PC compatibility for the PlayStation VR2 is being tested by Sony
Sony is working on a PlayStation VR2 feature that would allow users to access PC VR games on their PS5.
Former Oculus CTO Reviews Bigscreen Beyond: “like a prop for a futuristic movie”
John Carmack, legendary programmer and former CTO of Oculus, is known for giving his unfiltered thoughts on almost every aspect of the XR industry. While he departed Meta in December, concluding his “decade in VR,” Carmack is still very interested in the medium, as he recently went hands-on with one of the latest PC VR headsets to hit the scene, the slim and light Bigscreen Beyond.
Bigscreen Beyond is a tethered PC VR headset that uses Valve’s SteamVR tracking standard, which starting at $1,000 for just the headset makes it an interesting value proposition for users already hooked into the SteamVR hardware ecosystem. It’s largely praised for its slim and light profile, which is thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses and micro-OLEDs, serving up 2,560 × 2,560 pixels per eye at 70 to 90 Hz refresh.
You’ve probably already heard what we think of it though. Now for the master:
“Bigscreen Beyond feels like a prop for a futuristic movie, but it works!” Carmack said in a Twitter thread on Monday. “Far and away the smallest and lightest PC VR headset.”
That’s high praise coming from a key figure in the Oculus genesis story, not to mention co-founder and lead programmer of id Software, the studio behind pioneering ’90s 3D games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake.
To hear all of Carmack’s thoughts on Bigscreen Beyond, we’ve formatted his tweets below for easier reading:
Bigscreen Beyond feels like a prop for a futuristic movie, but it works! Far and away the smallest and lightest PC VR headset.
As a result of the iPhone based face scanning before ordering, the fit is perfect, with zero light leaks. The custom printed facial interface is comfortable, but not breathable, so it isn’t great for fitness activities.
The prescription lens inserts snap in with magnets and work well. The visuals are a trade off vs Quest Pro. The resolution is clearly higher, but there are more internal reflections in the pancake optics, and the quality falls off more toward the edges. There are parts of the view where screens look fantastic, good enough for actual productivity work, but not across the entire view.
I sorely miss integrated audio. Having to mess with headphones severely impacts the minimalist feel of the headset. I know some people have strong opinions, but I still feel Quest made the right decisions around audio.
The cable to the PC and the tracking base stations are the biggest downside. The magic of stand-alone VR is real, and while some people happily trade it away for the raw power and flexibility of a PC, I wouldn’t recommend any PC VR setup as an entry point to VR.
For people considering an upgrade to a PC VR system, Bigscreen Beyond should be in the mix. I am very happy to see this extreme focus on light weight, and I hope it impacts Meta’s future designs.
In a follow-up tweet, Carmack points to a review from Adam Savage’s Tested, which he says “hits most of my points in more depth.”
In it, Tested’s Norman Chan reports back after having lived with the headset for a month, using a development unit as the office’s primary PC VR headset. Chan shows through-the-lens images, and discusses “the good, the bad, and the weird with this unique approach to high-end bespoke VR,” the video’s description reads.
Check out Tested’s review below:
Valve Index is Currently Selling for $600 Refurbished from GameStop
Looking to get your hands on arguably the best PC VR headsets out there? Well, you might consider GameStop’s refurbished units for $600.
Used, refurbished units typically sell through GameStop for $700, which includes the full kit and kaboodle: SteamVR tracking base stations, Index motion controllers, cables, and of course the Index headset itself.
Now that package is on sale for $100 off, bringing it way below its $1,000 all-in price when new. All you’ll need left to play a host of SteamVR content, such as the award-winning Half-Life: Alyx, is a VR-ready PC.
Before plonking down those six crisp Benjamins though, you might want to try out Steam’s VR Performance Test first to see if your system has what it takes.
But the last hurdle to overcome is invariably deciding whether it’s worth that price in 2023, as Index is now nearly four years old. For the long of it, check out our 2023 VR headset buyer’s guide. Here’s the short of it:
If you’re looking for a good all-in alterative to the Index deal, Meta’s Quest 2 is cheap and cheerful at $300. In addition to offering its own native library of standalone content, it also works as a PC VR headset thanks to both a wired and wireless PC connection.
