A much-requested Population: One Solos Mode launches today, but only for a limited time.
The Halloween-themed Spooky Scary Solos event runs from October 27 – November 2 and features a lobby size of 24 players. It’s the same rules as the usual game. In other words, you’ll fight to be the last player standing on an ever-shrinking map. Check out a new trailer for the latest mode below.
Population: One Solos Mode Launches
Perhaps the most interesting addition to this mode will be proximity chat, allowing opponents to hear you if you’re close by. That will definitely enable some interesting new dynamics for the shooter. Solos will also include night mode, making it a little harder to spot enemies. You’ll also have a chance to earn new Halloween-themed cosmetics.
We’ve seen a lot of requests for a Population: One Solos mode over the past year. You can already access this option in custom rooms, but BigBox VR has long insisted that the mode goes against the game’s social nature. Other events like the War Mode have also run for a limited time but made regular reappearances, often with new twists to the rules.
We also spoke to BigBox VR (which itself was recently acquired by Facebook) about the game as it celebrated its first anniversary, which you can read here. In it, the studio talks a bit about the chances of Solos returning in the future. Will you be trying out the new Population: One Solos mode? Let us know in the comments below.
The Oculus Quest 2 just turned one, which means that all of its launch window titles are celebrating their first anniversaries, too. Among them is one of the platform’s most enduring multiplayer shooters, Population: One.
And what a year it’s been for the battle royale shooter. There were ups and downs for sure: developer BigBox VR abandoned its Fortnite-aping Battle Pass model in favor of free events after just two seasons, but the game’s popularity proved significant enough for Facebook to acquire the studio just a few months ago. And the team continues to mix things up with new limited-time modes, including the launch of a much-requested Solos option arriving today.
“We’ve learned a ton over the last year!” Chia Chin Lee, BigBox VR’s Head of Studio says in an email Q&A. “Our daily playtests along with listening to player feedback is so important. With that information, we can recognize when things aren’t working as smoothly as they should and work quickly to fine tune features and items.”
One of the biggest changes came with Kingdom Age, a new theme introduced a few months back that Chin Lee says “represented the culmination of our internal discussions on how to make POP1 more fun and accessible for everyone.”
Kingdom Age saw Pop One ditch its $5 Battle Pass, which gave players access to free cosmetic upgrades while a larger free update introduced new mechanics and weapons. The developer hasn’t shared stats on the uptake of those passes but given that, unlike Fortnite, the game isn’t a free-to-play shooter, it’s easy to see why some players might’ve been put off of the idea. Instead, BigBox VR has stepped up how regularly it’s doing events with the opportunity to unlock new skins without having to pay anything.
The studio says to expect this trend to continue. “At BigBox VR, one of the things we enjoy the most is learning from players,” Community Manager Eric Morrill notes. “The feedback has been positive and for now, we plan to continue with an events-driven approach.”
The latest event is Solos, which runs until November 2nd (though it’s been available in custom room options for much of the year). It supports 24 players in a match competing to be the last player standing. “That feeling of being alone and ready to strike as the zone shrinks is even more amplified because we’re launching it during our Halloween event,” Morrill explains. “Plus, night mode is on. It should be an exciting event filled with spooky solo matches!”
While it’s definitely great to see Solo being implemented into the game, it’s easily one of the most requested features and some fans will be disappointed that it’s only for a limited time. Morrill says this launch is a test, adding: “As long as it doesn’t compromise the social foundation of POP1 and players are having fun, any new mode or content drop we introduce could come back again in some form.”
As for highlights from year one? “We are happy to celebrate the fact that over 5 million friend connections have been made in-game since launch!” Chin Lee says.
“We’d like to offer a big thanks to our community. Our goal is to always make sure the POP1 community has fun, can play the game the way they love to, while always keeping the core values of POP1 alive and well.”
Expect to see more events and updates carrying into 2022. BigBox VR is coy on plans for the new year, including the impact the Facebook acquisition has had on its future plans.
