Ubisoft today announced at Facebook Connect that both the Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell franchises are getting made-for-VR games. Both games are set to be Oculus platform exclusives.
Ubisoft says that both the Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell games will be created from the ground-up exclusively for the Oculus platform, and will “include elements of the franchises that players know and love.”
Ubisoft has been producing VR games since 2016 with notable titles including Eagle Flight (2016), Werewolves Within (2016), and Star Trek Bridge Crew (2017).
The studio says development on Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell for VR will be led by Ubisoft’s Red Storm, in collaboration with Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Dusseldorf and Ubisoft Mumbai.
There’s no word on when either game will arrive, and no screenshots or trailers as such, so we’ll just have to wait patiently for now to learn more. As it is, these will be the biggest extant game franchises Ubisoft has brought to VR, so it speaks volumes about the studio’s confidence level now as they continue these long and storied franchises into immersive headsets.
It’s unclear whether these will be considered Quest exclusives, or will also be offered to Rift and Quest users via PC.
Oculus Quest 2 is real! Not only can you read and watch our review for the headset RIGHT NOW but we’ve also got a full rundown on all its accessories down below, including the all-new Elite Strap and Battery Pack.
Officially, there are five official accessory options coming to the Oculus Quest 2 from Facebook, including an Elite Strap with improved balance and ergonomics, as well as a battery pack for extended use. Additionally, there are three more accessories coming from third-party providers including an in-ear audio solution.
While the Oculus Quest 2 by itself is just $299 (64GB) or $399 (256GB), which is relatively affordable considering the technology itself, the overall price can increase rapidly if you decide to add in a few accessories.
Official Quest 2 Accessories
Quest 2 Elite Strap ($49 USD):
The default Quest 2 strap is a velcro design similar once again to the Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, and Oculus Quest. While we do cite improved comfort compared to the original Quest in our review, this time Facebook is offering an official Elite Strap from release as an option to make it even more balanced and comfortable. Notably, this is the exact thing accessories such as the VR Power aimed to solve on the original Quest. In our experience with the Quest 2 Elite Strap, it does make a difference. This is the only accessory we’ve been able to test so far.
This is just a collection of the Elite Strap and Carry Case, plus a built-in battery pack for the Elite Strap as well that plugs into the USB Type-C port on the headset so you can play for even longer without taking a break to charge. Reportedly, it should double the battery length. It’s worth mentioning, however, that you cannot use the Battery Pack and Oculus Link at the same time. If you want to plug into a PC with Oculus Link then you must unplug the Battery Pack first since they use the same port on the device.
Official Oculus Link Cable ($79 USD):
This 5-meter USB 3 Type-C cable comes at a premium price to provide a premium-quality high-speed fiber-optic solution. Using this cable you’ll be able to connect your Oculus Quest 2 directly to your PC to play PC VR content designed for the Oculus Rift from Oculus Home, Steam, and more. The headset should work with a wide-variety of USB Type-C cables if you don’t want to drop $79 on the official solution, just like the original Oculus Quest, but we haven’t tested many yet. Technically the one in the box should work for Quest 2, but it’s super short so it’s not very practical.
Quest 2 Carrying Case ($49 USD):
Just like with the original Oculus Quest, Facebook is releasing an official carrying case for the Quest 2. We had mixed opinions about the official case for the first Quest — after a few months the zipper broke and overall it didn’t have a ton of room for extra items. Personally, I switched to this case. We haven’t gotten our hands on this one yet though so we don’t know for sure if it’s better or not.
Quest 2 Fit Pack ($39 UDD):
Finally, this simple kit includes two “light blockers” presumably to eliminate light leak around the edges of the face plate and two more interchangeable facial interfaces for wider or more narrow face shapes.
VRCover is well known for making excellent facial interface replacements for VR headsets. Personally, I can’t imagine using my original Quest without the leather foam replacement at this point, so it’s great to see a new product for Quest 2 is already coming.
Logitech G333 VR In-Ear Headphones ($50 USD):
Despite being a third-party solution, Facebook is describing this as the “official in-ear audio solution for Oculus quest 2” which means they should be high-quality. These are designed to reduce outside noise and channel the audio directly into your ears only, as opposed to the in-lin speakers embedded into the head strap by default on the device. The description makes them sound similar to the Kiwi Earbuds, which are always connected to my Oculus Quest personally.
