio released a fresh trailer, which you’ll find linked above and also at the bottom of this article.
Update (November 1st, 2019): Highwire Games announced that Golem will see a slight delay, and won’t be launching on November 8th as previously planned.
Golem is now slated to launch beginning November 15th 2019, starting with a physical European release. The game will then launch digitally worldwide on November 19th and be followed by a North American physical release on November 22nd.
Original Article (August 20th, 2019): Golem started developed way back in 2015 by Highwire Games, a newly formed indie studio consisting of former Bungie veterans Marty O’Donnell and Jaime Griesemer, alongside a handful of other experienced game makers.
The intriguing title promises to let players explore a unique fantasy world at vastly different scales by possessing avatars from mouse-sized dolls all the way to giant stone golems. The game had an initial release date of March 13th, 2018, which was then delayed to March 16th just before the launch. That three day delay eventually spiralled into an indefinite postponement of the title which has drifted on for nearly one and a half years.
After mostly silence from the studio in the preceding months, Highwire Games today announced that Golem will launch this Fall, though a specific release date has not been set.
Image courtesy Highwire GamesImage courtesy Highwire Games
Perp Games will release physical copy of the game in Europe and North America. The physical release will include a downloadable version of the album ‘Echoes of the First Dream’, the musical prequel to the game by Highwire’s Marty O’Donnell, the famed composer of the Halo and Destiny soundtracks.
In today’s release date announcement, the studio offered a brief summary of what players can expect from Golem:
In Golem you take on the role of Twine, an adventurous kid who has been left critically injured by a serious accident. While you can’t leave your bed, you develop an extraordinary ability to create and control large stone golems and see the world through their eyes.
You can use your golems to explore an enormous abandoned city, collecting treasure and artefacts, while unravelling a deeper mystery and discovering the connection between the city and your family. Designed from the ground up for VR, the game also has an innovative free movement control scheme and intense one-to-one melee combat that sees you feint, block, and counter-attack your enemies.
In the release date announcement, Highwire didn’t speak much about the delays beyond saying that the studio has “spent time refining and polishing the experience to the highest possible standard.”
“It’s so gratifying to see our original vision for Golem come together into a full experience. We’ve really had to push ourselves and the technology, but I think the game is beautiful and I can’t wait for everyone to be able to play it,” said Jaime Griesemer, Creative Director at Highwire. “And we’re pretty old school, so it won’t feel ‘finished’ for us until we see it on store shelves.”
Image courtesy Highwire Games
When we spoke with the studio about the delays last August, Highwire said that the game was mostly complete, and that the remaining work was “almost entirely optimization,” though given how the delay has lingered other roadblocks may have arisen.
Characterizing the game’s environment design, a spokesperson at the time told us that Golem is “closest to [something like] Dark Souls in terms of structure. Not wide open terrain or totally free navigation, but a single large interconnected environment to explore.” That structure, the spokesperson said, led to challenges with level streaming—seamlessly loading parts of the game’s large environments without interruption—something ostensibly made more complicated with the high performance requirements of VR.
If there’s one videogame that’s synonymous with delay’s then it has to be Highwire Games’ Golem for PlayStation VR. Initially announced back in 2015, the title has seen various launch windows come and go over the past few years so when it reappears with a new date there’s definitely some trepidation. However, this week is very different, with Perp Games revealing that Golem will be heading for a digital and physical release Fall 2019.
The announcement by Perp Games certainly adds clout to the news as the company has a solid track record of physical videogame launches for PlayStation VR. This now makes Golem one of the most eagerly anticipated videogames of 2019 for the headset.
Golem’s story revolves around a kid called Twine who has been critically injured by a serious accident. Bedbound, Twine can build stone golems with which to explore, seeing through their eyes. Only able to build small doll-sized golems, to begin with, soon these special powers begin to grow, enabling massive 15-foot tall giants to be constructed. These large stone golems are able to explore an enormous abandoned city, collecting treasure and artefacts as well as engaging in one-to-one melee combat.
“It’s so gratifying to see our original vision for Golem come together into a full experience,” says Jaime Griesemer, Creative Director at Highwire in a statement. “We’ve really had to push ourselves and the technology, but I think the game is beautiful and I can’t wait for everyone to be able to play it. And we’re pretty old school, so it won’t feel ‘finished’ for us until we see it on store shelves.”
“Golem has been a long-time coming but the wait is almost over. It is our honour to be working with such an amazing team of world-class talent. We can’t wait to explore Golem’s secrets,” adds Rob Edwards, Managing Director of Perp Games.
