E3 might not be taking place this year but that isn’t stopping virtual reality (VR) developers from making a few summer announcements. The latest comes from Synth Riders developer Kluge Interactive, unveiling an arcade-style fighting title called Final Fury.
Unlike consoles where you have the likes of Street Fighter and Tekken, VR doesn’t really have many fighting videogames, with the odd exceptions being titles such as Ironlights. This is mainly due to input methods as those console fighters are renowned for combos and split-second button pressing, something that doesn’t work in VR. Final Fury looks to break ground in this field with a range of mechanics to create some epic fights.
You won’t directly punch your opponent by the look of it, instead, activating special moves and combos by quickly hitting in-game prompts – sort of like hitting buttons on a fitness reaction wall. Interestingly, Kluge states that players can view each round from first-person and third-person perspectives. How immersive this will feel switching between the two remains to be seen.
Like any fighting videogame Final Fury will have a selection of characters to choose from, with Tempest and Glitch named so far. They’ll have their own backstory, home stage environment, and music track to suit their personality.
“We grew up playing games like Street Fighter and Killer Instinct and wanted to be the first to bring this genre to VR in order to fully immerse ourselves in the fights,” says Abraham Aguero, Creative Director at Kluge.
Kluge Interactive hasn’t specified which VR headsets Final Fury will be coming to, just that it’ll be “all major VR platforms” in 2023, so that’s likely to include PlayStation VR2 and Meta Quest 2. As further updates are released, gmw3 will keep you updated.
Once upon a time, virtual reality (VR) developers tried not to spin players around too much just in case it caused any nausea. That worry is very much a thing of the past thanks to better hardware and understanding of how to alleviate it. So much so that rhythm action videogame Synth Riders is about to release a new Spiral Mode across all supported platforms this week.
As the name suggests, Spiral Mode turns the previously flat gameplay environment into one giant tube allowing songs to spiral around for an even more dynamic environment. Possibly the first time this has been done in a rhythm action experience – a few racing titles have this setup – the cylindrical stage will require players to lean their whole body as they weave in and out of the various obstacles.
The mode will task players with unlocking three intensity levels, each with more powerful turns and challenges to match. Developer Kluge Interactive isn’t consigning Spiral Mode to a small section of Synth Riders either,it’ll be available for use in every song and difficulty, compatible with most modifiers and multiplayer.
Adding to the content selection, the studio is dropping a free track called Go! by synthwave duo, Dance With The Dead to celebrate. This ups Synth Riders’ music selection to 55 free songs. That can be expanded further with an additional 30 DLC tracks from the likes of Muse, The Offspring, and Caravan Palace.
“I’m excited to enhance our players’ experience even more with this twist on our gameplay, it’s not like anything we’ve seen in a VR rhythm game before! Personally, I love playing Spiral Mode because the mechanic gives me a feeling of challenge and speed that reminds me so much of skating – one of my favourite hobbies,” says Abraham Aguero Benzecri – Creative Director in a statement. “I hope that Spiral Mode will find many fans among Synth Riders players.”
All the new content will arrive as a free update this Thursday, 28th October 2021 for Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR, Steam, and Viveport users. For continued updates on Synth Riders, keep reading VRFocus.
To attract and then keep players developers of rhythm action videogames know they need a continual succession of tracks, aided further if these come from big, international artists. Beat Saber recently welcomed Skrillex onto its roster whilst Synth Riders welcome back alt-rockers Muse with a new music pack for Oculus Quest and Steam players.
Muse first graced Synth Riders at the beginning of 2021, returning today with five more rocking tracks celebrating the band’s career. The songs are Starlight, Uprising, Madness, Reapers, and Pressure. Just like the first pack, this one will also feature a special Synth Riders Visual Experience, tailored for Muse’s big hit Starlight. Rather than the usual progression through a flat level, the experience is far more dynamic, with artistically driven visuals inspired by the music.
