15 Games to Spend That Free $15 Oculus Store Credit On

If you haven’t heard, Oculus screwed up pretty badly yesterday when they let a software certification expire, leaving Rift owners without access to any of their games for a full day. Thankfully, there’s a fix now, but the company is still trying to smooth things over by throwing $15 Oculus Store credit (or local equivalent) to Rifters.

Eligibility is based on whether you’ve used your Rift on or after February 1st, 2018. Oculus says they’ll be crediting eligible accounts with the $15 within the next 7 days – a perfect amount of time to research your next purchase.

While you don’t have to blow it all in one go, or even use it for one entire game, it’s certainly nice having something for “free” that you wouldn’t otherwise. Here’s a few suggestions that ought to drain most, if not all of those $15 bucks.

$10 Games

  • Hitman GO: VR Edition – is a turn-based strategy game with beautifully rendered diorama-style set pieces. You will strategically navigate fixed spaces on a grid to avoid enemies and take out your target or infiltrate well-guarded locations.  
  • BlazeRush – is a dynamic arcade racing survival game with no health, no leveling and no brakes! You can assemble a team of friends to play in local or online multiplayer, then choose a car to your taste and chase, blow up and cut them off!
  • Apollo 11 VR – is a new type of documentary, not only do you get to relive the events of 1969, you can also take control and fly the command module, land the lunar lander, explore the Moon’s surface and deploy the lunar experiments all before returning to earth in a fiery re-entry.
  • Dreadhalls – is a horror adventure game that traps you deep inside a massive dungeon. Explore it, survive it, and find a way to escape. Your only weapons will be stealth, your own courage, and a faint light.
  • Esper: The Collection – is a puzzle collection that combines Esper and Esper 2. With the power to move objects with their minds, you have been enrolled by the government to use your psychic abilities to solve increasingly challenging tests.
  • Darknet – is a strategy/puzzle game in which you play as an elite hacker in the Net. Plug into cyberspace, using viruses, worms, and exploits to steal the data before your signal gets traced.
  • Proton Pulseis basically Arkanoid on crack. Use your paddle to direct the Proton, an energy ball with awesome power and the only thing that can destroy the M.O.A.I. core! If the action gets too fast, use the Space-Time Dilator to turn a sure miss into a deadly volley.
  • Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes – is an asymmetric puzzle game that puts one player in a VR headset with a ticking time bomb and the others outside of VR who must give the instructions to defuse the bomb by deciphering the information found in the Bomb Defusal Manual. It’s a great party game, especially if you want to show off VR and get everyone involved.
SEE ALSO
Oculus Rift Surpasses HTC Vive in Steam Majority Market Share for the First Time

$15 Games

  • Kittypocalypse – is a tower defense game populated with evil (but cute) alien kittens. Prepare to repel wave after wave of cute but deadly kittens on 15 beautiful and diverse islands.
  • Pinball FX2 VR – is a pinball collection that replicates the atmosphere of real-life pinball machines in a virtual play space, while presenting gameplay features and effects that cannot be physically recreated.
  • Tactera – is a real-time strategy game played on a virtual tabletop. Build swarms of gunships, tanks, bombers, and other units, and use your hi-tech view of the battlefield to strategically outmaneuver the enemy.
  • Space Pirate Trainer – is a wave shooter, the official trainer for wannabe space pirates. Pushing some seriously impressive polish, you fight off relentless waves of droids with all the weapons and gadgets you would ever need as a Space Pirate.
  • Marble Land –  is a physics-based puzzle game that was designed primarily for VR. The purpose of the game is to guide a rolling marble on the correct path to its target destination by changing the configuration of the elements in the level.
  • FORM – is a surreal puzzle adventure that unfolds within the confines of the human mind. Use your superhuman powers to follow the signal through The Obelisk and explore dream-like memories to unlock puzzles in your own mind.
  • Kingspray Graffiti – is a graffiti simulator that won’t get you thrown in jail for causing damage to public and private property. It comes complete with realistic spray, colors, drips, metallics, and more.