No specific date has been given just yet. Perp Games is planning a dual European and North American launch of the physical version in the next few months. If you buy the hardcopy of Golem it will also include a downloadable version of “Echoes of the First Dream” the musical prequel to the videogame. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Golem, reporting back with any further updates.
Publisher Perp Games is planning physical releases for a series of VR games.
The company announced during the E3 VR showcase The Angry Birds Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure will be released in a physical edition later this year. The family friendly VR game looks like a great one for couch co-op with the PlayStation VR headset. The game will be released this summer to coincide with the movie.
“Under Pressure takes advantage of PlayStation VR’s exclusive Social Screen platform to allow all four players to play in the same room for a fun, party-style couch co-op experience,” reads a description on the Rovio website.
The Angry Birds Movie 2: Under Pressure is a new VR game.
Not all VR games make it to physical release for retail stores but Perp Games is publishing a number of them. Drunken Bar Fight a “simple, immersive, silly, rowdy party game” will also be getting a physical special edition release later this year as well, according to Perp.
Pixel Ripped 1989 is a “wacky multi-dimensional homage to the early days of gaming” with a sequel on the way set in 1995. Perp is also working on a physical release on the Perp Store in collaboration with developer ARVORE.
We haven’t heard much from the developers behind Golem for PSVR, but the game made an appearance recently at PAX East and, according to the publisher, this too should get a physical release at launch.
Here’s the segment the publisher shared detailing its plans for these VR titles:
Der exklusive Konsolentitel Golem für PlayStation VR (PSVR) von Entwicklerstudio Highwire Games sollte bereits im März 2018 erscheinen, nachdem er auf der PlayStation Experience 2017 erstmals vorgeführt wurde. Der Release wurde allerdings verschoben und sollte daraufhin im Jahr 2019 stattfinden. Lange war es still rund um die versprochene VR-Erfahrung, nun soll der PSVR-Titel allerdings auf der PAX East vom 28. bis 31. März vorgeführt werden.
Golem – PSVR-Exklusivtitel für PAX East angekündigt
Der VR-Titel Golem versetzt die Spieler in die Rolle eines jungen Mädchens, die aufgrund eines tragischen Unfalls bettlägerig wurde. Vom Schicksal gebeutelt, verliert sie deshalb ihren Lebenswillen, bis sie eines Tages eine sonderbare Entdeckung macht. In ihr schlummern übernatürliche Fähigkeiten, die es ihr ermöglichen, per Telepathie die Kontrolle von leblosen Gegenständen zu übernehmen.
So schlüpft sie in Puppen verschiedener Größen, um sich mit ihren neuen Fertigkeiten vertraut zu machen, bis sie schließlich die Kontrolle gigantischer Steinstatuen beherrscht. Mit den seelenlosen Gebilden geistig verbunden, überwindet sie so die Limitationen ihres eigenen Körpers und begibt sich in große Abenteuer und Erkundungstouren in verlassene Städte und Zivilisationen. Dort gibt es Gameplay-technisch zahlreiche Rätsel zu lösen, Herausforderungen zu überwinden und Kämpfe zu bestreiten.
Der vielversprechende VR-Titel scheint nun seine finale Entwicklungsphase erreicht zu haben, denn das Spiel soll auf der kommenden PAX East in wenigen Tagen vorgeführt werden, wie im US PlayStation Blog verkündet wird.
Die Entwickler von Highwire Games stecken viel Arbeit in die Entwicklung, um eine reibungslose Spielerfahrung zum Release zu gewährleisten. So wurde die Veröffentlichung bereits mehrmals verschoben mit folgender Begründung:
“Wir wollen, dass Golem genau das Spiel wird, das wir uns vorgestellt haben und nehmen uns entsprechend die Zeit, die es benötigt, um es dorthin zu bringen.”
Wir dürfen gespannt sein, wie das Spiel letztlich aussieht und welche spielerischen Elemente es genau beinhalten wird. Neben Golem werden auf der Großveranstaltung zudem die Spiele Ghost Giant, Falcon Age, Jupiter & Mars, Space Channel 5 VR Kinda Funky News Flash!, Trover Saves the Universe und Vacation Simulator ausgestellt.
Die PAX East findet vom 28. bis 31. März in Boston, MA statt.
We weren’t certain the PSVR title Golem would ever see the light of day after its lengthy delay. It wasn’t until the studio assured us late last year that yes, the game was still in production well after its prospective March 16th, 2018 launch date had come and gone. Now it appears PAX East-goers will get a fresh whack at the game, which was unveiled way back in 2015.
