Category: News Bits

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40 Quest Titles Report Over $10M in Revenue, $1.5B Spent on Quest Store Games & Apps

Meta today revealed at Game Developers Conference (GDC) a fresh bit of insight into Quest Store stats. We’re hoping to hear more detailed info soon, but this is what Meta has said thus far.

The company says in a developer blog post there are now 500+ titles available on the Meta Quest Store, 40 of which have grossed over $10 million in revenue.

At Connect 2022 in October, the company reported that 33 titles out of the 400 apps on the Quest Store at the time had tipped over the $10 million mark. Since then, the Quest Store has ostensibly added around 100 games in the time span of around five months.

And it seems those high-earning games are picking up steam too. The number of titles at the $20-million mark has doubled year over year, Meta says.

As far as today’s stats tease got, Meta is most certainly counting all Quest apps and games on the store, and not just those targeting Quest 2 or Quest Pro. Notably, the company is sunsetting the original 2019 Quest very soon.

The company hasn’t reported any change in gross app revenue since Connect 2022, as Meta is still stating it’s generated “over $1.5 billion” in revenue from Quest games and apps.

We have boots on the ground at GDC 2023 in San Francisco, so we’re sure to learn more while we’re there. Make sure to check back soon for all things VR/AR gaming from this year’s GDC,

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Sports Training App ‘REZZIL PLAYER’ Coming to PSVR 2 Soon

Indie VR studio REZZIL today announced it’s bringing REZZIL PLAYER, the VR sports training game, to PSVR 2 soon.

Initially launched on Quest in 2021 and later brought to SteamVR headsets in 2022, Rezzil Player offers up a growing collection of sports training games that aim to improve performance and reaction times across sports like football, soccer, and basketball. The immersive training game now boasts over 160 levels and 40 items of sports kit for avatars.

The studio announced Rezzil Player is officially coming to PSVR 2 during its launch window, which PlayStation says extends into March.

The studio says the PSVR 2 version is slated to use the next-gen headset’s advanced features, including haptic feedback to feel the impact of a ball on their head, and eye-tracking for foveated rendering.

“We are thrilled to announce the release of REZZIL PLAYER on PlayStation VR 2,” said Gareth Thatcher, Director at Rezzil. “Combining our virtual and physical sports training games with the power of PlayStation 5 is something we are proud of and excited to bring to a new audience.”

Rezzil Player is set to launch on PSVR 2 for $10 “within the official launch window,” the studio says, which PlayStation has defined as starting at the headset’s launch on February 22nd leading into March.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for a more precise launch date and PlayStation Store links in the coming weeks.

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‘Firewatch’ VR Support is Now Free as Unofficial Mod Goes Open Source

Ricardo ‘Raicuparta’ Lopes has been working on a VR mod for the award-winning adventure game Firewatch for nearly a year now. Although the mod is heading into “maintenance mode,” which means there aren’t any new features coming down the pipeline, Lopes has decided to make the so-called ‘Two Forks VR’ mod open source and free to anyone.

Lopes, who is also known for adding VR support to The Stanley Parable and Outer Wilds, has made the source code of the Two Forks VR mod available on GitHub, so anyone who owns Firewatch on PC can play it with a SteamVR-compatible headset.

The mod lets you physically interact with the game’s many items, including the world map and compass, and play the entire game from start to finish in VR.

It also includes a number of VR-specific settings, such as snap and smooth turning, a way of ‘driving’ a ghostly version of your avatar around and then teleporting to the destination, and either showing or disabling avatar legs.

In the mod’s most recent update, Lopes also added LIV support, so you can take mixed reality footage of your in-game adventuring like you see below.

If you’re interested in checking out mods for The Stanley Parable and Outer Wilds, head over to Raicuparta’s Patreon for access.

Looking for more VR mods? Thanks to dedicated modders, you’ll find a host of PC VR mods out there, including Cyberpunk 2077, Valheim, Resident Evil 7 & Village, and more. Check out our coverage here for more.

The post ‘Firewatch’ VR Support is Now Free as Unofficial Mod Goes Open Source appeared first on Road to VR.

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PSVR Shooter ‘Fracked’ is Coming to PC VR in May

Fracked (2021), the action adventure game from veteran VR studio nDreams, is set to leave PSVR exclusivity in May, as it’s landing on PC VR headsets via Steam and Viveport.

The run-and-gun VR shooter is slated to release on PC VR headsets (including Quest via Link) on May 5th. It will also be available on the Meta PC Store at a later date, nDreams says.

In Fracked, you step into the ski boots of an action hero stuck deep in a remote mountain facility. It’s you against a legion of interdimensional enemies (aka the ‘Fracked’)—which means plenty of shooting, but also some light puzzling. Although focused mostly on combat, it also has a few memorable immersive interludes too including skiing, climbing, and zip-lining.

