Category: Rockstar

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Take-Two CEO Thankful Company Didn’t ‘Waste Any Money’ On VR After Publishing 3 VR Games

In a recent interview with Protocol, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that he is thankful the company didn’t “waste any money” on VR, despite the fact that they’ve published three VR-exclusive games with another “AAA open-world title in VR” currently in development.

In the article, the interviewer is talking to Zelnick about emerging technologies, specifically cloud gaming such as Google Stadia. Zelnick responds, “Any new distribution vehicle that offers high-quality, efficiency and a reasonable price is good for our business because broader distribution is always better in the entertainment business.”

He then goes on to say, “That said, there was all this hype for years about VR, and I wasn’t very compelled by that. Thankfully, as a result, we didn’t waste any money on it.”

Take-Two has already published three VR games. For those unaware, Take-Two Interactive is the parent company for both Rockstar Games and 2K. This means they’ve directly funded L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, Borderlands 2 VR, and the NBA 2KVR Experience, not to mention a fourth one on the way from the same studio that created L.A. Noire VR.

Unfortunately the interview does not return to this comment to get further clarity on what he’s implying, but it’s likely that he simply means they did not pivot their entire business model to embracing VR and did not spin up a multitude of expensive VR projects. Instead, they outsourced a couple of ports and a basketball mini-game.

What do you think the Take-Two CEO meant by this comment? Does this mean the reportedly “AAA” open-world title is not receiving as much funding as before? Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

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5 Guesses For Rockstar’s New Open World VR Game

By the looks of things, we’re getting a new Rockstar VR game sometime in the future.

Earlier this week, we reported that Videogames Deluxe, the developer behind LA Noire: The VR Case Files, is hiring for a brand new ‘open world AAA’ game for Rockstar. Naturally, the internet set ablaze with rumors and speculation; will this be a brand new game or a port of one of the company’s many iconic releases?

We have a few suggestions of our own. Below are our five best guesses for what Rockstar’s new VR game will end up being,

LA Noire 2

LA Noire book

Let’s start with probably our most ambitious but perhaps still logical guess. The team behind this new project not only worked on LA Noire: The VR Case Files but also features many of the developers that worked on the original game at Team Bondi. It would make sense that that team would want to develop a fully fleshed out sequel with VR integrated from the very beginning.

And LA Noire does seem like a perfect fit for headsets; emotion-driven interrogations, crime scene investigations and cinematic shootouts all found a great home in The VR Case Files. Plus, in 2011, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive labeled LA Noire as a ‘strong franchise’ for the company. Given how much time Rockstar takes with its games, a sequel still doesn’t seem off the table.

GTA V VR

Okay, let’s get to the more obvious stuff. Everyone and their mother wants GTAV in VR; so much so that even fan-made mods that implement support on PC are some of the most popular VR experiences out there. Driving around Los Santos and causing carnage in combat would be sure to sell plenty of headsets.

Plus GTAV was just confirmed for PS5 at Sony’s digital showcase last month. We couldn’t think of a better way to sell PSVR 2 to new fans than to get GTAV up and running on it.

Red Dead Redemption 2 VR

The same basic logic for GTAV applies here too. Red Dead Redemption 2 might not have ended up being quite the runaway success its predecessor or GTAV was (at least from a critical consensus) but it makes a ton of sense for VR. We’ve written before about how the game’s convoluted control scheme could be dramatically streamlined inside headsets, for example.

GTA4/Red Dead Redemption VR

It also stands to reason that if we already got a PS3/360-era VR port in The VR Case Files, we could see others. Red Dead, in particular, would be a welcome addition to any VR library. Still, with the increase in horsepower afforded by new consoles, we’d hope to see perhaps a fresher game get the VR treatment.

Something Brand New

If it were up to us, though, we’d probably tick this box. As much as we’d love to see Rockstar’s existing catalog come to VR, we’d much rather see a brand new game built from the ground up for these devices. Similar to how Valve opted to develop an all-new Half-Life exclusively for VR, this is the only way you can create a truly native experience that really shows what the platform can do.

What about you? What do you want Rockstar’s new VR game to be? Let us know in the comments below.

The post 5 Guesses For Rockstar’s New Open World VR Game appeared first on UploadVR.

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Community Download: What Do You Hope Rockstar’s Next VR Game Is?

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 which VR game you want to see published by Rockstar next, now that we know one is coming?

You know what’s exciting? The topic question isn’t even pure speculation this week! We literally know that Rockstar has hired Video Games Deluxe, the studio that worked on LA Noire: The VR Case Files for them, to work on a new AAA open world VR game. There’s a job listing to prove it!

Here’s a video with more details:

However, what we don’t know is what that AAA VR game is going to be exactly. Could this be another VR version from one of their existing open world franchises, like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption? Or perhaps this is a brand new IP built from the ground up for VR. Either way it’s extremely exciting news.

A few years ago I wrote a list of other Rockstar games I’d love to see adapted for VR and my thoughts remain relatively unchanged. After playing GTA 5 in VR using mods I’m sold that type of game would be immensely fun, especially with motion controllers.

On the one hand it’s disappointing Rockstar won’t be unleashing their in-house talents on a VR project anytime soon, but maybe we can at least explore some of the immense worlds they’ve created.

Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

The post Community Download: What Do You Hope Rockstar’s Next VR Game Is? appeared first on UploadVR.

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Rockstar ‘AAA Open World’ VR Game In Development At LA Noire VR Studio

A new Rockstar ‘AAA’ VR Game is in development if a LinkedIn listing from a VR developer is to be believed.

Sydney-based Videogames Deluxe (labeled Video Games Deluxe in the following link but credited in its games at Videogames Deluxe) last week posted an update on its profile (first spotted on Reddit), stating that the team was “gearing up for a new project, a AAA open world title in VR for Rockstar.”

Rockstar VR Game

Well, that’s one way to kick Monday off.

New Rockstar VR Game?

Crucially, Videogames Deluxe is the team that handled the 2017 Rockstar VR game, LA Noire: The VR Case Files on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, along with a later port to PSVR. The team isn’t listed as the developer on the game’s Steam page, but you can clearly see the company listed first in the game’s credits in this video.

In fact, original LA Noire director Brendan McNamara maintained his role on the new version and works at the studio. The original game was developed by Team Bondi, former members of which are also with this studio.

We’ve reached out to Rockstar itself for confirmation.

Videogames Deluxe is looking for Senior Programmers, an Engine Programmer, a Designer and an Animator to work on the “ground breaking” project. No other details about the new Rockstar VR game were announced, but we’d obviously love to know if this was an all-new game or perhaps a port of one of its existing titles.

A few years ago, HTC told UploadVR that Rockstar wasn’t ‘done’ with VR, and we’ve since seen a very decent mod that brings VR support to the juggernaut hit that is Grand Theft Auto V on PC. We’ve also written about how Red Dead Redemption 2 seems like a perfect fit for a VR port. Then again, with so many Team Bondi members on the team, perhaps a VR sequel to LA Noire is on the cards.

If this is true then this could be the next big VR game to look forward to after March’s release of Half-Life: Alyx.

What do you think this new Rockstar VR game could be? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Rockstar ‘AAA Open World’ VR Game In Development At LA Noire VR Studio appeared first on UploadVR.