You can also pick up a refurbished HP Reverb G2 from NewEgg for $390—another headset that made our list. It’s a good all-around PC VR headset, although controller latency is markedly worse than either Quest 2 or SteamVR-tracked headsets like Index or anything HTC offers.
Wherever you look though, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything new for $600 that matches Index’s still excellent displays, off-ear audio, ergonomic headstrap, and Index controllers.
Here’s a full list of what’s included:
What’s in the Box
- Headset
- Integrated Headphones
- Headset Cable
- Headset Connection Cable with DisplayPort 1.2 and USB 3.0 Connections
- Headset Power Supply
- Regionalized Headset Power Adapter(s)
- Headset Cradle Adapter (for smaller heads)
- Headset Face Gasket
- 2 Controllers, Left and Right
- 2 Controller Lanyards
- 2 USB Controller Charging Cables
- 2 SteamVR 2.0 Base Stations
- 2 15 ft (4.5 m) Base Station Power Cables
- 2 Base Station Stands with Mounting Hardware
- Regionalized Base Station Power Adapter Plug(s)
A Knight In The Attic Preview: An Arthurian Tilt Maze Rolling Onto Quest 2, PC VR
I love it when games surprise me the way A Knight In The Attic did.
Not to discount the fun that comes from VR’s most popular genres, but this felt like something I’d never seen before. At PAX East 2023, I played the first 20 minutes of an early demo build of A Knight In The Attic, set to release April 13 on Meta Quest and PC VR.
In A Knight In The Attic, you unravel the mysteries housed within a dusty attic. With a very light narrative that centers around the Arthurian Legend’s femme fatale, Guinevere, this game maintains a mystical sensibility that really drew me in. In fact, playing the demo at Mighty Yell’s booth at PAX East, I completely lost myself in the game. The convention’s chaotic cacophony melted away as I explored the tilt maze-inspired world.
This is a great example of a game within a game. Your character is interacting with magical items in an attic. There’s scrolls that doll out tutorials, drawers that require keys to unlock, and a jar to catch fireflies, but the star of the show is the world of Camelot. Presented as a tilt maze, you hold and move the maze in your virtual hands the same way you would in real life.
There’s a twist, though. Instead of a marble, you’re rolling Guinevere around the maze. And instead of a plain wooden maze, you’re rolling Guinevere around the world of Camelot. The gameplay is quite engaging, with obstacles and challenges that provide clever twists beyond just avoiding walls and holes. Striking a good balance between challenge and smart checkpoints, it’s no pushover, but it also never treats the player unfairly. Extra collectibles also really encouraged me to put my skills to the test, though I only happened upon one or two during my time with the game.
After progressing to a certain point, you’re drawn out of the tilt maze aspect and encouraged to interact with other objects in the attic around you. This demo did a great job of balancing each side of its gameplay to keep you not only engaged, but continually searching for the next key, puzzle or objective.
My only concern is with the game’s narrative. Yes, it’s based on a fairy tale and aimed at all audiences, but it felt a bit sparse. One of the game’s main collectibles is optional scrolls that expand Knight’s story, but I never felt pulled into the story or even sure enough of what was going on to feel compelled to grab the scroll beyond the extra challenge.
Narrative complaints aside, I’m interested to see how A Knight In The Attic’s gameplay continues to evolve when the full game releases this month. Keep an eye out for more thoughts on the game in the coming weeks.
Can you use PSVR2 on PC?
If you're a PC gamer, or have yet to get your hands on a PS5, and are interested in the PSVR2, you need to know whether or not it will work on other hardware.
VR Veteran Studio Behind ‘Bigscreen’ Unveils Thin & Light PC VR Headset ‘Beyond’
The team behind social VR viewing app Bigscreen today unveiled a thin and light PC VR headset that not only promises a few intriguing enthusiast-grade specs, but also a custom-made fit based on a 3D scan of your face. In short, it’s a big first for the VR veterans, who are responsible for one of the most beloved VR content viewing platforms.
Called Bigscreen Beyond, the $999 headset presents an interesting set of features which are squarely aimed at PC VR enthusiasts: dual OLED microdisplays offering 2,560 × 2,560 per-eye resolution, pancake optics, and 6DOF SteamVR tracking support.
The company is billing the tethered PC VR headset as the smallest and lightest of its kind, weighing in at just 127 grams and measuring less than 1-inch at its thinnest point.