Logitech G PRO Gaming Headset ($100 USD):
Finally, this headset is described as the “official over-ear audio solution for Oculus Quest 2” and it’s also from Logitech. They’re designed with a custom-length short cable to avoid getting tangles or accidentally yanking it out during a heated round of Beat Saber. As of now there does not seem to be an Oculus Rift-style over-ear audio solution, but there’s a good chance the Mantis headphones designed for the PSVR would work on Quest 2.
What do you think about the Oculus Quest 2 accessories on offer from Facebook and third-party providers? Do you for-sure plan on buying any of these or will you wait to see the verdict and compare options after launch?
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Today at Facebook Connect the company formally revealed Oculus Quest 2, its latest and greatest standalone VR headset. Although leaks have given away some of the surprise, there’s plenty of new details, like the Elite Strap accessory. Quest 2 release date is set for October 13th; pre-orders start today at $300.
From a hardware standpoint, Quest 2 is rocking a powerful Snapdragon XR2 chip with 6GB of RAM, giving it a big boost in speed over its predecessor. That chip will power a new LCD display with a resolution of 1,832 x 1,920 per-eye.
The display is capable of a 90Hz refresh rate but that will be available initially as an experimental feature before being unlocked by default some time after launch.
Here’s a look at Quest 2 specs compared to the original Quest:
Quest 2
Quest
Resolution (per-eye)
1,832 × 1,920 LCD
1,440 × 1,600 OLED
Refresh Rate
90Hz
72Hz
Processor
Snapdragon XR2
Snapdragon 835
RAM
6GB
4GB
Battery Life
2–3 hours
2–3 hours
Controller Battery Life
4x original
–
Field of View
Equal
Equal
IPD Adjust
58mm, 63mm, 68mm
58–72mm
Weight
503g
571g
Storage
64GB or 256GB
64GB or 128GB
Strap
Soft
Rigid
While the lenses are the same between the headsets, Quest 2’s IPD adjustment is no longer continuous but rather can be set between three physical settings of 58mm, 63mm, and 68mm.
Quest 2 is also getting new controllers with improved ergonomics and better battery life. The new controllers borrow heavily from the design of the original fan favorite Touch controllers that shipped with the Rift CV1 headset. They have a better grip, larger face with thumb rest, and improved haptics. Oculus says the controllers will last up to four times as long on a battery as the original Quest controllers.
While Quest 2 will ship with a soft strap, Oculus also announced two rigid straps which will be sold as official accessories: the Elite Strap and the Elite Battery Strap, both of which are designed to act as a counter-weight for Quest 2. Other accessories, including a case and a ‘Fit Kit’ with face pads of varying sizes, will be available as well.
Image courtesy Facebook
Quest 2 has slimmed down a bit compared to its predecessor. Quest 2 at 503 grams is about 10% lighter than the original Quest. Despite the improved processor and slimmer figure, Oculus says battery life should be on par with the original at 2-3 hours.
With pre-orders beginning today, Oculus Quest 2 has a release date of October 13th and is priced at $300 for a 64GB model and $400 for a 256GB model.
Image courtesy Facebook
In addition to announcing Quest 2, Oculus also confirmed a handful of new content heading to Quest, including Assassin’s Creed & Splinter Cell VR games coming exclusively to Oculus, as well as The Climb 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister.
A purportedly leaked Quest 2 box reveals new games coming to Oculus Quest like The Climb 2 and Jurassic World: Aftermath.
It seems the floodgates have opened following the confirmed leak of Quest 2 earlier this week which gave away many of the headset’s core specifications including a Snapdragon XR2 chip and high resolution display.
Now two photos purportedly of the Quest 2 box have surfaced online, apparently originating on Craigslist. While we haven’t been able to independently verify that this is indeed the headset’s box, there’s plenty of correct minor details which give the appearance of authenticity.
The back of the box highlights six games coming to the headset, two of which were previously unknown: The Climb 2 and Jurassic World: Aftermath. The other games on the box are Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge, Horizon, Population: One, and Beat Saber.
Image courtesy charliefrench2oo8
Originally released on Oculus Rift in 2017, The Climb by Crytek remains one of the most rated games on Oculus Rift and was successful enough the get ported to Oculus Quest in late 2019.
Now it seems Crytek is creating a sequel which, given its depiction on the back of the box, could be a Quest 2 launch title. While the company declined to comment on its roadmap for VR content, we recently noticed Crytek was hiring a ‘VR Rendering Engineer’ which suggests ongoing VR development.
