Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft, which is working on several upcoming VR games, recently revealed that it has added VR support to its in-house development engine, Snowdrop.
Original created by Massive Entertainment and used in the Ubisoft-published Tom Clancy’s The Division, Snowdrop also featured in Ubisoft titles like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and will be used in Massive’s upcoming Star Wars game. But, in a recently-published blog on the engine’s website, another Ubisoft studio, Blue Byte, revealed it had been working to add a “VR component” to the engine.
Ubisoft Snowdrop VR Support Added
Blue Byte is actually a string of studios located throughout Germany, and were most recently responsible for Ubisoft’s location-based VR escape room games like Prince of Persia: The Dagger of Time and the Assassin’s Creed-themed Beyond Medusa’s Gate. These titles, however, were developed with an external engine. Recently, Blue Byte has been working on adding VR support into Snowdrop not just so that it can develop new VR titles with an engine it has more control over, but also so that other partners can use it too.
“One of our main ambitions is to make our own VR titles, but we are also very open to collaboration on other projects,” Alexander Frey, Lead Programmer at Blue Byte Düsseldorf, said in the blog post. “We started with this project in November 2019, and soon saw its potential. We increased the number of people working on it, in part because we realized that the combination of Snowdrop and VR would something useful for a lot of projects across Ubisoft.”
Beyond Blue Byte, Ubisoft has two VR projects in the works. At Facebook Connect in late 2020 the company announced that it was working on new Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell VR games. The post doesn’t confirm that these new projects, which will be exclusive to Oculus devices, are being developed through Snowdrop, though.
That said, it certainly sounds as if the VR component of the engine has been developed with standalone headsets like the Oculus Quest in-mind. “Because of the nature of VR, you have to make rendering simpler,” Frey said. “The graphics are usually not as high fidelity as in normal-screen AAA games. So that’s something we’ve had to change. For Snowdrop VR we’ve simplified the graphics pipeline to make it more effective.”
The blog also mentions that Blue Byte wants to see Snowdrop used in “bigger projects”, so it’s very possible that Ubisoft’s latest VR efforts are using the engine. “Smaller projects and masters theses have been done with our component, but we’re now able to use it for much more,” Frey concluded, “so we’re looking forward to taking it to new places.”
New job listings show that Ubisoft is hiring for upcoming VR games based on the Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell series.
The positions are listed on the Ubisoft Careers site, primarily hiring for Ubisoft studio in Dusseldorf in Germany but also for a Ubisoft studio at Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK.
For Assassin’s Creed VR, there are 4 jobs listed, including Development Tester, QA Tester, Senior VR Game Designer (Comfort) and VR Game Designer (Comfort). All of those positions are listed for Dusseldorf, but relocation support is mentioned in the description and the studio operates entirely in English, with no requirement to speak German at all.
There are 17 listed positions for Splinter Cell VR, including positions such as Producer, Senior Lead Game Designer, Senior 3D Environment/Prop Artist, Gameplay Programmer and many more. Interestingly, a Network Programmer position is listed for Splinter Cell VR, which involves “developing multiplayer core features and game services using existing online infrastructure. This seemingly confirms that Splinter Cell VR will have some kind of multiplayer mode.
The positions for both games also require experience working with the Unity game engine, which is a completely different engine to Ubisoft’s AnvilNext engine used for many of their existing console and PC games, including the Assassin’s Creed franchise. This implies that the Assassin’s Creed games will be an entirely built-for-VR experience that exists separately to the main series games, not connected to a PC/console Assassin’s Creed release at all.
Ubisoft announced late last year that acclaimed stealth shooter franchise Splinter Cellis getting a made-for-VR game. Now, an Ubisoft job posting strongly suggests the studio is creating a multiplayer component for the game.
Ubisoft’s Düsseldorf, Germany office is currently looking for a Senior Lead Game Designer to “define and deliver the multiplayer content of the game in time and quality.”
“Reporting to the Senior producer in Düsseldorf, as the Project Owner for multiplayer, you define and implement the multiplayer vision shared by the Creative Director and the Game Director,” the posting says.
When it was first announced in September 2020, it wasn’t certain which specific platform the game would target; the company simply said it was bringing both Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed exclusively to “Oculus VR.”
While the most likely candidate for an Oculus platform exclusive is Oculus Quest 2—Facebook is retiring Rift this year—the posting’s qualifications state that Ubisoft prefers candidates with experience in multiplayer development for PC VR and PC games. Both console and mobile experience is “desirable.”
This however may simply speak to the depth of multiplayer experience the company is looking to deliver, and not that PC VR will specifically be the sole target platform. A simultaneous launch on PC VR and Quest platforms across the Oculus platform is strong likelihood.