“It’s incredibly inspiring to be able to work with Muse again. They are a perfect fit for Synth Riders because of their sound – when you ride the rails to match the vocals, the combination is electrifying and emotional. For the Experience, our creative interpretation of the song’s lyrics gave us the freedom to explore a whole galaxy of particles, abstract images, and even a black hole,” says Abraham Aguero – Creative Director Kluge Interactive in a statement.
The music pack for Oculus Quest (cross-buy with Rift), Steam and Viveport can be purchased as a bundle for $7.99 USD with a 20% discount. Or you can buy the songs individually for $1.99.
So what about PlayStation VR? After a bit of a delay, Synth Riders launched last month and it won’t miss out on the music pack; the release is scheduled for a couple of weeks time, on 29th September. There’s also some more news regarding a physical edition of Synth Riders. Developer Kluge Interactive has teamed up with Perp Games to publish a special retail version that’ll include Muse’s music pack on 12th November 2021.
As Kluge Interactive continue to support Synth RidersVRFocus will report back with the latest updates.
PlayStation VR fans of rhythm action videogames were looking forward to Kluge Interactive launching Synth Riders next week as a viable alternative tothe ever popular Beat Saber but that arrival has now been cancelled.
In a Reddit post the Synth Riders team revealed it wasn’t anything to do with development, rather unusually blaming a distribution issue. “We are very disappointed, but sadly we have had to delay the launch of Synth Riders for the PlayStation VR. It’s an unavoidable, last-minute issue with the distribution that’s outside of our control,” the statement reads. “We’re grateful for your patience as we work with Sony to resolve this, and we’ll announce a new launch date as soon as that happens.”
No further details were offered regarding what the problem concerns but its not going to be resolved quickly. The studios’ marketing director Pawel Gaida did go onto say: “We are really hoping to be able to launch in up to several weeks. This is not up to us, unfortunately. We are working with Sony on resolving this distribution issue.”
It’ll purely be a digital launch for PlayStation VR with the team adamant both North American and European versions arrive at the same time. When Synth Riders does eventually arrive for PlayStation VR it’ll feature all 55 licensed songs as well as 13 retro-future-inspired worlds to play them in. The four DLC music packs will also be available to buy feature the punk rock Adrenaline pack and Synthwave 2 Essentials featuring Muse, Gunship, and more.
The launch version will come with the four core gameplay modes “Rhythm”, “Force”, “Party”, and “Spin” but the multiplayer will take a little longer. “We will add multiplayer as a free update after the release. It is quite a difficult process to be able to launch a game with cross-play multiplayer but we are committed to getting there. It runs well on OG PS4 already! Our PSVR testers played with folks on Steam and Quest,” Gaida adds.
When a new launch date is confirmed VRFocus will let you know.
Kluge Interactive’s Synth Riders has been available for Oculus Quest and PC VR headsets for a while now, offering virtual reality (VR) gamers a viable alternative to the likes of Beat Saber. Today, the studio has confirmed that PlayStation VR will finally get support next month.
It may have been a long wait but that does mean PlayStation VR owners will have plenty of Synth Riders content to enjoy. The dance-style rhythm action video game comes supplied with 55 licensed songs to get you started as well as 13 retro-future-inspired worlds. If all of those tunes weren’t enough, for day one you’ll be able to buy Synth Riders’ four DLC music packs.
“Adrenaline,” featuring The Offspring, Bad Religion, and more Punk Rock legends.
“Synthwave 2 Essentials,” featuring Muse, Gunship, and more.
“Electro Swing Essentials,” featuring Parov Stelar, Jamie Berry, and more.
“Cyberpunk Essentials,” featuring songs from the Monstercat label.
Synth Riders’ thumping gameplay is all about catching orbs with your hands, following rails of long notes, avoiding walls and more, a full-body experience. And that’s before you even get to the various ways you can modify the gameplay. Two game modes “Rhythm” and “Force” have their own playstyles whilst a selection of modifiers can make each track even more challenging. If you happen to have friends over then there’s always “Party Mode” to swap the headset between you all, everyone competing via leaderboards.