Oh, and, PSVR players? We asked, but Chin Lee’s response doesn’t seem too promising: “At this time, we are focused on building the most compelling POP1 experience for the platforms that we already support.”
After being acquired by Facebook back in June, BigBox VR is almost ready to launch its next seasonal update for Population: One. Last time the developer took players to the wild west in The Frontier. In a couple of days, the battle royale shooter will be going even further back in history with castles, swords and loads of rewards in Kingdom Age.
So the first big addition is a giant sprawling castle with battlements, ruins, stained glass windows and, of course, a throne to wage war around. As you’re running around doing your best knight of Camelot impressions you’ll want to keep an eye out for a new weapon, Excalibur, the legendary sword to cut opponents down within the stone walls. It also gives you a speed boost.
Kingdom Age will be slightly different to previous seasonal updates which have focused on Battle Passes. This time around the Battle Pass has been dispensed with, instead, BigBox VR is launching four free events over the coming 11 weeks. The events will allow you to unlock free cosmetic rewards like the PJ (Gallant) character skin with armour detailing or new gun skins.
The four events aren’t simply a chance to unlock new stuff, each will have its own gameplay twist with BigBox VR revealing that: “Kingdom Age’s second event may have a new game mode.” All these events will build up to a grand finale where you can choose the Light or Dark side and fight for your kingdom. “The winning side will leave a mark on the world,” the studio teases.
Kingdom Age has also been designed to ensure new players aren’t overwhelmed. Considering Population: One launched in October 2020 the videogame has seen a rapid succession of updates, with new features coming and going whilst others stay. Hence why Kingdom Age only features Excalibur as the only new item which is easy to wield.
Population: One – Kingdom Age is set for launch this Thursday, 5th August as a free update for Oculus Quest and Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. For further seasonal updates from BigBox VR, keep reading VRFocus.
Population: One is giving its traditional seasonal structure a rest as it lines up 11 weeks of free events under one central theme, starting on August 5th.
While this is technically the game’s third major overhaul since launch, developer BigBox VR won’t be including a premium battle pass as part of these events. Traditionally, new seasons of Population: One come with a bunch of free additions, like new weapons and changes to the map, but then charge $5 for the chance to earn new cosmetics like costumes and gun skins. The idea is similar to games like Fortnite, except Population: One isn’t free-to-play.
But for the next 11 weeks, BigBox VR will instead be running four free events under its new theme, Kingdom Age. This introduces a castle environment to the game as well a new melee weapon, Excalibur. The sword gives players a speed boost.
Throughout Kingdom Age, though, BixBox VR will launch new events with the chance to earn more cosmetics. For example, players can first get a new Gallant variation of the PJ skin, a range of new weapon skins and new sprays and titles for free. Kingdom Age will culminate in a finale event, too, which the developer says will impact how the game looks moving forward.
“We like the Season format for unveiling new themes and content, but sometimes players who start playing later in the Season could feel like they already missed the battle pass,” the studio reasoned in a blog post. The developer did not confirm if it will return to the battle pass format for future seasons.
Notably, the change comes a few months after Facebook announced it was acquiring BigBox VR.
Will you be taking part in Population: One’s free season? Let us know in the comments below!
POPULATION: ONE (2020) is getting some fresh content starting this week that aims to bring a medieval twist to the battle royale shooter.
Called ‘Kingdom Age’, the two month-long event is slated to kick off August 5th, and will include four “big events” which will feature new areas to explore and rewards to win.
There’s still only a few bits of info out about the upcoming medieval DLC, however it seems the game’s sprawling industrial zone has been replaced by a castle which looks tantalizingly ripe with shooting and hiding possibilities.
Image courtesy BigBoxVR
There seems to be a few new costumes to collect too, including both good and evil knights and possibly a witch à la The Red Witch from Game of Thrones. Maybe a blind hunter? There’s no telling yet.
Image courtesy BigBoxVR
We’ve also seen a few swords in promotional material. Population: One actually removed its only sword, the katana, back at the beginning of the second season in May. We’re certainly hoping for some improved sword play with the new content drop this week.