Bigscreen Beyond starts pre-orders today, priced at $999. Ostensibly, Beyond is targeting PC VR users who likely already in the SteamVR ecosystem but want something thinner and lighter than the last generation of headsets, such as Valve Index. Notably, the headset doesn’t include the requiste SteamVR tracking base stations or SteamVR-compatible controllers like the Valve Index controller or HTC Vive wand—you’ll have to purchase those separately.
The reasoning: Bigscreen founder and CEO Darshan Shankar says the VR software studio wanted to build “the VR headset we wanted for ourselves.”
“Today’s leading VR headsets have doubled in weight compared to headsets from 2016. We built Beyond because we felt VR was too heavy, bulky, and uncomfortable,” Shankar says. “We invented new technologies to increase comfort, and developed ultra-high-end components like OLED microdisplays and pancake optics to increase immersion. To deliver the best software experience for watching movies in Bigscreen, we also had to build the best hardware with Bigscreen Beyond.”
Like many forthcoming VR headsets, Beyond is able to slim down thanks to the inclusion of pancake lenses, which Bigscreen says are a three-element optical design composed of glass, plastic polymers, films, and coatings.
Paired with two OLED microdisplays, each with a resolution of 2,560 × 2,560 pixels, Beyond boasts a high fill-factor with its 7.2-μm wide pixels and RGB stripe subpixels, resulting in what the company says eliminates the screen door effect—when the non-illuminated spaces between pixels make it seem like you’re viewing VR content through a screen door.
Resolution alone doesn’t tell the whole story, although for reference Valve Index is 1,440 × 1,600 per-eye, Meta Quest Pro is 1,920 × 1,800 pixels per-eye, and Pico 4 is 2,160 × 2,160 pixels per-eye.
Another one of Beyond’s big enthusiast-grade features is owed to Bigscreen’s ability to customize the fit of the headset to each user, which will be done by doing a one-time scan of the user’s face using an iPhone XR or more recent Apple mobile device. The dedicated Bigscreen scanning app is said to measure the shape of the user’s face and the position of their eyes, which allows the company to form a facial interface a unique to the individual and determine interpupillar distance.
The hand-washable facial interface is said to provide “even weight distribution, zero light leakage, and aligns the eyes and optics correctly.” Additionally, glasses wearers will have to spring for custom prescription lenses that magnetically fit into Beyond, as glasses do not fit inside the small form factor.
Although it ships with a soft strap, users can also spring for the optional audiostrap. We haven’t confirmed pricing for that yet, however we’ll update once we do.
Granted, some things we’d consider ‘nex-gen’ are notably missing from Beyond, such as eye-tracking, face-tracking, optical 6DOF tracking, and the ability to use it wirelessly. As the first VR headset from a long-time VR veteran though, Beyond does check a lot of boxes for users such as simulator fans, and anyone looking for a better long-term VR media viewer.
Bigscreen Beyond is slate to ship in waves based on region. Preorders, which are fully cancellable and refundable up until shipping, are set to ship in the United States sometime in Q3 2023.
Second wave shipments will begin in Q4 2023 in Canada and Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium. A third wave of will come sometime in late 2023, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand. The company says Beyond will be available in more countries and regions in 2024.
Check out the spec sheet below:
Bigscreen Beyond Specs
| Display Resolution | 5120 x 2560 pixels (2560 x 2560 per eye) cloed at max 90Hz |
| Field Of View (FOV) | 93° HFOV x 90° VFOV |
| Pixels Per Degree (PPD) | 28° |
| Interpupillary Distance (IPD) |
56mm-74mm accommodated (fixed IPD per device, 58mm-72mm)
|
| Optics Type | Custom Pancake Optics |
| 6DOF Tracking | SteamVR Tracking (aka Lighthouse) |
| Version | V1.0 or V2.0 Base Stations. Not included. |
| Controllers | SteamVR controllers (ex. Valve Index, HTC Vive). Not included. |
| Full-Body Tracking |
SteamVR trackers (ex. HTC Vive Tracker, Tundra Tracker). Not included.
|
| Audio | Not built-in (USB C port for Audio), or optional Audio Strap |
| Ports | USB-C accessory port (USB 2.0) |
| Microphone Input | Stereo microphones |
| PC Connection | DisplayPort 1.4 (video) and dual USB 3.0 ports (power, data) |
| Accessory ports | USB-C (USB 2.0 speed) |
| Cable | 5-meter custom fiber optic cable and Link Box |
PC Requirements |
|
| CPU | Quad Core Intel or AMD |
| GPU |
Nvidia RTX 2070 or AMD RX 5700 XT or newer (DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC required)
|
| Ports | 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 2 x USB 3.0 ports |
30+ VR Games Still To Come In 2022: Quest 2, PC VR & PSVR
It’s been a pretty decent year for VR so far, but there’s still a huge number of games releasing for Quest, PC VR and PSVR in the second half of 2022.