There’s still no word on when either Splinter Cell VR or Assassin’s Creed VR is due to launch, although there are still plenty of job listings across Ubisoft’s Düsseldorf and Newcastle upon Tyne, UK offices. Check out the current job listings below:
Just over a year on from the initial rumors, Ubisoft confirmed it’s making Splinter Cell VR and Assassin’s Creed VR games for Oculus devices.
The news comes as part of the Facebook Connect developer event today. Elizabeth Loverso, VP of Product Development at Ubisoft’s Red Storm Entertainment joined the stream to confirm the games are in the works and are all-new entries in both series. Red Storm is leading development in collaboration with Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Dusseldorf and Ubisoft Mumbai. Check out the announcement art below.
Details such as release dates and specifically which headsets the games are in the works for is currently unconfirmed. Facebook declined to provide further details, though it did also announce the Oculus Quest 2 today. You’d think they might be related.
Both series have a lot of potential for VR adaptation. Splinter Cell is a stealth series that started out back in 2002. Players take on the role of Sam Fisher, an elite agent that sneaks through the shadows and uses state of the art equipment to slip by undetected. There hasn’t been a mainline entry in the series since 2013.
Assassin’s Creed, meanwhile, started out in 2007 and has since become one of the biggest franchises in gaming. Players visit different eras of history and become one of an elite group of assassins that fight a historic war with a group known as the Templars. It’s not clear in which era this latest version will take place, though the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla will explore the Viking invasion of England.
Ubisoft already has a lot of experience developing and publishing VR games. Since 2016, it’s released titles like Space Junkies and Eagle Flight. Red Storm itself was behind VR launch title, Werewolves Within, and the excellent co-op game, Star Trek: Bridge Crew.
Will you be picking up Splinter Cell VR and/or Assassin’s Creed VR? Let us know in the comments below! We’ll have much more to come from Facebook Connect so stay tuned here and on our Youtube channel.
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.
Here’s a sneaky surprise straight out of the Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition – Panther VR hits Early Access today.
Developer Wolfdog Interactive announced the news with a new trailer. Panther VR was successfully crowd-funded last year and promised for a spring/summer 2020 Early Access release. In the game, you play as a member of a guild of master thieves that steals from elite corporations. Check out the trailer below.
As you can see, Panther VR promises a stealth sandbox inspired by games like Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell. You can stick to the shadows, hiding bodies from view, but you’ll also have an expansive aresnal of tools and weapons like remote mines and high-powered rifles. How you get the job done is up to you. Don’t miss the ending for another excellent easter egg, too. This isn’t the only Solid surprise in the Showcase, either.
In Early Access, Panther VR offers a few maps to take out heists in, plus a hub world to hang out in. Over the course of Early Access, Wolfdog plans to add new levels, weapons and mechanics to the experience. The full version of the game is aiming for release sometime in 2021.
Panther VR is available on PC VR headsets via SteamVR. No word yet on possible ports to Oculus Quest and PSVR, though we’d imagine it will be some time before there’s any news to share there. We’ve got plenty more news to share during the Upload VR Showcase: Summer Edition, so stay tuned!
After years of development and months of delays Espire 1: VR Operative is finally releasing. Read our full review to find out if this VR stealth game lives up to the hype.
I’ve played Espire 1 a lot over the last couple of years. Between all of the various preview events and conventions I’ve attended it seems like this game always managed to make an appearance, which means I’ve played various iterations of the opening mission many times. One side effect of previewing a game so extensively is you start to feel burnt out before it even releases.
Luckily, there is far more to it than just the opening level.
In Espire 1 you take control of android units that are outfitted with cutting-edge technology to help infiltrate enemy strongholds and remain undetected while out on important, classified missions. The premise here is that if you die, your conscience is just uploaded to a different android unit. And as you play, you’ll unlock newer models with more abilities, offering a sense of steady progression across the 5-ish hour campaign. The story isn’t very gripping and most of the voice acting is sub-par and repetitive, but none of that gets in the way of the fun — it just prevents it from being as great as it could have been.
I played most of the game on the default normal difficulty and found the AI to be good enough, but sometimes it shows its cracks. Most of the time an enemy could spot me above them if I wasn’t very high or hidden at all and if they have clear line of sight it doesn’t take much for them to get alerted. Once alerted they’ll immediately start searching for you, but if you’re discovered time slows down giving you a chance to respond before everyone is tipped off. They’re certainly better than I expected overall, but not perfect.