There’s plenty more games worth your $15 if you want to use it as a ‘discount’ on a more expensive game. Try pursuing our Top 5 Games for Oculus Rift, or head over to our review section to get a better idea of what’s out there.

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Play Magic Dueler ‘The Unspoken’ for Free on Rift This Weekend

Oculus has been hosting free access weekends for some time now, including Onward (2017)SPARC (2017), and From Other Suns (2017). Now, Oculus is tossing out free access to Insomniac Games‘ magic dueler The Unspoken (2016) this weekend for Rift players on Oculus Home.

While The Unspoken does put heavy emphasis on its online multiplayer mode, which pits you against other spell-casters in the magic fight club arena, it also features a single-player mode called ‘Acolytes Chapter’, giving you a space to bone up on the spell-wielding skills before hitting the professional circuit.

Thanks to a well-balanced mix of 5 classes with over 30 spells to choose from, The Unspoken is also regularly featured as an eSport.

The free access weekend starts March 8th at 10:00 AM PT (local time here) and goes until March 12th at 12:00 AM PT (local time here). 

Normally priced at $30, the magic dueler is currently ranked at a touch over [4/5] stars on Oculus Home.

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‘Planet of the Apes VR’ Launches Today on PSVR, Rift & Vive, Launch Trailer Here

20th Century Fox’s VR game division FoxNext VR Studio today launched their Planet of the Apes-themed game for PSVR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Called Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR, the first-person action-adventure game takes place between the events in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), where you play as an intelligent ape imprisoned in a heavily guarded scientific facility.

Update (04/03/18): ‘Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR’ is now out, and with a fresh launch trailer to boot – linked above and at the bottom of the article. The original article announcing the game follows below.

Original Article (02/27/18): Produced in partnership with Imaginati Studios, the game takes place during the throws of the deadly strain of Simian Flu which has decimated the human population. You, an ape with human-level intelligence, are tasked with escaping the testing facility by banding together with your fellow primate test subjects, and returning to Caesar, the series’ intelligent chimpanzee leader. Yes, you’re an ape with an M-16 and a grudge.

Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR is slated to arrive on all supported VR platforms on April 3rd for $15.

“The Apes franchise supplies the perfect opportunity for players to become part of an apocalyptic world from the perspective of a different species for the first time ever,” Martin Alltimes, CEO, Imaginati Studios. “We wanted to balance visceral combat with a plot-driven narrative that leaves you questioning your innate allegiance to humanity.”

FoxNext had a hand in several VR experiences including Alien Covenant: In Utero VR Experience (2017) and a 360 behind-the-scenes look at the making of Isle of Dogs (2018) film made with Felix & Paul Studios, but Planet of the Apes VR is FoxNext’s first VR game as such. The studio’s second VR game based on the Alien franchise is also currently in production.

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‘Gorn’s’ New ‘Giant’ Update is Bigger, Badder, and (Optionally) Less Violent

Physics-based VR brawler Gorn, got a free update today which brings a host of new weapons, a big new baddie, an optional mode to tone down the game’s over-the-top blood and gore, and more.

Gorn, one of the top rated VR titles available on Steam, has players battling against comically proportioned baddies, using gladiator style weapons to cause as much damage as humanly possible. Available on Steam in Early Access July 2017, the game has seen regular content updates. Following the ‘Flying Firsts of Fury’ update back in December, the game today got the ‘Giant’ update, just in time for a 25% off weekend sale which lasts until February 26th.

The suitably named ‘Giant’ update brings a new champion for players to battle, the hulking Giant, complete with ‘Mitch’, a tiny bow wielding warrior who rides on the Giant’s shoulder.