We’ve compiled a list of every confirmed title below — while some have confirmed release dates or months, there’s quite a few games without a specific date yet. Some just have a season or vague release window, but many others are just scheduled for 2022 without any other specifics.
At the very end, there’s a few games we know are in development, but without any indication of release window. Even if unlikely, a lot of these titles could hypothetically be a surprise release before the end of the year — fingers crossed.
2022 VR Games
Kayak VR: Mirage (June 28) – PC VR
A visually arresting take on kayaking in VR, this physics-driven experience lets you take part in single-player exploration and races across several stunning environments.
Wands Alliances (June 30) – Quest 2
Cortopia Studios follows up on its multiplayer spell-battling game with a new title that features 3v3 matches. Pick your spells and jump into arenas to magical combat with a tactical twist.
Vail VR (Beta, July 1) – PC VR
Competitive VR shooter Vail will be going into beta in July after an extensive alpha testing period.
Moss: Book II (July 21) – Quest 2
While already available on PSVR, this follow-up platformer starring adventurous mouse Quill will come to Quest 2 towards the end of July.
The Twilight Zone VR (July 14) – Quest 2
The Twilight Zone VR will launch with three different tales (or ‘episodes’), each essentially a mini story, that span different genres and are handled by different writers, much like a serialized TV show. A PSVR version will release at a later date — no word on potential PC VR or PSVR 2 releases just yet thought.
Nerf: Ultimate Championship (August 25) – Quest 2
Nerf: Ultimate Championship brings foam bullet action into VR as a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter. You’ll be able to choose between different blasters and play across control point and arena modes, with some parkour mechanics thrown in for good measure.
The Chewllers (Summer, Early Access) – Quest
This four-player co-op game will see you stand atop a tower, covering all angles as the horde or Chewllers approaches. Upgrade your weapons and repair your tower between waves to hold out as long as possible. The game will launch in early access for Quest this summer, with PC VR and PSVR releases planned later down the line.
Requisition VR (Early Access in September) – PC VR
Originally slated for a May launch, Requisition VR’s release window has been pushed as the developers relocate staff from Russia and Ukraine. The game is a survival VR zombie shooter, set to launch in early access on PC VR in September, PSVR in Q3-4 and potentially Quest 2 in the future.
NFL Pro Era (Fall) – Quest 2, PSVR
When it launches this fall, NFL Pro Era will be the first officially-licensed NFL VR game, available for Quest 2 and PSVR. It will include all 32 professional NFL teams and will let you embody the quarterback during gameplay.
Espire 2 (November) – Quest 2
This sequel will offer more sandbox stealth with some new features and mechanics, alongside a brand new second campaign designed for co-op multiplayer. It will release in November for Quest 2, but no confirmation for other platforms yet.
Among Us VR (Holiday) – Quest 2, PC VR
Among Us VR brings the viral multiplayer game into VR, where one player embodies the impostor and must murder the other members without arousing suspicion or being discovered. It’s coming to Quest 2 and PC VR during the 2022 holiday period, but there’s no specific date just yet. A PSVR 2 release has also been confirmed for when the headset launches — whenever that may be.
2022 VR Releases – Date TBC
Bonelab – Quest 2, PC VR
This highly anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Boneworks is the next title from Stress Level Zero, launching this year for Quest 2 and PC VR. Bonelab is an action-adventure physics game with a brand new story and “two years of innovation and interaction engine progress” from Boneworks.