A quick teaser showing an avatar named ‘Victoria’ gives us a peek at some of that ‘good’ armor. You can check it out below, or here if your browser has blocked the Facebook video for some reason.
The studio isn’t couching the free content update as a season per se—if it were, that would make it the game’s third season following its western-themed DLC drop in May, called ‘The Frontier’.
The limited time mode is based off the previous War Mode, Advanced War Mode and Super Advanced War Mode, all of which were similar to Team Deathmatch but with a Battle Royale ruleset. Two teams of nine would start on the map and play a last-man-standing scenario with no respawns available.
Super Advanced War Mode XXL builds on the same idea but, as the name suggests, is now bigger than ever. As opposed to just nine players, the new XXL lobbies support up to 24 players (two teams of 12). There’s no word on how long the limited time mode will be available for, so you better get in quick if you want to try it out.
About a week ago, the developers also gave an update on the Population: One subreddit to talk about what they had been working on. Bug fixes were high on the agenda, along with many quality of life fixes and streamlining loading times. The team has put out so much new content and features over the last few months that they “want to spend time improving performance and fixing bugs again.” Matchmaking improvements were also being worked on as well.
Last month, Facebook announced that it had acquired Population: One developers BigBox VR — the latest in a string of studio acquisitions in the last few years that began with Beat Games (the team behind Beat Saber) in late 2019 and continued with Sanzaru Games (Asgard’s Wrath), Ready at Dawn (Lone Echo, Echo VR) and Downpour Interactive (Onward) in 2020 and 2021.
Over the past couple of years Facebook has been consolidating its virtual reality (VR) content output by acquiring some of the most prominent studios in the industry, and this week another has been added to that roster, BigBox VR. The studio is best known for its battle royale title Population: One which launched last year and will continue to improve the videogame under Facebook’s umbrella.
Population: One has seen huge success since its launch nine months ago for Oculus Quest and PC VR headsets. In that time BigBox VR has released a continual stream of updates and seasonal content. At the moment Population: One – Season 2: The Frontier is underway and this month also saw the arrival of a Team Deathmatch mode.
The acquisition will see the entire BigBox VR team join Oculus Studios whilst maintaining the indie studios’ culture. “We’re excited to help BigBox VR grow and accelerate their vision for POPULATION: ONE as a state-of-the-art VR social gaming experience, as well as pursue future projects, with access to the resources and support of Facebook and Oculus Studios, all while maintaining the team’s creativity, disciplined methodology, and commitment to community,” said Mike Verdu, VP of Content at Facebook Reality Labs on the Oculus Blog.
Just like previous studio purchases Population: One won’t suddenly become an Oculus platform exclusive, it’ll continue to be supported across current VR platforms. With Facebook’s backing expect plenty more content for Population: One to arrive in the future.
Facebook’s studio acquisitions have begun to pick up speed of late. Beat Games (Beat Saber) was the first to be bought in 2019 followed by Asgard’s Wrath creator Sanzaru Games in early 2020. That same year Lone Echo developer Ready At Dawn was picked up, then last month Downpour Interactive, the team behind Onward revealed it had been acquired.
Expect more in the future, with Verdu noting: “We’re exploring many ways to accelerate VR, including investments in third-party content, AAA IP, hardware, and more, and we have awesome and innovative plans for the next few years of gaming.” For further updates on the latest VR studio acquisitions, keep reading VRFocus.
Facebook acquired another VR shooter game development studio with the purchase of BigBox VR, the creator of battle royale title POPULATION: ONE.
Facebook said it wouldn’t disclose the terms of the deal, which follows the April purchase of Downpour Interactive and its tactical multiplayer shooter Onward. Both POPULATION: ONE and Onward are among the highest revenue earners on Facebook’s standalone VR headset Oculus Quest. In February, Facebook said six Oculus Quest titles had cleared $10 million in revenue and Facebook now owns at least half of them.
Launched in late 2020, POPULATION: ONE is a first-person shooter (FPS) in which players team up in groups of three and fight across a large map to be the last team standing. The game is comparable to Epic Games’ battle royale sensation, Fortnite, both in terms of structure and business model – POPULATION: ONE is currently running a second ‘season’ of themed content including free updates and cosmetic items that are locked behind a premium battle pass.