Image courtesy Freelives

The ‘Giant’ update also brings a slew of new weapons, including a hand-mounted crossbow, huge greataxe, chainblade (a chain with a knife on the end, of course), a throwing shield for some Captain America action, and what the studio calls their “most requested weapon,” the massive greatsword. The update further includes an all new arena which is bigger and includes environmental hazards to further enhance the violent spectacle.

Image courtesy Freelives

Speaking of violence, Gorn’s over-the-top violence can now optionally be toned down. A new ‘Low Violence’ mode gives enemies the appearance of being made from paper or wood, and, instead of spewing blood and guts, they’ll spew candy like a piñata instead. A thoughtful option which may make the game more suitable to a wider audience.

Image courtesy Freelives

As of December, Gorn developer Freelives confirmed that the Early Access title has already garnered over 50,000 sales; SteamSpy data suggests the game may have picked up another 10k to 20k units since then. The game is currently on sale for 25% off through February 26th.

The studio has previously said they expect Gorn to be in early access for up to one year, which would put a prospective 1.0 launch of the game sometime around July of this year.

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‘Pluto’ Brings Cross-App VR Chat to Every SteamVR App, Now Available in Early Access

Pluto, a Seattle based VR startup which reeled in a $14 million Series A investment last year, today launched their unique Pluto application in Early Access via Steam. Instead of functioning as a standalone VR chatroom like many social VR apps, Pluto brings the fabric of social VR to any SteamVR application, allowing friends’ avatars to join you for a chat inside of whatever virtual world your inhabiting.

I had a chance to check out the latest build of Pluto, and used it to join the company’s co-founder, John Vechey, and communications manager, Serah Delaini, for a virtual chat.

Pluto’s desktop interface | Image captured by Road to VR

After installing Pluto through Steam, I launched it and, using a desktop interface, was able to quickly make a new account, configure a handful of avatar options, and then add Vechey and Delaini to my contact list via their usernames. Once we were connected, a call dialogue popped up on my screen; I clicked the Answer button and then put on my headset. Though I found myself standing in SteamVR’s usual ‘void’ space, suddenly the avatars of Vechey and Delaini, represented by their floating head and hands, appeared in front of me. We greeted each other and began talking, similar to a number of other social VR applications out there.

The beauty of Pluto though, is that Vechey and Delaini’s avatars stayed with me no matter which application I was in, instead of requiring that I stay in the same virtual space as them. I was able to paint in Tilt Brush and vault across obstacle courses in Climbey, all while continuing to see and talk to the pair.

For now, I can’t see their environments, nor can they see mine, save for the ability to use a keybinding to send a screenshot of my view, but the Pluto team says they’ve got a few different ideas for how users can let others participants see inside of their current VR application.

Image courtesy Pluto

Pluto is neatly managed from its own menu found inside the SteamVR dashboard, with options to hide the avatars of those you’re talking to (while allowing you to continue to hear and speak), invite new people to the conversation, and more.

Vechey told me that the company is taking a narrow focus; they want to solve VR cross-app communication and do it well, without being tempted to create yet another social VR app which is isolated from other VR apps. Part of that focus has been on optimizing for latency, Vechey said, in order to make the person to person communication feel as natural as possible. The voice chat portion of Pluto is of decent quality, and also positional, and through I don’t have any hard numbers, the back and forth nature of conversation did feel very tight.

With Pluto, you can have virtual chats with people no matter where you are inside of SteamVR, regardless of the application you’re using. While it’s not terribly hard to do the same sort of thing with existing voice-chat only solutions, being able to look at the avatars of the people you’re speaking with, and hear their voices actually placed in space rather than coming from inside your head, makes the communication feel a lot more immersive and natural.

Image courtesy Pluto

While most social VR apps, like Facebook Spaces, are trying to bring people into their application and then let people have experiences inside, Pluto is taking the inverse approach. By effectively creating a platform-wide foundation for VR communication, Pluto is filling an important need that the various VR platforms haven’t solved yet. If the company succeeds, it could make VR as a whole feel a lot more interconnected.