Red Matter 2 – Quest 2
Red Matter 2 will pick up right after the first game ended, taking you back to the mysterious planet plagued by horrific anomalies. You’re now on a rescue mission, searching for an old friend, with more environmental storytelling and puzzle solving. While it’s coming to Quest 2 this year, there’s no word on PSVR or PC VR releases just yet.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution – Quest 2, PC VR, PSVR
This Walking Dead follow-up game is set to release on all major headset platforms late this year, giving players a chance to step back into the world with a new map and weapons — including a gore-inducing chainsaw. A PSVR 2 release is also confirmed, but not until next year.
Gambit – Quest 2, PC VR
This co-op VR shooter will see you complete heist-style missions, shooting and looting with your friends through a 20+ hour campaign. It’s coming to Quest 2 and PC VR this year, but no confirmation of other platforms yet.
Killer Frequency – Quest 2
This will be the first VR title developed by Team 17, the acclaimed studio known for the Worms franchise. However, don’t expect a Worms-like game here– instead, this horror-comedy is set in the mid-US in the 1980’s, and casts players as a local radio host that must help the citizens of a small town avoid a mysterious masked killer.
Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom – Quest 2, PC VR
Based around the titular characters of Netflix fame, Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom is being developed by Doctor Who: Edge of Time studio Maze Theory and set for release later this year on Quest 2 and PC VR. It looks like a PSVR 2 release could be in the works too, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer for full confirmation it seems.
What the Bat
What the Bat is a VR follow-up to the flatscreen title What the Golf from Denmark-based studio Triband. You’ll have a bat in either hand, but you won’t be playing baseball — instead, you’ll do just about anything else. The game is coming to Quest 2 and PC VR later this year.
Ziggy’s Cosmic Adventure – Quest 2, PC VR
Ziggy’s Cosmic Adventure is an immersive pilot sim, where you’ll need to balance between ship combat and management while rocketing through space, coming late this year to Quest 2 and PC VR.
Propagation: Paradise Hotel – Quest 2
A sequel to Propagation VR, this single player horror sequel will see you fight in new encounters with all new mechanics. The game will release on “all major VR platforms” but Quest 2 is specifically confirmed for later this year.
Broken Edge – Quest 2, PC VR
This stylish multiplayer game will see two players go head-to-head in swordfighting combat. Developed by Trebuchet and published by Fast Travel Games, it’s coming to Quest 2 and PC VR later this year.
Hubris – PC VR
This stunning VR shooter is coming to PC VR later this year, with Quest and PSVR versions in the works as well.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate – Quest 2
The latest game from Tokyo-based MyDearest will see you play as Hal Scion, who will use his ability to access people’s memories to investigate the murder of a futuristic city’s founder. It’s coming to Quest 2 this year, with no confirmation of other headsets yet. It will be an episodic release split in three parts, but the studio aims to have all episodes release by the end of the year.
Paranormal Hunter
You’ll team up with up to four players in this ghost-hunting multiplayer title, set to release in early access for PC VR sometime this year.
Tea for God
After a long time available as a work in progress on Itch.io, Tea for God will properly launch for PC VR on Steam later this year. No news on whether the Quest version will see a similar full release anytime soon though, but keep an out.
Trial by Teng – PC VR
Solve puzzles and work off your ‘Karmic debt’ as you try to work your way out of hell in this satirical VR title, coming to PC VR headsets sometime this year.
Ultimechs – PC VR
Ultimechs is a pretty simple concept: it’s soccer, but instead of kicking the ball, you’re firing rockets at it from a giant mech. While the game is coming to “major VR platforms”, it’s only confirmed for release on PC VR later this year.
Ruinsmagus VR – PC VR, Quest 2
Play as a novice wizard to become a spell-wielding Magus through 26 narrative-drive quests with full Japanese voice acting. Originally set for a spring release, Ruinsmagus is coming to Quest and PC VR sometime this year.
Vertigo 2 – PC VR
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about upcoming VR FPS Vertigo 2, but it’s seemingly still scheduled for release sometime this year. Hopefully more news is on the way soon.
The Exorcist: Legion VR 2 – Quest 2
The Exorcist VR horror game is getting a sequel with support for cooperative multiplayer. It’s set to launch in late 2022 for Quest 2, but it’s also coming to PSVR 2 at some point post-headset launch as well.
Upcoming Games – No Confirmed Release Window
These games are ones we know about, but have absolutely no release date — not even a rough year window.
It’s hard to say whether most (if any) of these will launch this year, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility, hence why we’ve included them.