The purchase represents Facebook’s 5th VR game development studio acquisition. The company first acquired the developer of rhythm slicing game Beat Saber, Beat Games, in late 2019. Beat Saber is likely VR’s most popular game at more than four million copies sold. Then, in February 2020, Facebook bought Sanzaru Games, the makers of PC VR’s visual powerhouse title Asgard’s Wrath.
In June 2020, Facebook also bought Ready At Dawn, the makers of the Echo VR games. Ready At Dawn’s Lone Echo II is slated for release on PC VR this summer, likely representing a swan song for the PC-powered Rift platform as Facebook zeroes in on the success it is finding with the standalone Quest. The multiplayer Echo VR, meanwhile, now runs a seasonal content structure similar to POPULATION: ONE.
Facebook says BigBox VR will operate as an independent studio.
“BigBox VR has big plans for the future of POP: ONE and for other projects, but we’re not ready to share details at this time,” a blog post prepared by Facebook states. “POP: ONE will continue to be supported on all its current platforms.
The release of Population: One’s Team Deathmatch mode is imminent — BigBox VR revealed the game mode will be available from June 3 until June 14, alongside some other juicy details.
According to a post from developers BigBox VR on Reddit, the mode will see 2 teams of 6 players shoot it out — the first team to 30 kills will be the winner. There’s a 5 second respawn countdown, and rounds have a 15-minute maximum time limit in the event neither team reaches 30 kills.
In terms of the map, BigBox says that Team Deathmatch games “are confined to a small portion of the larger POP: ONE map, in areas like The Frontier or The Tower.” You’ll be able to gain Season Points by playing in Team Deathmatch, plus there will also be weekly and daily challenges for the mode as well.
From June 3, the new mode will be available from the ‘Play’ tab in game — just select the option to change modes, and Team Deathmatch should be listed. It will be available from June 3 but won’t be around indefinitely — the mode won’t be available in public lobbies after 12pm on June 14.
However, if you want to keep the deathmatch action going, you’ll be able to do so in custom rooms — the option to play Team Deathmatch will be available in custom room settings from June 14 onward. The Reddit post also says you will be able to ‘play Solos or other team sizes in Custom Rooms’ for Team Deathmatch.
BigBoxVR only launched Population: One – Season 2: The Frontier a couple of weeks ago offering players a new environment, weapons and other items, all wrapped up in a Wild West theme. This week the studio has begun teasing a new mode that fans have been expecting, Team Deathmatch.
In most online first-person shooters (FPS) Team Deathmatch tends to be a classic gameplay mode introduced from the very beginning. Population: One being a virtual reality (VR) battle royale is a little different, favouring multiple three squad teams instead. That gameplay is going to be turned upside down with the introduction of Team Deathmatch.
The mode will be introduced to public lobbies first with plans to bring it to private sessions later. Players will be split into two teams with the objective being the first to get to 30 kills. Unlike standard Population: One matches where you only have one life and death means spectating or heading back to the lobby, in Team Deathmatch you’ll continually return to the fight until the match is finished.
However, just like Population: One’s current and previous seasons/modes – like the Super Advanced War Mode – Team Deathmatch will only be available for a limited time. When that occurs and how long for BigBoxVR hasn’t confirmed, just that it is coming soon.
Oh and don’t forget, the VRFOCUS coupon code mentioned for the launch of season 2 is still valid, but not for long! The code works within the first 7 days for all new Population: One owners, allowing them to claim 750 Bureau Gold (worth $10) to use in the online store. The offer can only be redeemed until tomorrow, 27th May 2021.
Providing cross-platform action between Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, Population: One has become one of the biggest VR shooters since its launch in October 2020. In that time the videogame has managed to surpass $10m in revenue, and that’s just from Oculus Quest. As BigBoxVR continues to support and roll out new content for Population: One, VRFocus will let you know.
SURPRISE!!!
12 v 12