Sony today announced via its PS blog that seven PSVR titles are heading to PAX East in Boston next week, one of which is the long-overdue adventure game Golem from Highwire Games, an indie studio consisting of former Bungie veterans Marty O’Donnell and Jaime Griesemer, and a team of established industry devs.
After its March 2018 delay, the studio announced the game was pushed back indefinitely back in August as Highwire wanted to ensure they could “release a polished VR experience that we are proud of […].”
“Things are still proceeding; we want Golem to be the game we envisioned and we’re taking the time we need to get it there,” a Highwire spokesperson told Road to VR late last year. “[We’re] not going to talk release timing until we are absolutely sure about it this time.”
We still aren’t exactly sure what sort of game Golem is shaping up to be. From our 2016 hands-on and previous talks with Highwire, it seems the studio’s PSVR title involves the ability to jump between various avatars—ranging in size from dolls to giants—as they explore the world around and go mano a mano with some pretty nasty looking rock golems.
In case you’re attending, here’s the seven titles Sony is trotting out at PAX East:
It’s been over a year now since the long-anticipated PSVR exclusive, Golem, was delayed at the last minute. Questions about cancellation have spiraled the project since but developer Highware Games has occasionally spoken up to deny them. Well, we’ve got some good news for you; Golem is stepping back into the spotlight at PAX East next weekend.
Golem will be one of seven games Sony is showcasing on PSVR at the Boston show. To be clear, we don’t yet know if this will be a brand new demo for Golem or if it’ll be something older. That said, we don’t recall seeing at the game at any trade shows last year. Even if it is old, its presence at least suggests the game is still very much in the works. It’s quite possible we see an announcement surrounding the project in Sony’s newly-announced State of Play showcase next week, then.
The game casts players as young girl confined to her bedroom. Early on, she discovers the ability to possess gigantic stone golems. Using a single PlayStation Move controller, you explore a new land, taking part in sword battles with similarly massive enemies. Golem was originally scheduled to come out on March 13th 2018 until the delay came just the week before. Such a long delay so close to release was unexpected to say the least.
Elsewhere Sony will be showcasing some promising PSVR games at PAX East. Ghost Giant, Falcon Age, Jupiter & Mars, Space Channel 5 VR, Trover Saves The Universe and Vacation Simulator will all be there. Should be a lot of fun!
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has had quite the year when it comes to virtual reality (VR) and PlayStation VR. Sure its main focus is on PlayStation 4, but the company has ensured the console-based headset has had some corking exclusives, like Borderlands 2 VRand Astro Bot Rescue Mission. With it now begin 2019 it’s time for VRFocus to look toward the next year, and see what we know the upcoming 12 months will bring.
The Best PlayStation VR Games Coming in 2019
Blood & Truth – Sony London Studios
The first of two titles two make the same list a year on, Sony London Studios’ action spy caper Blood & Truth was supposed to have arrived in late 2018, but now looks to be a 2019 release – no concrete date has been set. Putting you in an action hero role, you are elite Special Forces soldier Ryan Marks, on a desperate mission to save his family from a ruthless criminal overlord. VRFocuslast played Blood & Truthduring the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018 seeing several new updates including dual wielding.
Blood & Truth is exclusive to PlayStation VR when it hopefully arrives later this year.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – Bandai Namco
Possibly a little divisive due to the fact that it’s not a fully blown VR title, nevertheless, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is still an experience VRFocus is looking forward to. Rather than making the entire videogame VR friendly, the developers have instead included VR-specific missions. How well this will hold up remains to be seen, as VRFocus’previous encounters have been positive but short lived.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is set to launch on 18th January 2018, for PLayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, with VR support exclusive to PlayStation VR.
Trover Saves the Universe – Squanch Games
Probably the weirdest videogame on the list, Sqaunch Games were the studio behind Accounting and Accounting+, and Trover Saves the Universe is their next title. Taking that same comedy charm which founder Justin Roiland is known for, the title is a madcap adventure in which players will not only be controlling Trover as a third-person character but they themselves will be in the universe as a first-person character.
Trover Saves the Universe is set to launch at a currently unspecified date in 2018, exclusively for PlayStation VR.
Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs – Resolution Games/Rovio
Announced less than two weeks ago, Resolution Games and Rovio Entertainment are planning to bring one of the biggest mobile franchises to VR. They’ve not confirmed much at the moment, including actual headsets simply stating ‘across all major VR platforms’ so VRFocus is assuming PlayStation VR is a given.
Expect more bird-flinging action when Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs arrives later this year.