And no VR rhythm action title nowadays seems to be complete without a mode that uses the entire virtual environment. Synth Riders has Spin Mode where all the notes come from various directions, literally spinning you around to keep you on your toes.
Already available on Oculus Quest, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, Synth Riders will hit PlayStation VR on 27th July 2021. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Synth Riders, reporting back with further updates.
Synth Riders may have started out with synthwave and other electronic tracks but developer Kluge Interactive has been branching out of late. January saw the addition of alternative rock band Muse while today see’s the release of the ‘Adrenaline’ music pack, adding some classic punk rock in the process.
The fourth music pack for the rhythm-action videogame, ‘Adrenaline’ includes the likes of Come Out And Play by Californian punk rock legends The Offspring alongside tracks from Bad Religion, Rancid and The Interrupters. Just like Synthwave Essentials 2 had a unique visual experience for Muse’s Algorithm, today’s music pack also features one for The Offspring song.
“Where the experience for Muse’s “Algorithm” was set on a grand scale, made to match that epic song, this time I wanted to take players on a different ride! It’s filled with visuals that drew from my experience as a skater in my teens – I wanted to recreate that rush, that feeling of speed and freedom, and was inspired by the raw energy of this track by The Offspring!,” said Abraham Aguero Benzecri, Kluge Interactive’s Creative Director, in a statement.
The ‘Adrenaline’ music pack will be split as follows:
The paid DLC consists of five songs:
The Offspring – “Come Out And Play”
The Offspring – “Self Esteem”
Bad Religion – “21st Century (Digital Boy)”
Rancid – “Time Bomb”
The Interrupters – “Gave You Everything”
Three more songs are rolling out for free:
Pennywise – “Never Gonna Die”
Too Close To Touch – “Hard To Love”
Plague Vendor – “New Comedown”
The free songs will appear in an update whereas the paid DLC tracks individually retail for $1.99 USD, or can be purchased as a bundle with a 20% discount. These new additions mean Synth Riders now features 55 free and 20 DLC songs, all of which are compatible with the multiplayer and 360° Spin modes.
Supporting Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift (cross-buy supported on Oculus Store), HTC Vive and Valve Index, if you own an Oculus Quest then Synth Riders has a free demo via the App Lab for new players to try. For continued updates on the energetic title, keep reading VRFocus.
Just before Christmas Kluge Interactive announced that it would be bringing British rockers Muse to rhythm action title Synth Riders. That DLC arrives today, alongside free songs as well as a unique visual experience for Muse’s Algorithm.
Kluge Interactive has revealed the five songs from Muse which are all paid DLC content and the three free songs released as an update. The first two Muse tracks come from the band’s synthwave-inspired album Simulation Theory.
“Empire of Steel” (MASKED Remix) – Essenger (feat. Scandroid)
“Automatic Call” – NINA
“We have been wanting to make a true audio-visual Synth Riders “experience” for a while now, and I’m incredibly happy with how “Algorithm” turned out, this has opened the doors for us to continue to keep putting music at the foreground of VR!” said Abraham Aguero Benzecri, Kluge Interactive’s Creative Director in a statement.
Released back in 2018, Synth Riders‘ music library has now expanded 67 songs (52 free and 15 paid). Plus there’s official custom song support so players can add their own.
The Synthwave Essentials 2 music pack will be available today with the five DLC tracks purchased individually for $1.99 USD or bundled together with a 20% discount. The core Synth Riders videogame supports Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Oculus Rift (cross-buy supported on Oculus Store). As further updates are released for Synth Riders, VRFocus will keep you updated.
Virtual reality rhythm game Synth Riders (2019) is getting a new music pack tomorrow called ‘Synthwave Essentials 2′ which is set to feature the heavy-hitting English rock band Muse. Now, developers Kluge Interactive have unveiled the full tracklist for its upcoming DLC in a Road to VR exclusive, and also sat down to talk about some of the finer points of grooving to the infectious electric beat of synthwave in VR.