The slow-mo upon being spotted means there is little risk to attracting a single enemy’s attention and they all seem to forget about you fairly easily if you’re patient. Not to mention they drop like a sack of potatoes instantly if you open fire in many cases, or deliver a swift punch to the head.But when things are clicking as intended, Espire 1 is a rare treat. No other VR game has really nailed the classical stealth action genre quite so well. You’ll find yourself creeping through air vents, scaling the side of buildings, creeping behind cover, sneaking up behind bad guys and yelling “Freeze!” while avoiding the watchful eyes of cameras.
Many of the items are physics objects that can be picked up, thrown, and manipulated, but not all of them. And the fact that your hands just phase through objects like a ghost, unless you’re holding something with mass, is a bit odd. Object interaction is better than in most VR games, but I’d have appreciated if environmental objects were a bit more dynamic.
I did enjoy the health system though. Since you’re an android, when you get shot at and hurt errors and malfunctions pop up in your HUD. If you grab the repair tool you need to physically fix the glowing nodes in real-time, which can be tough to do in the heat of battle. I’d often climb up a wall or hide in a corner to try and quickly heal. I just wish the woman in my ear would stop yelling at me to heal when I’m literally in the middle of a firefight.
Then there are all of the various ways it takes advantage of being a VR-only title. The 3D spatial audio makes it more immersive than ever to listen for approaching guards, reaching around corners to take out enemies with a stun dart, and physically ducking down to avoid being spotted all come second nature. The devs also have some novel mechanics that add a lot to the gameplay, like little cameras on the backs of your wrist that can be used to look around corners and mark enemies without being detected (and even toss the camera orb out and stick it to a surface to keep track of the bad guys.) Things are introduced slowly enough so that you don’t get overwhelmed and ensure you always have a multitude of options for how to approach a situation.
Perhaps best of all is the climbing system. Anything that’s metal, whether it be a ladder, pipe, wall, or something else can be climbed no problem. Using the slow-mo power you can even fling yourself across entire rooms too. Hanging over the edge of a barrier, reaching over with the camera to find an enemy, then reaching back over with a gun to blind fire and take someone out is insanely satisfying. Espire 1 is full of supremely satisfying moments of VR interaction that end up making you feel like a supremely creative spy genius.
In non-VR stealth games I often find myself wondering what the game designers intended for me to do in situations, but in Espire 1 I find myself wondering what I actually want to do. Given how open-ended these levels are, with powerful climbing and physically interactive sneaking, it’s pretty liberating.
Comfort
From a comfort perspective, Espire 1 is incredibly innovative. It’s got the usual options for snap vs. smooth turning and all that comes with that. You’ve also always got a small visor that changes colors based on guard alertness that helps limit discomfort at all times, but the innovation is in the “Cotnrol Theater” option. Using this mode, when you move you can enable a vignette that blocks the edges of your vision with a transparent visor. Better yet, there are a litany of options that let you tweak and adjust the position and sensitivity, making this one of the few smooth movement only VR games that pretty much anyone should be able to enjoy no problem. You can also adjust where items are located on your body to get the placement just right and even play seated if you want.
Even though the campaign is a bit brief to get through once, this is a game truly designed to be replayed in various ways. Going back to missions using new weapons you’ve unlocked, new abilities, and more to finish it faster, more efficiently, or without killing anyone is seriously challenging. The leaderboard function fosters competition and being able to unlock cheats makes side objectives actually worth pursuing.
On top of all that are an assortment of challenge maps that task you with smaller maps targeted at testing your stealth, climbing, combat, and more. When you add up the amount of time it would take to get through all of the challenge maps that easily adds on a few more hours to the amount of content assuming you play each scenario and mission only once — which is certainly the bare minimum. Given the overall polish, excellent visuals, and high degree of polish it feels like a very feature-complete adventure with tons of room for iteration and improvement if Digital Lode is able to work on a sequel.
Espire 1: VR Operative Review Final Verdict
Espire 1: VR Operative is unquestionably the best expression of the stealth action genre we’ve seen in VR yet. The small touches of polish go a long way towards selling the immersion and opening your mind to the creativity on display to complete missions, while the inventive VR-focused mechanics make it a pleasure to play actively in a roomscale space. While a larger budget, more time, and overall more resources could have elevated Espire 1: VR Operative to the status of being a landmark VR game that pushes the boundaries and redefines the genre even further, it’s still extremely good and certainly worth playing.
This review was conducted on a Rift S playing the Oculus Home PC version of the game. We were not able to test the Quest or PSVR versions prior to the review embargo, but have played the Quest version previously.