Jurassic World: Aftermath is a name we haven’t seen confirmed for VR previously, but Jurassic World itself is no stranger to VR. Two VR video experiences Jurassic World: Apatosaurus (2015) and Jurassic World: Blue (2018) were previously released on Oculus headsets like Go and Gear VR. Jurassic World: Aftermath could also be a video experience, but with Quest’s emphasis on gaming rather than video, we’d say there’s a good chance this is a an interactive experience if not a full blown game.
Facebook Connect (formerly Oculus Connect) is right around the corner! Stay tuned to Road to VR on Wednesday, September 16th for the most important VR news and announcements.
Community Download is a weekly discussion-focused article series published (usually) every Monday in which we pose a single, core question to you all, our readers, in the spirit of fostering discussion and debate. For today’s Community Download, we want to know about your Facebook Connect predictions, specifically surrounding the Oculus Quest 2!
Oops, this is awkward for Facebook. Someone apparently couldn’t keep their excitement in check and accidentally (or on purpose?) uploaded videos revealing a wide range of details about the Oculus Quest 2. So, there’s no mystery anymore: it’s real and it’s coming. We know that for sure now.
In fact, the VP of Facebook Reality Labs, the new brand that encapsulates all VR and AR at Facebook, including Oculus, literally said, “Welp” in regards to the leak:
Welp. It is hard to keep the lid on something this good and clearly the enthusiasm is bubbling over at Facebook. But stay tuned for more details (yes there are many more!) on Wednesday, 10am PT. https://t.co/YZ9ifnkolr
Other than the price, what else is there to know about the Oculus Quest 2, do you think? And what about Facebook Connect as a whole? Surely we should expect to see new details about Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond and Lone Echo 2 for Oculus Rift, since we’ve gone about a year without any actually new details about either of those games. Maybe some more Quest ports or, ideally, actually new Quest games are on the way as well.
This is the first year the event has adopted the name Facebook Connect (instead of Oculus Connect) and is also the first year it’s a digital-only event due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. For those counting, this would have been Oculus Connect 7.
What else could be in store besides Oculus Quest 2? What do you think the price will be? Let us know your predictions down in the comments below!
A massive leak featuring several promotional videos has confirmed the upcoming Quest 2’s basic specs ahead of Facebook Connect this week.
Much of the info comes from two similar introductory videos, which are hosted on the company’s Facebook Blueprint developer site. Both videos, entitled ‘Meet Quest 2’ and ‘Inside the Upgrade’, and a host of other Quest 2 instructional content are still live on the site at the time of this writing.
“Whether you’re new to VR or already a pro, this is your introduction to Oculus’ most advanced all-in-one VR system yet: Quest 2,” a description to ‘Meet Quest 2’ reads.
Image captured via Facebook Blueprint
The videos maintain that Quest 2 boasts over 50 percent more pixels than the 2019-era Quest, noted as “nearly 2K per eye.” This makes Quest 2 “the company’s highest resolution headset yet,” the company says.
While we did suspect the headset would likely feature a higher resolution over last year’s 1,440 × 1,600 dual OLEDs, with this information it’s possible to infer that Quest 2 is running on a single panel featuring at or around 3,840 x 2,160 pixels given the notable lack of hardware-based IPD adjustment seen in the first set of leaks showing off Quest 2’s exterior. There’s still no confirmation on what panel type Quest 2 is employing here, although its ‘nearly’ 2K per-eye resolution puts it above Valve Index’s on-paper pixel count.
Image captured via Facebook Blueprint
According to the videos, driving those extra pixels is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 platform, a chipset physically capable of supporting displays up to 3K × 3K per eye @ 90Hz, integrated 5G connectivity, support for seven simultaneous camera feeds, and significantly more processing power across the board compared to last year’s Snapdragon 835-based Quest.
The videos also confirmed that Quest 2 features 6 GB of RAM, a slight bump over last year’s 4 GB, which they say will allow developers build more detailed games.
Image captured via Facebook Blueprint
A Walmart listing leaked in late August specified two models, a 64 GB variant priced at $299 and a 256 GB variant priced at $399. Although today’s leaked videos don’t confirm those price points, one of them does make mention of a version with 256 GB of storage.
