Category: HordeZ

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Resolution Games Acquires ‘HordeZ’ Studio, Shares Record Growth Figures

Resolution Games, the VR developers and publisher behind Demeo, Blaston and the upcoming sports game Ultimechs, today revealed that 2021 has been a record-breaking year for the company in both revenue and game downloads. The studio also announced the acquisition of Stockholm-based indie Zenz VR, which is known for VR zombie shooter HordeZ.

Resolution Games says 2021 was its fifth consecutive year of profitability, something the company says has allowed it to reinvest into growth in development capabilities and personnel. Now the company says it employs 158 workers, with that number projected to surpass 200 by the end of the year.

Over the course of 2021, Resolution Games says it’s quadrupled growth in game revenues and tripled total game downloads across all platforms compared to 2020.

The studio has also recently expanded to the US with its Austin, Texas-based subsidiary, Resolution Games Inc., which is headed by president and co-founder, Paul Brady.

In a press statement, the studio says its acquisition of Zenz VR is “talent-focused,” as it doesn’t include Zenz VR’s existing and in-development IP.

The studio says the addition of “select members” of Zenz’s team have been absorbed into the company’s AR division. This includes Zenz founder Niklas Persson, who has a background as producer and designer on Battlefield 1942.

Resolution Games is a pioneer in the VR space, having led with titles such as Bait! (2016) and Wonderglade (2017) on Gear VR. More recently the company has focused on multiplayer games, with Blaston (2020) and Demeo (2021) being the most successful of the bunch. The company’s upcoming sports game, Ultimechs, is set to continue the studio’s focus on multiplayer games. The futuristic Rocket League-style game serves up 2v2 multiplayer matches that require you to rocket-punch a ball into your opposition’s goal.

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Wands Developer Cortopia Studios Acquires Zenz VR

Cortopia Studios, the developer behind popular multi-platform, PVP title Wands has announced the creation of Cortopia Group. And with its creation Zenz VR has now been acquired and brought under the group’s umbrella.

HordeZ Screenshot

The acquisition brings Zenz VR’s three titles HordeZ, X-Fire VR, and Xion to the Cortopia Group as well as a fourth unnamed title currently in development. HordeZ came to HTC Vive in 2016, the first of Zenz VR’s VR projects. Currently available through Steam, followup titles X-Fire VR, and Xion are currently in Steam Early Access.

Wands has gone from strength to strength since its initial launch on Samsung Gear VR. The magical combat experience which pits players against one another across interactive battle arenas is available on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Google Daydream, Oculus Go and Lenovo Mirage Solo.

“Building on the success of our cross-platform VR title Wands, Cortopia Group is keeping a pulse on the top studios that fit our ambition for excellence in VR,” says Cortopia Group CEO, Andreas Skoglund in a statement. “Cortopia is an effective team of talented VR creators and have shown that we can develop incredible experiences that capture the hearts and minds of VR enthusiasts. We are thrilled to lend our support to Zenz VR to help them do what they do best, and to expand our studios influence in the industry.”

Xion

“Zenz VR is delighted to be joining Cortopia Group,” adds Niklas Persson, games industry veteran, founder and CEO of Zenz VR. “The Cortopia team has been very pleasant to work with and I am excited to continue as CEO of Zenz VR in this next exciting chapter for our company.”

While Zenz VR is working on a new VR project, Cortopia Studios continues to develop Wands, with patch 1.4 revealed in March. This will see character customisation options introduced as well as a whole new arena, new spells and a tutorial mode. As further details are released, VRFocus will keep you posted.

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Oculus Creep Into Their Store’s Crypt, Return With Gear VR And Oculus Rift Horror Sale (Updated)

The temperature is getting colder, the nights are getting darker, and there’s more than a few unsavoury noises coming from beyond the foggy darkness. It’s the witching hour draws near and Halloween is just a short while away.

Throughout the few couple of weeks we’ve been keeping you up to date constantly on all the latest Halloween related updates, be they related to new content as we’ve seen today with Luden.io’s pumpkin-filled update for city destruction sandbox videogame VRobot. Limited time bundle deals, as we’ve seen from HTC Vive adding Star Trek: Bridge Crew into the sales deal for a short time. New releases such as OBSCURA, The Exorcist: Legion VR and Stifled. Even augmented reality (AR) videogames are getting in on the act with Scooby-Doo Go, another dog – this time a ghostly one – in the form of Bydo’s Return and of course the inevitable update from Niantic Labs for Pokémon GO.

For Oculus themselves they have several items in the offing; including Echo Arena‘s 2017 Halloween Bash, with the VR multiplayer title receiving a makeover with mysterious sights, new costume options to customise your avatar and a number of spooky and peculiar holiday-themed toys for you to play around with – if they don’t decide to play with you, that is. There’s been a small focus on re-advertising some fright filled experiences as well, with the likes of ABR VR receiving a new trailer upload on Oculus’ YouTube Channel.

ABE VR screenshotThe best news for Oculus Rift owners though must surely though be the newly announced Halloween sale which has, for the second year in a row, now gone live on the Oculus Store. Seventeen Oculus Rift along with sixteen Samsung Gear VR videogames and experiences have been reduced in price for a limited time.  The full list is below.

Oculus Rift:

Gear VR:

There will no doubt be more Halloween related updates coming soon, be sure to stay informed by checking back regularly with VRFocus.
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Capcom Reveal Monster Hunter VR Experience

Capcom’s push for virtual reality (VR) experiences has taken on new ground. Following the hugely successful Resident Evil 7: biohazard launched for PlayStation VR back in January of this year, another big franchise has received the VR treatment: Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter VRDesigned as an out-of-home experience, Monster Hunter X Circle of Saviors is a collaboration with Fivefor, a Japanese development studio for whom the business model includes making multiplayer VR experiences designed for a mixed reality (MR) suite. This allows the players to team-up in unique ways, with Circle of Saviors offering VR to one player while a second acts as support shooting a crossbow to take out enemies in the virtual world.

Monster Hunter X Circle of Saviors is built upon that core Circle of Saviors experience, bringing original Monster Hunter enemies and weaponry into the videogame. Players are also able to eviscerate their fallen foes, taking with them the ingredients for new equipment, just as in the Monster Hunter videogames.

Monster Hunter X Circle of Saviors is played with a HTC Vive and is currently available at Capcom’s GameLand venue in Aeon Mall, Tsudanuma. Other VR titles on offer include HordeZ and HTC’s own Front Defense.

Monster Hunter VR at GameLand

There’s currently no word on whether Capcom intend on bringing Monster Hunter X Circle of Saviors to other territories or releasing the title on home systems – the version seen in Tsudanuma does not make use of any modifications to the HTC Vive head-mounted display (HMD) – however the project is billed as a ‘limited collaboration’, so it doesn’t appear likely. VRFocus will of course keep you updated with all the latest details on Monster Hunter X Circle of Saviors and other VR titles from Capcom.