Golem – Highwire Games
The other title that VRFocus was originally expecting to be released in 2018, Highwire Games’ Golem first appeared in 2015 during a PlayStation Experience (PSX), popping up occasionally in the following two years to remind us development was still ongoing. Highwire Games had said as recently as September that Golem was very much on track for a 2018 release, but that’s definitely not the case.
“In Golem, you play as an adventurous kid who has been seriously injured. You are stuck at home in your bed, dreaming of exploring the outside world. You gradually develop the power to create and control stone creatures known as golems. You see through their eyes, direct their movements, and use them to explore beyond the confines of your room. At first, you can only build small doll-sized golems to send around your room…but eventually your powers will grow, until you can send enormous 15-foot tall giants to explore an ancient abandoned city.”
Golem now doesn’t have a release date, again VRFocus is hoping another year won’t go by and it’ll get a 2019 release.
This year was awesome for VR gaming, but 2019 is looking even brighter with a slew of highly polished titles coming to PSVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Here we take a look at 15 tantalizing VR titles confirmed for release in 2019.
Don’t miss the ‘To Be Announced’ section below either, which features eight high-profile games that don’t have release dates yet, but will hopefully come out in 2019 too.
Population: One is an upcoming battle royale shooter from the studio behind VR indie hit Smashbox Arena (2016). Population: One is offering a ton of fun mechanics such as the ability to climb anything, build forts, fly, and shoot the ever-living crap out of everyone with a variety of scrounged weapons as you battle for that tasty chicken dinner.
Studio description: The Tempest shattered your android body. Now you must journey through an ever-changing cloudscape to augment yourself and save your friends. Explore an expansive world with complete freedom—bound up cliffs, glide across chasms, and fly through the slipstream with velocity. Detonate explosives, harness electricity, and wield makeshift weapons to overcome titanium sentries and monolithic guardians. Play single-player, or explore forgotten ruins together.
Studio description: You are elite Special Forces soldier Ryan Marks, on a desperate mission to save his family from a ruthless criminal overlord. Grab your PS Move motion controllers and blast anyone in your way as you go face to face with enemies, uncover secrets and experience the thrill of the chase in a high-octane action narrative inspired by PlayStation VR Worlds’ ‘The London Heist’ experience.
Studio description: Jack and Liv are back in Lone Echo II. Return to the rings of Saturn in this highly-anticipated sequel, to unravel the mysteries of Lone Echo and journey deeper into space – past the very boundaries of time itself.
Studio description: Deliver cargo or smuggle alien lifeforms on your rickety ship all across the galaxy! In Failspace the pressure is always on you and your crew. Fix those leaks, pull those levers and crank those handles to maximum in short but increasingly difficult cargo missions.
Studio description: Overcome impossible odds and survive certain death scenarios in the undercover spy thriller that VR has been waiting for. It’s a zero-sum world where facing danger head-on is a requirement, and success favors those who embrace it. In this exciting Oculus exclusive, the enemy will stop at nothing to gain an advantage. To defeat them, you and your team of elite operatives must use every advanced weapon, cutting-edge technology, and deceptive tactic in your arsenal.
Studio description: Bend and twist reality in A Fisherman’s Tale, the mind-bending VR puzzle adventure game in which being turned upside down and inside out is not merely a play on words.
The free multiplayer Typhon Hunter update to Prey: Mooncrash is already out for console and PC, but support for all major VR platforms is coming next year. Like PropHunt in Gary’s Mod, one player is assigned as the hunter (Morgan Yu) while the others try to hide out and evade detection as typhons, the game’s alien race of mimics that can turn into everyday objects like mugs, chairs—practically anything you can think of.
ACE COMBAT 7 is unfortunately not entirely playable in VR, as the game’s campaign is focused on PS4 users, although Bandai Namco has created a handful of missions developed specifically for the PSVR that the studio says will provide “several hours of VR gameplay.”
Studio description: Wonderful. Your dogs have been dognapped by a beaked lunatic who stuffed them into his eye holes and is using their life essence to destroy the universe. Does that make any sense? You’ve partnered with Trover, a little purple eye hole monster to save them. Find power babies and plug them into his eye holes so that he can absorb their power, track down Glorkon, and save your dogs (and the Universe).
We don’t know much about gameplay mechanics yet, but it’s possible the Magic Leap One release of Angry Birds: FPS – First Person Slingshotmay hold some answers. Resolution Games was also involved in its making, a title that does away with the standard side-scrolling gameplay for a more immersive first-person experience of physically shooting a slingshot at the 3D piggy fort.
Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind Titanfall and Call of Duty, has partnered with Oculus to develop what they call “a major VR release.” There’s not much on the books about the game yet, including the title or specific release date, but it promises battlefield realism that will give you a chance to “experience life closer to what a soldier would experience in real combat.”