But that’s just the start. Pluto’s long term roadmap is even more ambitious and takes an impressively long view. While today, Pluto runs essentially unbeknownst to other VR applications, Vechey says that, in the future, there’s benefits to be had by making applications aware that users are chatting together in Pluto, like allowing the application to communicate with Pluto to use it’s own avatars and voice system, or vice-versa, making the whole ‘VR inside of VR’ communication that much more seamless.

While today Pluto offers little in the way of user to user interaction beyond voice and body language, the company has been experimenting with the first inklings of Pluto-to-app interactions. Serah Delaini, the company’s communications manager, demonstrated how she could send me a Tilt Brush painting through Pluto, which I could open and view inside of my own instance of the game. While many VR applications aren’t designed to handle this kind of sharing, Vechey told me, the company is working with standards groups with the hopes of advancing that discussion, such that objects and information can move more freely from one VR app to another, with Pluto as one possible bridge.

Vechey pointed out that what Pluto does—projects arbitrary information into another reality—is conceptually similar to doing AR inside of VR. Indeed, the company fully expects its solution to expand to AR in the future, and bridge AR and VR together, such that you could have users in a given Pluto chat projected into whatever reality you’re currently in, whether that be your actual reality or virtual reality.

In the long run, Vechey says, the company is building Pluto for a future where virtual people, objects, and environments are fluid, rather than intrinsically linked and quarantined within individual applications. Much like I can take a picture on my smartphone’s camera app and then share it to Facebook—where it can then be downloaded, modified, and then shared again elsewhere—Pluto’s vision of the future of AR and VR is one where we I might be able to join a friend in VR, and then choose to share a 3D model I built in Google Blocks by simply opening the application, picking up the model, and handing it to my friend, who could then take and use that object in whatever reality they are currently inhabiting. Pluto, Vechey hopes, would serve as the underlying fabric making that possible.

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‘VRChat’ Virality Runs Its Course After 3M Installs, Healthy Concurrent Usership Remains

VRChat, the social app for VR and non-VR users popularly known for its recent boom in meme-driven notoriety, seems to have leveled off somewhat in terms of install numbers and concurrent user rates following its exponential upswing back in December and January.

According to Steam Spy, downloads of the app are hovering somewhere around 3-3.4 million owners (not to be confused with users), although this month alone saw 400,000 installs, an encouraging thought as the more popular memes inevitably wane is relevancy.

The daily user rate however has cooled to around to ~8,000 daily concurrents on the busiest say of the week—a far cry from the ~20,000 players at it height of popularity in mid-January—but a much more consistent usership overall. You can check out the publicly available breakdown on Steam DB.

VRChat Players Per Day, image courtesy Steam DB

Since the app is only available through Steam, the figures seen above tell more or less the whole picture in terms of players per day. Take a look again at what the graph when the number of Twitch viewers is added (seen in red), one of the major sources of free publicity outside of YouTube.

VRChat Players Per Day (blue) and Twitch users (red), image courtesy Steam DB

Here we can see the bulk of Twitch views actually happened preceding the highest moment in daily users, bringing in the masses before cooling off to current viewership rates. And while raw downloads, daily concurrent user numbers, and Twitch views gives us a good idea of how VRChat is performing, it doesn’t specify the breakdown of what devices players are using, as VRChat supports both traditional monitors and VR headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

While those numbers aren’t public, as a free app open to anyone with a computer with even a half-decent GPU, it’s pretty much a forgone conclusion at this point that VRChat’s numbers are heavily influenced by desktop users. At the same time though, there isn’t really anything out there like it. As an app that provides a space for both VR and non-VR users to hang out and import their own wild (and sometimes horrible) avatars and worlds, it’s basically providing a free-for-all space of self expression—the perfect conditions for meme-ing (whether you like it or not). It’s also a space for conversations about VR, and a place to show off motion controls and realistic body language, possibly enticing desktop users to take the VR plunge too.