We liked Fracked is for its cohesive and polished visual style, unique cover system, and strong fundamentals, although we found it faltered when it came to combat. To learn more about our thoughts on Fracked, check out our full review on PSVR when it launched last August.

The post PSVR Shooter ‘Fracked’ is Coming to PC VR in May appeared first on Road to VR.

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VR Puzzler ‘Shadow Point’ Coming to PSVR This Month, From Studio Behind ‘Jurassic World Aftermath’

Coatsink, the studio behind the Esper and Jurassic World Aftermath series, is finally bringing Shadow Point out of Quest and Rift exclusivity, as the stylish story-driven puzzle adventure is headed to PSVR this month.

Shadow Point, a first-person single player game, throws you into a mystical world that unfolds between a mountaintop observatory and an ever-changing fantasy environment. It includes some clever puzzles that require you to think spatially, and use magical objects at your disposal to move forward through a beautiful, surrealist world.

Now Coatsink says it’s leaving Meta exclusivity with its PSVR launch scheduled for March 22nd.

The game includes over 80 environmental puzzles that you can play either seated or standing. You might also recognize the voice the trailer above: that’s Sir Patrick Stewart (aka Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard).

Originally a launch title for Quest back in May 2019, Shadow Point will arrive on PSVR March 22nd, priced at $20.

The post VR Puzzler ‘Shadow Point’ Coming to PSVR This Month, From Studio Behind ‘Jurassic World Aftermath’ appeared first on Road to VR.

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Update: PSVR 2 to Include Tech from the Biggest Name in Eye Tracking

Tobii, a global leader in eye-tracking, announced earlier this year that it was in talks with Sony to include its tech in the upcoming PlayStation VR2. Now the company has confirmed its eye-tracking is integrated in PSVR 2.

Update (July 1st, 2022): Tobii has officially announced it is a key manufacturer of PSVR 2’s eye-tracking tech. The company says in a press statement that it will receive upfront revenue as a part of this deal starting in 2022 and revenue from this deal is expected to represent more than 10% of Tobii’s revenue in 2022.

“PlayStation VR2 establishes a new baseline for immersive virtual reality (VR) entertainment and will enable millions of users across the world to experience the power of eye tracking,” said Anand Srivatsa, Tobii CEO. “Our partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is continued validation of Tobii’s world-leading technology capabilities to deliver cutting-edge solutions at mass-market scale.”

The original article follows below:

Original Article (February 7th, 2022): Tobii released a short press statement today confirming that negotiations are ongoing, additionally noting that it’s “not commenting on the financial impact of the deal at this time.”

It was first revealed that Sony would include eye-tracking in PSVR 2 back in May 2021, with the mention that it will provide foveated rendering for the next-gen VR headset. Foveated rendering allows the headset to render scenes in high detail exactly where you’re looking and not in your peripheral. That essentially lets PSVR 2 save precious compute power for more and better things.

Founded in 2001, Tobii has become well known in the industry for its eye-tracking hardware and software stacks. The Sweden-based firm has partnered with VR headset makers over the years and can be found in a number of devices, such as HTC Vive Pro Eye, HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition, Pico Neo 2 Eye, Pico Neo 3 Pro Eye, and a number of Qualcomm VRDK reference designs.

It’s still unclear when PSVR 2 is slated to arrive, although it may be positioned to become the first true commercial VR headset to feature eye-tracking—that’s if PSVR 2 isn’t beaten out by Project Cambria, the rumored ‘Quest Pro’ headset from Meta which is also said to include face and eye-tracking.

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‘Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife’ Creeps onto PSVR in Time for Halloween

Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife, the single-player horror-adventure set in the storied ‘World of Darkness’ universe, is finally set to launch on PSVR October 27th, delivering frights, intrigue, and plenty of opportunity for Alien: Isolation-style hide-and-seek.

Players on Oculus Quest and Rift have been able to play the ghoulish adventure since it launched back in April 2021, later coming to the full swath of SteamVR headsets in May.

Now its PSVR’s turn to serve up the hair-raising game of cat and mouse, which tasks you with unraveling the mystery of why you’ve been turned into a ghost, and what you have to do to finally exit the purgatory of the game’s haunted Hollywood mansion.

We gave Fast Travel Games’ Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife a solid [7.5/10] in our launch day review for serving up a fairly substantial slice of fear and intrigue.

The game’s narrative is a bit pulpy, and some bits of noticeably lower polish detracted a bit from immersion, but in the end the horror-adventure fundamentally delivered on its promise to get your heart racing—just in time for Halloween. Check out the game’s PSVR launch trailer below:

The post ‘Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife’ Creeps onto PSVR in Time for Halloween appeared first on Road to VR.

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One of Quest’s Best Puzzle Games Just Got 30 New Levels

Cubism (2020) is consistently one of the best-rated games on Quest, and it just got a mess of new puzzles in a free update today which arrives to all supported headsets.