Studio description: First you JOBBED, now you VACATION. Visit Vacation Island and experience RECREATION, optimal RELAXATION, and classic human past times like SUNBURN. Vacation Island offers all this and more so that you can discover the lost art of TIME OFF.
Studio description: A visceral, jetpack-fueled VR Arcade Shooter where you fly through deadly Orbital Arenas in hostile space, facing off in extreme battles. You are now part of the elite Tribes of gun-slinging Spacers who battle it out in treacherous 2v2 and 1v1 battles.
Studio description: ZED is the story of an aging artist, lost in regret, and the haze of dementia. Inside the dreamscape of this creative mind come undone, players reassemble the artist’s fragmented memories into a final, lasting legacy: a loving final gift to his unborn granddaughter.
Eagre Games is a new studio led by original Myst (1993) artist Chuck Carter. Zed will be the first game published by Cyan Ventures, Cyan’s newly formed publishing arm.
To Be Announced
3 Games from Valve
Image courtesy Valve
Platform: Rift, Vive (unannounced)
Developer: Valve
Valve is still famously mum on its three games originally confirmed back in February 2017, and yes, we’re still waiting on all of them. [Insert tired Half-Life 3 joke here].
Valve has produced The Lab (2016) and plenty of content for the SteamVR Home that all really demonstrate just how uniquely qualified they are to produce full-length VR games. Fingers crosses we hear something definitive this year.
Originally teased at PSX 2015 with a slated release for an October 2016, High Wire Games’ has slipped into what looks to be a 2019 release. In Golem, you play as an adventurous kid who has been seriously injured. You are stuck at home in your bed, dreaming of exploring the outside world. The minds behind the game are ex-Bungie staffers, including Halo composer Marty O’Donnell.
Playful Corp, the minds behind Rift launch title Lucky’s Tale (2016), had a bit of a scare recently when pre-orders for their upcoming side-scrolling platformer Star Child were mysteriously cancelled. Never fear, Star Child is still in production, although the release date is unknown at this time.
From the makers of Myst (1993) and Obduction (2016) comes another VR puzzler, this time promising more steampunk goodness. It’s still heavily under wraps, but Cyan calls it a “resplendent, magical, journey — a monumental voyage through four diverse and curious realms, working in concert with an ever-present, clockwork companion, and the support and instruction of a long-dead, ethereal mentor.”
Borderlands 2 VR is already available on PSVR, but it’s more than likely that the loot-em and shoot-em action game is headed to PC VR headsets too. According to a new promo video, Sony is confirming that Borderlands 2 VR is a timed exclusive, giving it at very least a five month minimum on the PSVR platform; a hypothetical PC VR launch date could come as early as May 14th, 2019.
The minds behind early successes Senza Peso (2014) and Insurgent (2015) have been busy developing their first full-fledged VR game. Called Bebylon Battle Royale, the VR melee party brawler puts ridiculously dressed infants into kart-based Smash Bros-style combat.
The studio previously targeted an early 2018 release, although now it seems it’s heading towards 2019.
Highwire Games have been hard at work on their upcoming virtual reality (VR) title Golem for sometime now. It was originally announced back in 2015 and since then the team have been rather quiet about progress on the title. Well, according to the developer speaking to Road to VR, Golem is still very much on track for a 2018 release.
Though it was announced back in 2015 with a number of updates following the initial announcement, the last major update on the title came in late 2017 where it was revealed it would release in March of this year. It of course didn’t and this was yet another delay added to the titles history. Since then it has been on an indefinite delay until the team at Highwire Games are ready to announce a new release date that they will be able to hit without fail.
According to the spokesperson from the studio the title is still alive and well and is making “slow and steady” progress towards being released. The title’s content is largely complete, and the current work that is being carried out on it is “almost entirely optimization.” It is mentioned that level streaming – the act of seamlessly loading parts of the game’s large world without interruption – was proven to be a primary challenge that the team are needing to overcome.
Interesting to note as well is that in the comments the spokesperson remarked that Golem is “closest to [something like] Dark Souls in terms of structure. Not wide open terrain or totally free navigation, but a single large interconnected environment to explore.”
This news from the studio is good news indeed, as many had feared that the anticipated title had been cancelled given the silence from the developers. Planned to release as a PlayStation VR exclusive on launch, those looking forward to the interesting title can rest assured that it is still coming and will hopefully be in their hands by the end of the year.
VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the title in the future along with the final release date once it is revealed, so make sure to stay tuned for more.