In any case, a large and healthy usership is something many VR apps can’t boast at these early days in the first consumer product cycle. And when a game creates a culture, people generally stick around to see what’s next.

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‘Assetto Corsa Competizione’ Launches in Early Access September 12th, VR Support in October

Initially revealed back in February, Assetto Corsa Competizione, the next chapter of acclaimed sim racer Assetto Corsa, now has an official Early Access release date of September 12th. The game has been confirmed to include VR support, following after its predecessor, though initial support won’t come until an update in October.

Update (July 30th, 2018): Assetto Corsa Competizione developer Kunos Simulazioni has confirmed the game’s Early Access release date for September 12th, and also detailed a roadmap of subsequent monthly updates, as spotted by Redditor ‘wasyl00’. The second update, Build 2, is slated to bring VR support to the title on October 10th.

We haven’t seen any details yet regarding which headsets or platforms the game will support, though as with Assetto Corsa before it, we expect the game to play nice with the Vive and Rift via SteamVR, while official support for Windows VR headsets is still an unknown. As before, we don’t expect the game to find its way to the Oculus storefront.


Update (February 23rd, 2018): A statement regarding VR support (quoted later in this article) was removed from the game’s Steam page. Kunos Simulazioni Brand and Product Manager Marco Massarutto has confirmed directly with Road to VR that the title will indeed feature VR support.

Original Article (February 22nd, 2018): While Assetto Corsa Competizone’s development focus appears to be on bringing the FIA GT3 homologated championship to life, the title clearly represents a new chapter in Kunos’ simulation technology as a whole. Perhaps they took a leaf from the Polyphony Digital playbook in avoiding a numbered sequel, instead selecting a name that acknowledges a stronger leaning towards eSports.

Assetto Corsa continues to be one of the most popular racing sims on the PC, but it is reaching the end of its life cycle, and the team has been looking to move the technology forward. The time is right for a graphics engine upgrade, and the teaser trailer above highlights the benefits of moving to Unreal Engine 4, enabling rain and night scenes for the first time. The new systems will allow full 24-hour lighting transitions and dynamic weather.

Further improvements over Assetto Corsa include driver swap support, motion captured pit animations, and a “well-structured ranking system” for multiplayer. This follows a recent trend towards higher quality online racing competition, with GT Sport (2017) and Project CARS 2 (2017) taking inspiration from iRacing’s (2008) class-leading matchmaking technology.

Image courtesy Kunos Simulazioni

In the description on the game’s Steam page, VR support is also confirmed. “Designed to innovate, Assetto Corsa Competizione will be VR Ready and set to promote eSports, bringing players at the heart of the Blancpain GT Series and putting them behind the wheel of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens and many other prestigious GT racing cars, all reproduced with outstanding level of detail.”

Assetto Corsa‘s existing VR mode on PC is solid, but also limited by the current engine, with no full VR menu system and compromised rear view mirrors. Unreal Engine’s comprehensive VR support could benefit the new sim in these areas. Assetto Corsa supports Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

SEE ALSO
Top 5 VR Racing Sims for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive

Kunos aren’t explicitly calling Assetto Corsa Competizione a direct sequel to Assetto Corsa, but it seems that it could become exactly that, depending on the terms of the licensing agreement. “This announcement represents a dream come true for us,” says co-founder Marco Massarutto. “The Blancpain GT Series license is just the tip of the iceberg. By combining the potential of Unreal Engine 4 and the feedback received from our community, we are producing a completely new simulation aimed to redefine the racing game genre, improving the features that made Assetto Corsa so popular, and introducing those demanded by players for a high-level racing simulation game – with no compromise, and remaining loyal to our philosophy.”

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‘FORM’ Developers Announce Puzzle Adventure ‘Twilight Path’ for Summer 2018, Teaser Trailer Here

Charm Games, the developers behind the fantastic (albeit fairly short) otherworldly puzzle game FORM (2017), today unveiled their next upcoming VR title. Called Twilight Path, the puzzle game will take you on what Charm calls a fantasy adventure “to meet wandering spirits, enchanted sentries, and mischievous gods.”