The videos also make mention of the headset’s new ‘Soft Touch Strap’, which is touted for its ‘easy fitting’. Improved Touch ergonomics are also up on the list of Quest 2 improvements.
Leaked videos also included updated tutorials for hand tracking, casting, health and safety briefing, and Link PC-tethering so Quest 2 users can play standard PC VR games.
This news is breaking. Check back soon as more info comes in.
You can enter for a chance to win a BRAND NEW standalone Oculus Quest 2 VR headset (256GB version) right here on behalf of UNIVRS along with a copy of Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing! Read on for more details.
UNIVRS is the studio behind the upcoming VR game based on the popular anime series. In Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing you do just what it sounds like in the title and race around various course on a broom, virtually, using the Oculus Quest 2 headset and Touch motion controllers.
Only residents from USA and Canada are eligible to win in this giveaway. Simply fill out the form and complete as many entry methods as you’d like on the Gleam page to submit. You’ll be contacted by email immediately once the giveaway is over if you’re selected as the winner. If we do not get a response from the winner within 48 hours, we will draw a new winner for the giveaway and contact them instead.
We spoke to a sales representative from another UK retailer who told us Quest was marked as end of life, with no further shipments scheduled.
Across many official Quest retailers globally, stock is either unavailable, or only available from third party sellers.
These possible signs of Quest’s product cycle ending comes just two weeks before Facebook Connect, the new name of the company’s annual AR/VR conference.
Throughout the year, evidence has been mounting of a new Oculus Quest. Sources told us this ‘Oculus Quest 2’ entered mass production in late July and features a new simpler lens adjustment mechanism for IPD.
The current Quest’s 64GB model retails for $399 and the other $499 model is 128GB.
If the Walmart & Target listings do indeed represent Quest 2’s price, why would the current Quest continue to be sold? It’s possible Facebook plans to discount it below even $299, but the dual OLED panels, fabric materials, and intricate lens separation adjustment mechanism make this proposition unlikely.
Weeks before the reveal of Oculus Rift S, retailers started to stop selling the original Rift. The evidence emerging suggests Facebook could be planning a similar move with Quest 2. To be clear though: the company hasn’t actually announced a new headset yet.
The listing specifies two models, a 64 GB variant priced at $299 and a 256 GB variant priced at $399.
Image captured by Road to VR
If these are indeed authentic prices for the new Oculus Quest, it would represent a substantial reduction over the first Quest, which fetched $400 and $500 for the 64 GB and 128 GB versions respectively when it launched in May 2019.
The Oculus Quest 2 was first revealed in leaked images back in late July; with Facebook Connect (ex-Oculus Connect) happening on September 16th, it suggests we could see a product launch or pre-order campaign in about two weeks. We’ve sent a request to Facebook for confirmation, so we’ll update this soon.
The listings also appear to have placeholder images of Oculus Go headsets, something Facebook has already vowed to retire in its quest (pun intended) to go full 6DOF from now on. It’s important to note that the entire listing could be filled with placeholder information, although it’s safe to say Walmart is getting ready to list something.
Notably, the ‘Point Reyes’ name is entirely new. It was previously thought that Quest 2 was operating under the codename ‘Del Mar’, which was discovered in developer documentation back in March 2020, however it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Del Mar name was referring to an intermediate iteration of the Quest 2.
Community Download is a weekly discussion-focused articles series published (usually) every Monday in which we pose a single, core question to you all, our readers, in the spirit of fostering discussion and debate. For today’s Community Download, we want to know what you want to see in the next Oculus Quest?
The cat’s out of the bag, so to speak, as images leaked online last week showing what appears to be renders and potential photos of an unannounced upcoming new iteration of the Oculus Quest. Whether this is just a mid-generation refresh similar to what we got with the black Gear VR, a partial upgrade like the Rift S, or a brand new entry in the market, a la an Oculus Quest 2, remains to be seen however.
That doesn’t stop us from theorizing and hypothesizing though. It looks like it may have some fancy new lenses and other potential upgrades over the existing Quest, so it’s led us to wonder: What do you want out of an Oculus Quest 2?
Would a modest upgrade with a bit more power, slightly better lenses, and improved ergonomics be enough to warrant a purchase, or would you rather wait for a true successor that’s a big step up? In other words, is this the smartphone style of a “new” device that’s barely changed, or is this more like the jump from PS2 to PS3?
We don’t know! And, presumably, neither do you. But in the meantime, let us know what you think down in the comments below!