Synth Riders is all about freestyle dancing, and getting into flow state as you hit incoming orbs to the beat. A unique rail system gets you stretching in every direction; it feels a bit like the neon-soaked lovechild between Thumper (2016) and Kung Fu.
Launching tomorrow, January 14th, Synth Riders Synthwave Essentials 2 Music Pack will include five paid songs, which will be available for purchase for $1.99 each, or as a bundle for $7.96 (-20%).
The game is also getting three free songs, which will arrive in an update tomorrow for all supported platforms. Synth Riders is available on SteamVR headsets via Steam and Viveport, and cross-buy with Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest. PSVR support is also coming sometime this year. More on that below.
Headlining Synthwave Essentials 2 is “Algorithm”, Muse’s title track from their acclaimed 2018 album Simulation Theory. For the song, the studio created a new immersive level that synchronizes the game’s patently ’80s-inspired visuals to the beat, something Kluge Interactive CEO Arturo Perez told us results in “the blending of sight, sound, and movement together into a transformative VR experience.” Check out the video here:
‘Synthwave Essentials 2’ Paid Tracks
“Algorithm” (Alternate Reality Version) – Muse: The title track of Muse’s “Simulation Theory” is given an atmospheric, darkly symphonic treatment and combines with the included Synth Riders Experience to explore the song’s concept that we are caged in simulation.
“The Dark Side” – Muse:The second track of Muse’s “Simulation Theory” continues to explore the struggle to escape from a dystopia with controlling technologies, from our own anxieties and from the Dark Side.
“Days of Thunder” – The Midnight: Like something straight out of an ’80s movie, this melodic synthwave track comes complete with a saxophone player in the back seat as you cruise along the Pacific highway.
“Tech Noir” (Carpenter Brut Remix)– Gunship: Taken from Gunship’s 2015 self-titled first album, this synthwave classic is given a new funk-driven uptempo push by French synthwave artist Carpenter Brut.
“Running In The Night”– FM-84 & Ollie Wride: A massive synthwave hit for producer Col Bennett, better known as FM-84, which pairs sparkling synths with the incredible vocals of long time collaborator Ollie Wride resulting in a modern-yet-classic ’80s soundscape.
Free Songs Arriving Jan. 14th
“Abyss” (Gancher & Ruin Remix) – 3FORCE (feat. Scandroid): Gancher & Ruin takes the synthwave epic from 3FORCE featuring Scandroid and twists it into a relentless EDM track that will have you moving.
“Empire of Steel” (MASKED Remix) – Essenger (feat. Scandroid): Essenger and Scandroid join forces in “Empire of Steel” in this remix by MASKED that takes early 80s synth pop and gives it a harder, modern EDM-and-guitars edge, all set in a cyberpunk future.
“Automatic Call” – NINA: With a strong bassline and shimmering synths all topped with Nina’s beautiful vocals this is a breakup song you’ll always come back to.
We also got a chance to virtually sit down with Arturo Perez, CEO and partner at Kluge Interactive, to learn a little more about what makes the studio’s love letter to synthwave tick.
Founded in 2007, Kluge Interactive is a Los Angeles-based creative agency which builds interactive experiences for a number of sectors including healthcare, B2B, and the public sector. The studio created and published Synth Riders in 2018, making it their first VR game for consumers.
You seem pretty excited about the upcoming DLC. What’s all the hubbub?
Arturo Perez, CEO of Kluge Interactive: We are very excited indeed! Synthwave was our creative inspiration in making Synth Riders to begin with, and we have seen a lot of requests for a follow-up. When we were making the game, synthwave was more of a niche, and we can’t believe how much it’s grown since then. We are proud to release a pack with classic artists such as FM-84 & Ollie Wride, The Midnight, Gunship, and Scandroid, who are all legends to us. And then there is Muse, who pulled off some legendary songs of their own in “Simulation Theory,” and we couldn’t be happier to feature two songs from that album on this pack.