Called ‘Volume 2’, the free update brings 30 new puzzles to the game, marking the one-year anniversary of its release back in September 2020. This, its creator Thomas Van Bouwel says, brings “several hours of new spatial reasoning puzzles for fans to play through.”

If you haven’t played before, Cubism bills itself as a deceptively simple VR puzzle game where you assemble increasingly complex shapes out of colorful blocks. You’ll need to first unlock Volume 2 after solving at least 30 puzzles in Cubism’s original campaign. Check out the update trailer below:

Van Bouwel tells us that the new campaign is divided into five stages of six puzzles, each arriving with color palette. Puzzles are also underscored by an original piano song which players can gradually unlock as they solve the puzzles.

Cubism’s free update is now available on Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and SteamVR headsets, with the whole package priced at its regular $10.

The post One of Quest’s Best Puzzle Games Just Got 30 New Levels appeared first on Road to VR.

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‘PowerBeatsVR’ Brings High-intensity Musical Workouts to Oculus Quest in October

PowerBeatsVR (2020), the high-intensity workout experience from Munich-based indie studio Five Mind Creations, is finally making its was to Oculus Quest next month, which will let you box, dodge, and squat to the beat without getting tangled up in wires … or subscriptions.

PowerBeatsVR is set to launch on Oculus Quest’s App Lab and SideQuest on October 20th.

There’s no pricing available yet, however it’s currently priced at $20 on Steam, the Oculus Store for Rift, and Viveport. That’s a one-time purchase price, as the game isn’t based around a subscription model.

Here’s a list of features coming to the Quest version:

  • Over 50 Professionally Designed Workouts: Everything perfectly fits the underlying rhythm of two official music packs with 24 songs and a wide variety of music genres.
  • Generator for Your Own Music: Play with any music you like and how you like it (MP3, OGG, WAV, and FLAC). Want less squatting and more dodging? Just change the settings.
  • 3 Difficulties: No matter your skill or fitness level, there is a suitable challenge. Work your way up or directly launch the Expert mode and handle an insane amount of targets and obstacles.
  • 4 Unique Weapons: Start with your fists and unlock further weapons (hammer, shield, and powerfist) as you play.
  • Custom Playlists: Create your own playlists for extended workouts. Use the endurance mode to play without any rest between songs or try the endless mode until exhaustion.
  • Easy-To-Use Editor: Get creative and create challenges from scratch within VR or modify auto-generated workouts to suit your needs.
    Leaderboards: Compete with others and fight your way to the top.
  • Calorie Tracking & Fitness Metrics: Check your training duration, squats, and calories you have burnt during your VR gym time. Receive real-time metrics and performance summaries that push you further.
  • For Any Player Height: The game adapts all workouts to your height – whether you are 3ft (1m) or 7.2ft (2.2m) tall, you will get the same effective workout as everyone else!
  • Highly Adjustable: Having knee problems? Deactivate obstacles that are too demanding. Want to experience the maximum HIIT workout? Just play with the modifiers and increase speed, required range, strength, and precision.

The post ‘PowerBeatsVR’ Brings High-intensity Musical Workouts to Oculus Quest in October appeared first on Road to VR.

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Some of the Best PSVR Games Are 50% Off Right Now During a Huge Summer Sale

Looking for some Summer fun in VR? If you’ve got a PlayStation VR headset then you’re in luck. Sony is hosting a huge sale with more than 200 games discounted, including 50% off of some of its best exclusive titles through September 8th.

PSVR might not have the biggest library of VR games, but there’s no arguing that it has many of the best VR games out there, including excellent first and second-party exclusives you won’t find anywhere else.

If there’s any games you’ve been waiting to sink your teeth into, now may be the time with a huge PSVR Summer sale on more than 200 PSVR games in most regions, with most games 50% off or more!

If you’re looking for great games with big discounts, here’s what caught our eye:

Game Price Discount
ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission $10 50%
AUDICA $15 50%
Blood & Truth $20 50%
Farpoint $10 50%
Firewall Zero Hour $10 50%
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted $15 50%
Fujii $8 50%
Marvel’s Iron Man VR $20 50%
Pixel Ripped 1995 $14 30%
Red Matter $8 70%
Trover Saves the Universe $15 50%
Virtual Virtual Reality $7 65%

As far as our top recommendations from the above, Astro Bot Rescue Mission (our review) is one of only two games we’ve ever given a 10 out of 10 review score and it also earned our PSVR Game of the Year award in 2018. Similarly, Blood & Truth (our review) got our PSVR Game of the Year award in 2019, and Iron Man VR (our review) got it in 2020.

You’ve got until September 8th to snag these deals. Are you planning to buy any PSVR games during the sale? Which would you recommend beyond the list above to fellow players? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Some of the Best PSVR Games Are 50% Off Right Now During a Huge Summer Sale appeared first on Road to VR.