Assassin’s Creed VR – Quest
Rumored to be titled Assassin’s Creed Nexus, we’ve not heard much about Ubisoft’s upcoming Quest title that will bring the famed franchise to VR for the first time. It could surprise launch later in the year, but we wouldn’t count on it.
Ghostbusters VR – Quest 2, PSVR 2
Ghostbusters VR was revealed at the Meta Gaming Showcase in April this year — a presentation that was prefaced with a message saying all games shown were set to launch within a year.
At the earliest, that means a launch sometime this year, but at the latest, it means a launch by April 2023 . However, it’s still possible the game gets delayed past that — we’ll just have to wait and see.
Horizon: Call of the Mountain – PSVR 2
While not a confirmed PSVR 2 launch title, Call of the Mountain’s release date obviously hinges on when PSVR 2 itself will release. And yes, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that PSVR 2 will launch in 2022 — 2023 seems much more likely now.
But hypothetically, Call of the Mountain could be a PSVR 2 launch title if the headset released this year. Don’t hold your breath though.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Quest 2
Since it was announced last October, we’ve heard nothing about GTA: San Andreas on Quest. There’s a slim chance it launches later this year. Fingers crossed?
HeliSquad: Covert Operations – PC VR, Quest 2, Pico Neo Link 3
Only recently revealed, there’s no release window for this helicopter game coming from Warplanes studio Home Next Games.
Onward 2
While Mark Zuckerberg seemingly confirmed Onward 2 is in development, we’ve heard nothing since and there’s been no official announcement yet either. There’s a chance it could be announced and launched later this year, perhaps at Connect, but it’s hard to gauge how far development is.
Splinter Cell VR – Quest
All we know about this game is that it’s part of the Splinter Cell series and it’s coming to Quest — nothing else. It’s hard to see this releasing in 2022, given Assassin’s Creed seems likely to come first, but with so little information, it’s hard to know either way.
Resident Evil 8 VR & Other PSVR 2 Titles
As we covered above, it’s unclear when the PSVR 2 headset is launching. While a 2022 window is increasingly unlikely, Sony has yet to comment properly on the exact release.
If PSVR 2 were to release before the end of this year, then maybe we could expect Resident Evil 8’s VR support and some other titles to launch with it.
What games are you looking forward to most through the end of 2022? Let us know in the comments.
Valve Patent Filing May Reveal Its Standalone Headset’s Design
A Valve design patent filing may reveal its rumored ‘Deckard’ headset.
Valve Index, the company’s $999 tethered PC VR kit, has now been on the market for almost three years. It still has best-in-class tracking and audio quality but its 1600×1440 resolution has been surpassed on both the low end with Quest 2 and the high end with headsets like HTC’s Vive Pro 2 and Varjo Aero.
Evidence of a new headset codenamed Deckard was discovered in September by YouTuber Brad Lynch (SadlyItsBradley) in a SteamVR driver. Deckard is the surname of Blade Runner’s protagonist and likely a reference to Steam Deck. Last year, when asked directly by The Verge whether Steam Deck’s chip could be used in a standalone VR headset, Valve product designer Greg Coomer said it would “run well in that environment” and “it’s very relevant to us and our future plans”. In February, Valve president Gabe Newell described Steam Deck as a “stepping stone” to high performance standalone VR, but noted “we’re not really there yet”.
Ars Technica said its sources confirmed Valve had at least two VR headset concepts in the works which diverged over time, with one requiring a PC and tracking base stations but the other operating standalone with onboard compute like Quest.
The evidence from Lynch suggested Deckard is the standalone headset. He found a “Standalone System Layer” option in the hidden ‘Valve Internal’ menu tab of SteamVR, as well as a Linux-only binary referencing Deckard which he says tells the device to boot to a default application. Valve’s distro of Linux is called SteamOS – it’s what Steam Deck runs.
Lynch also noted that a driver called VRLink was added to SteamVR with code referencing a Wi-Fi 6 driver, and this update actually temporarily broke some HTC Vive wireless setups. These findings suggest Deckard will have PC VR streaming functionality similar to Quest’s Air Link and Virtual Desktop. A new finding from Lynch this week suggests SteamVR will make it easy for PCs with Wi-Fi to create a hotspot directly to the headset – something Meta seems to plan to do with a USB dongle.