This pack is special for us for one more reason. For the first time, we are launching a dedicated, playable experience for one of the songs in the pack, “Algorithm” by Muse. Rather than a stage that could be used with any song, this is a unique, artistically-driven, immersive visual feast, perfectly synchronized with the song, that results in the blending of sight, sound, and movement together into a transformative VR experience. The final effect went beyond our expectations and we hope that the “Algorithm” Experience will blow the minds of many VR newcomers and let the veterans relive the “wow” factor of VR one more time.
You can really burn some serious calories playing just about any track in Synth Riders. When you set out to make the game, were you specifically targeting fitness, or was that more of a happy side effect?
Our main inspiration for the game was Thumper (2016), so the initial idea was all about making a good music game for us – VR Fitness was nowhere in our periphery. Once we had a prototype, we did realize this game could work great for dancers and fitness enthusiasts. I remember this came up in an audience exercise we did internally. But it wasn’t until our community confirmed this that we got intentional about it.
Today, we are lucky to have someone like our Product Manager Wirrel in our team, who comes with 20 years of fitness experience. We have gotten more intentional about the movements we guide our players to do, and especially in making sure that these movements are good for their bodies. For example, we know that ongoing repetition is bad for you, so we are always intentionally mixing dance and fitness patterns we insert into each song, in a way that it won’t have negative repercussions. We are also constantly QA’ing with how it feels for the body. We are thrilled that the game is widely used for fitness and dancing; what started off as a happy accident has become core to how we bring new features to the game.
Developers seem to be experiencing significant upticks in both installs and user engagement thanks to Quest 2. Is this also the case for Synth Riders?
Absolutely. The weeks before the Quest 2 seemed to be lower-than-usual for everyone we spoke to. Our numbers immediately spiked 5x the day it came out. And we are seeing another interesting spike with the new year too; it’s clear that there are more and more new headsets out there. The percentage of Quest buyers over every other platform we are on continues to grow and widen over time.
PSVR users have been waiting patiently for Synth Riders. When can we expect to start grooving on PSVR?
We are very excited to finally be coming out with PSVR this year. We don’t have an exact date yet but we can confirm that after a number of false starts, we do now have it solidly in the roadmap. Our conversations with the Playstation team have been very encouraging and we look forward to making some exciting announcements about our PSVR release in the short future.
The game’s Mario Kart-style multiplayer power-ups are my personal favorite addition as of late. Across all available modes, where do you find users spending most of their time? Why is that?
Thank you! We love power-ups, and we are continuing to work on them thanks to precious community feedback. We are having a LOT of fun with it as we believe Synth Riders is first and foremost about having fun, and even though we do have a competitive side to the game, we felt the need to bring this Kart-style approach in order to get people engaged with each other, regardless of where they are at in the game.
One of our current challenges now is that we do have a lot of different modes, and players are not always aware of them all. According to our stats and the reviews we get, the favorite seems to be Spin Mode, especially because it works across every single song in the game, including the customs, and across all levels of difficulty. Some players like to play 360 wild and some players like 180 mild. We are also especially pleased about the way this update turned out!
The game has grown a great deal since it was first released in Early Access. Any hints at cool features we can look forward to in 2021?
We don’t want to spoil too much but we can say that we are working on our own version of a Campaign mode which will be a pretty significant update for us. We are also thinking of this mode as the one to help us guide our players to really understand all of the different features that the game now has. We launched this game in Early Access in 2018 and we can’t believe how far it’s come; this also means that it’s feature-rich and we hope Campaign Mode will be a great introduction to the world of Synth Riders.
The other feature we are very excited about is “Experiences,” something we had in mind for a long time but only came to fruition with Muse’s “Algorithm” which is our first visual-to-song unique experience. We are thinking about how to allow our Community to make even more experiences for themselves, and also about the kind of music we want to work with to get even more official experiences onto the game. We can’t wait to see what we can do here, but for now, we just see a lot of exciting potential.
Final question: any favorite experiments with Synth Riders that just didn’t work out?