Final Score: 4/5 Stars | Really Good
Espire 1: VR Operative releases on November 22nd for the Rift platform via Oculus Home, Steam for SteamVR headsets, Oculus Quest, and PSVR at a price point of $29.99 and will be a cross-buy title between Rift and Quest on Oculus Home.
This review was conducted on a Rift S playing the Oculus Home PC version of the game. You can read more about the new five-star scoring policy here.
Ubisoft looks like it is expanding its VR efforts even further beyond our initial reports.
In early September we reported the discovery of several new listings at one of Ubisoft’s three Blue Byte offices in Dusseldorf, Germany. At the time, the company told us it was hiring both for its location-based VR experiences and “a new AAA VR project”. The Ubisoft Reflections team in Newcastle, UK, is also hiring for a VR-focused Lead Character Artist role.
The listings themselves don’t reveal much. The Unity Developer role does, however, state that the successful applicant “will be working closely with Lead/Technical Manager/Producer to develop and provide solutions on VR devices in the process of creating games by maintaining high coding standards.”
Initially, we’d have assumed this team would be assisting in the creation of the VR game in development at Blue Byte. The existence of Art Director and Level Designer roles, however, has us wondering if it could be separate. In a listing for a Game Director for the VR project at Blue Byte, Ubisoft states the game will be “developed across multiple studios,” though.
Reports from earlier this year suggested Facebook signed a deal with Ubisoft for two VR games. One would be a new entry in the Splinter Cell series, another in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The rate at which the company is now hiring for VR projects lends some weight to those reports.
But questions remain. Is Ubisoft developing one game at a time? Or does the use of multiple studios suggest the company is developing them simultaneously? We likely won’t know for some time yet.
Happy September! Yes, 2019 is beginning to wind down (11o days until Christmas!), but there’s still plenty of VR news to sift through.
This week’s VRecap is filled with updates on games already released, already announced and, well some games that aren’t announced but we basically know all about. For example! Ubisoft is hiring lots and lots of senior positions for an unannounced AAA VR game. Not only that, but it’s apparently based on one of its existing franchises, too. If that isn’t either the rumored Splinter Cell VR or Assassin’s Creed VR we’ll eat our hats.
Elsewhere, we finally know that Borderlands 2 VR is coming to PC! But watch on for some extra details for PSVR players too (or just go to the PlayStation Store, but please still watch here too). After that, we’re talking about the latest chapter in the Facebook privacy saga, where we spoke to the company about the data it collects from our Rift and Quest headsets.
As for releases, it’s kind of a quiet week, but we’re giving you the chance to win one of the new Quest titles launching in Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl! Vertigo Games has kindly supplied us with codes, which you can try and grab here.
Anyway, time for us to get out of here for another week. Still enjoying the VRecap? Let us know in the comments section below? Think there are things we can improve? Get lost! No, actually, just please tell us in a nice and pilot manner. Until next week, have fun in VR!
Videogame publishing giant Ubisoft is currently hiring for an “unannounced AAA VR project.”
The company currently has nine high-level listings related to the project in Dusseldorf, Germany (first spotted by VRFocus). One for a Senior Game Designer role states that successful applicants “will work on cutting-edge VR technology, on one of Ubisoft’s great IP’s, developed across multiple studios.”
Update: An Ubisoft spokesperson issued us with the following statement: “We are working on the next VR Escape Room for 2020, as well as a new AAA VR project for which we are currently hiring.”
Interestingly, Ubisoft is also hiring a Lead Character Artist for a VR project in Newcastle, UK. It’s not clear if this is for the same project or something else.
Splinter Cell Returns?
The listings appear amid reports that Ubisoft is developing two new VR games based on its IP. The first is reportedly Splinter Cell VR, marking a return of a long-loved stealth series. An Assassin’s Creed VR game is also apparently in the works. If the reports are true, these games will be exclusive to Oculus headsets. Recently, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said to expect Splinter Cell on “different devices”.
Dusseldorf is where one of the company’s Blue Byte offices is based. Blue Byte is a network of three studios based in Germany. The team is behind the Anno series of City Simulation games. It also often assists with the development of other major Ubisoft titles. Newcastle, meanwhile, houses the Ubisoft Reflections team. Again, the team largely contributes to the creation of other major projects.
This will be far from Ubisoft’s first VR game. Back in 2016 the company launched titles like Eagle Flight and Werewolves Within. Later down the line it released Star Trek: Bridge Crew and most recently worked on a zero-gravity multiplayer shooter named Space Junkies. If these recent rumors turn out to be true, we could see at least one Ubisoft VR game announced at Oculus Connect 6 later this month.