Today, a Valve design patent application filed in December titled ‘Head Mounted Display’ was made public by the US Patent & Trademark Office. It depicts a wireless headset with a different design to Index, but with a similar off-ear speaker setup and rear strap adjustment knob.
It’s notable that the front of the headset lacks any kind of detail. It doesn’t show the cameras or photodiodes that would be expected for positional tracking. That’s because this design patent filing actually seems to be focused on the strap system of the headset and its ability to be adjusted for various face and head shapes – the patent isn’t about the headset’s technical design.
Despite that focus, there are hints in the patent text that the depiction may be standalone: “The harness may couple to a rear housing disposed at the back of the HMD. The rear housing may accommodate various computing components of the HMD.” There’s also a line that backs up Lynch’s findings about wireless PC functionality: “In some instances, the images may be output by an application or computing device communicatively coupled to the HMD.”
Ars Technica’s September article noted that Valve had begun dedicating its manufacturing lines to the Steam Deck portable console, so doubted the company had the capacity to also ship a new standalone VR headset at scale in the near term given the ongoing global chip shortage. But nine months later Steam Deck has now shipped. Could Valve be getting closer to a reveal for its next hardware?
VR Usage On Steam Jumps 70% To All Time High Of 3.24% – But Why?
3.24% of Steam users used a VR headset in May, by far an all time high. But why the sudden jump?
Companies like Meta, Valve, & HTC don’t reveal hardware sales figures. The Steam Hardware Survey remains the most reliable indicator of PC VR’s adoption. The survey is offered to a random sample of Steam’s userbase each month. If you choose to accept, it uploads your PC specifications and peripherals. Before March 2020 the survey relied on headsets being connected via USB at the time of sampling, but Valve changed it to scan your SteamVR logs from the past month.
Valve compiles this data to present the overall percentage of Steam users with a VR headset, as well as the relative usage share of each headset model. Since the survey method was changed the previous all time high for VR users on Steam was 2.31% in March 2021. But the data for May 2022 released on Friday shows a dramatic and unexplained jump to 3.24%.
What caused this? On Friday we reached out to Valve for clarification but we haven’t received a reply.
Could a clue lie in another section of the Hardware Survey? In May the number of users on Steam with their language set to Simplified Chinese dropped 3.38% in absolute terms. Given Steam’s monthly active userbase is 132 million, that’s more than 4 million China-based users dropping off the survey compared to April.
Given none of the most popular VR headsets used on Steam are sold in China, sampling a userbase with fewer Chinese users should result in a larger percentage of VR users. This could explain the all time high VR stat – though it’s unclear what actually caused the reduction in Chinese users in the first place, and the number of Chinese users was also around 22% in November 2021.
Another possibility is that Valve was somehow undercounting VR users and corrected this for the May statistics. We’ll update this article if we get a response.
Stride Multiplayer Mode Set To Launch In June For Quest, SteamVR
Joy Way confirmed that multiplayer is coming to Stride for Quest and PC VR via Steam in June, with more details to come soon.
The developers announced the news via Reddit, accompanied by a new trailer showcasing the multiplayer mode in action.
As you can see in the trailer embedded above, you’ll be able to play with a number of different players, performing parkour moves across various maps. You’ll also seemingly be able to choose from a number of different outfits for your avatar and interact with other players in some non-parkour capacities.
In a comment on Reddit, Joy Way said it will share more details on the mode next week. There’s no details on multiplayer launch date for PSVR yet, with the launch next month seemingly targeting PC via Steam and Quest platforms only. It’s unclear whether the Oculus Store release for PC VR will also receive the multiplayer update in June as well.
Multiplayer has been a long time coming for Stride. Joy Way first began testing it in Alpha on PC almost a year ago, in June 2021, with plans to later bring the mode to all platforms. That test involved a mode called ‘Zombie Horde‘, which was essentially a version of tag where a group of players were cast as survivors and another group as zombies. The latter have to chase and tag the former — the last survivor standing was the winner of the round.
In November 2021, Joy Way took the test servers down and noted that improvements would be made based on player feedback. The studio also indicated that several other multiplayer modes were in development as well — hopefully we see those in the full launch next month.
Just earlier this month, Stride was restored to the Quest store after it was made unavailable for over a month, as part of a move from Meta to unlist apps with “financial entities” based in Russia. You can find more details on that story here.