A lot hasn’t worked! At one point in 2019, we tried to bring additional mechanics to the game, including a way to play more with your elbows and of course with the feet. We also thought of ways to bring in shooters, something you see a little bit with our “Space Invaders” power-up. It’s not like we’ve discarded any of it, but we decided to stay focused on what really worked; primarily around a great rail experience and versatility in the way we can design patterns around our regular notes and their specials. The community has been critical for us, they keep us focused and grounded on what makes this game so special for everyone. We really try to listen to them and make it a game that is created by both of us. While at the same time we are constantly thinking of ways to push boundaries and bring our own flavor and approach to the rhythm genre.
– – — – –
Synth Riders is available for $25 on SteamVR headsets via Steam and Viveport, and features cross-buy with Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest. You’ll find the new DLC on all platforms starting tomorrow, January 14th.
Synth Riders (2019), the VR rhythm game for PC VR and Quest, is getting a new music pack soon that will feature British rock band Muse. Starting today, the game also includes a new update that brings some more competitive features to its multiplayer mode.
The game’s DLC featuring Muse will arrive in the ‘Synthwave Essentials 2′ music pack, scheduled to arrive on all platforms January 14th, 2021.
Today, developers Kluge Interactive also launched its free ‘Power-Ups’ update, bringing Mario Kart-style boosts and attacks to Synth Rider’s multiplayer mode, which lets up to 10 players virtually dance-off with built-in voice chat.
Launched in 2019, Synth Riders combines freestyle dancing with a Beat Saber-style game mechanic; instead of chopping blocks to the beat, you hit colored orbs and follow long chains of notes.
Now with ‘Power-Ups’, you’ll be able to use special effects to either help your progression through the song, or foil another player as they encounter seven stackable attacks. Attacks include:
Embiggen – turn the notes into beach balls
Warp – make competitors approach at an impossible speed
Invaders – flying aliens target the player with projectiles
“Power-Ups made our whole team smile and laugh during testing and we are excited to finally share them with our entire community,” said creative director Abraham Aguero Benzecri. “We hope our players will have lots of laughs and unforgettable moments playing Synth Riders multiplayer with their friends and family.”
‘Power-Ups’ is available for free on all supported platforms starting today, which includes cross-platform play via Steam, Oculus Quest (cross-buy with Rift), and Viveport.
When it comes to rhythm-action videogames winning over fans, they need to have a combination of addictive gameplay and stellar tunes to enjoy. Today, Kluge Interactive has announced a ‘Power-Ups’ update is rolling out for Synth Riders whilst a new music pack is soon to arrive featuring alternative rock band Muse.
The ‘Power-Ups’ update is a free multiplayer addition, enhancing the mode with racer-style boosts and attacks. With the multiplayer mode supporting up to 10-players, they’ll now be able to access an arsenal consisting of two boosts and seven attacks to send to each other, trying to win the match in the process.
Some of these power-ups include “Embiggen” turning notes into beach balls, “Warp” will suddenly make the notes approach at a ludicrous speed and then there’s the “Invaders” attack where spaceships target an opponent with projectiles.
“Power-Ups made our whole team smile and laugh during testing and we are excited to finally share them with our entire community! We hope our players will have lots of laughs and unforgettable moments playing Synth Riders multiplayer with their friends and family,” said Abraham Aguero Benzecri – Creative Director in a statement.
As for new music, Kluge Interactive will be releasing its third DLC music pack, Synthwave Essentials 2, on 14th January 2020. At the moment only Muse has been confirmed, no details yet regarding which of their songs have been licensed. The last music pack Cyberpunk Essentials arrived back in August with a total of 10 songs.
Synth Riders isn’t the only VR title trying to attract players with big-name bands. Rival Beat Saber has been doing this for a while, adding the likes of K-pop band BTS, rock band Linkin Park and Timbaland to its roster in 2020.
Synth Riders is available for Oculus Quest as well as PC VR headsets like HTC Vive, Valve Index and Oculus Rift, with the ‘Power-Ups’ update available on them all. As further updates are released for Synth Riders, VRFocus will keep you updated.