Slated to arrive summer 2018, we don’t have a good idea yet what headsets will be supported. FORM, a game which we gave a solid [8.5/10],  supports both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive – something the studio could repeat if they don’t go the exclusivity route, be it via PSVR or Oculus.

If the cinematic stylings, visual polish and clear intention behind FORM’s design is any indication, than you can color us excited for more information on Twilight Path.

While there’s still not much out there yet about the game, we found this quick blurb in the description of the teaser trailer.

  • Use your wits to solve puzzles, restore ruined structures, open sealed passageways, and rescue a host of magical creatures from danger
  • Explore a gorgeous and vibrant world, only possible in virtual reality
  • Play at your own pace, with no death or timers
  • Designed for maximum comfort

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‘Elite Dangerous: Beyond – Chapter Two’ to Arrive on All Supported Platforms This Month

Elite Dangerous (2014), the open universe MMO space simulator from Frontier Games, is getting its next chapter soon which will include a new ship, a few new mechanics, and improvements to existent systems. Frontier today announced Beyond – Chapter Two will be launching for free to all Elite Dangerous players on all platforms on June 28th.

Update (06/01/18): Along with the new chip,(‘Alliance Challenger’), Frontier is also bringing a selection of new wing missions, installation interactions, new settlements to explore and, more ways to combat the Thargoids.

“This is the first of the two smaller installments coming as part of the Elite Dangerous Beyond series of updates, with a larger one coming in Q4 of this year, bringing Squadrons and improvements to Mining and Exploration, and much more,” the company says in a press release.

Check out the new updated trailer below:

Original article (02/20/18): Chapter One is the first update to Elite Dangerous’ third season, Beyond, following the Thargoids assault on humanity’s starports which took place in Horizonsthe game’s second season.

According to a Frontier forum post, the studio will be bringing four Beyond updates to Elite Dangerous which they say will focus on “adding new content, uncovering and progressing the mysteries of the galaxy and enhancing existing core gameplay experiences.”

Elite Dangerous supports HTC Vive and Oculus Rift on Steam, and for Rift on Oculus Home. As for traditional monitors, ED supports PS4, XBOX, and PC.

Frontier says they’ll have a more detailed rundown on all of the changes coming in the 3.0 Update on their forum in the near future. Here’s the current list of features coming in Beyond – Chapter One:

  • New Ship: Chieftain – Elite Dangerous Horizons Commanders will also be able to take to the stars in the new Alliance Chieftain, designed not only to dish out punishment, but to avoid it. Manufactured by Lakon Spaceways, the Chieftain is more maneuverable than ships of similar size and weight, and its combat profile means it can more than hold its own in a fight.
  • Improved Core Mechanics – Chapter 1 of Beyond will bring improvements to some of Elite Dangerous’ core mechanics, including accessibility enhancements to the engineering mechanics, an overhaul of mission rewards and big changes to Crime and Punishment. We’ll be sharing more information on the changes to Crime and Punishment, and the Engineers in a future post here on the forums and in the livestreams mentioned above.
  • Wing Missions – Chapter 1 of Beyond will give you the chance to take on wing missions with your fellow Commanders, sharing both the efforts and rewards. 
  • Revised Trade Data – Commanders will now be able to access trade data from systems they have previously visited, in order to make more informed decisions when shipping goods across the Milky Way. 
  • Planetary Visual Improvements – Chapter 1 also includes the first of the planetary visual improvements coming as part of the Beyond series of updates (with more surface level improvements coming later in the year) bringing a new vibrancy to the Elite Dangerous galaxy. 
  • GalNet Audio – With the introduction of GalNet Audio, you will be able to catch up on the latest news from across the galaxy without ever leaving the action. 

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