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, we want to know what you think about the news that Sony has acquired game developer Insomniac Games?
Yesterday the news broke that Sony is acquiring Insomniac Games, the developers behind last year’s PS4-exclusive, Spider-Man, as well as a host of Oculus Studios published VR titles: Edge of Nowhere,Feral Rites, The Unspoken, and Stormland. Prior to all of that, they developed several PlayStation-exclusive games as well, such as Spyro The Dragon on PS1, Ratchet & Clank mostly on PS2, and the Resistance series on PS3.
The news as a whole isn’t much of a surprise, but Insomniac had been far less aligned with the PlayStation brand in recent years compared to the past. In addition to developing three (and soon their fourth) Oculus Home-exclusive VR game, they also released Sunset Overdrive not along ago, an Xbox One-exclusive action adventure title.
So, the question at hand is: What do you think of Sony acquiring Insomniac Games? What does it mean for VR?
Stormland development will be unaffected by this news, reportedly, but it likely puts a pin in future Oculus-exclusive VR games for the time being and should open up the door for PSVR-exclusive ones instead. Maybe we will finally get that amazing VR-focused full Spider-Man game that we’ve been dreaming out.
Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!
Insomniac Games has been a long-time supporter of virtual reality (VR), having created the likes of Edge of Nowhere, Feral Rights and The Unspoken with Stormlandstill in development. All of these have been exclusive to Oculus Rift but that relationship could well be at an end, it has just been announced that Insomniac Games has joined PlayStation Worldwide Studios.
Making the announcement via Twitter, Insomniac Games has long been affiliated with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and the PlayStation brand, having recently released Marvel’s Spider-Man as an exclusive on PlayStation 4. “We’ve collaborated with Sony for more than 20 years — spanning all four PlayStation consoles, 20 total games and six franchises,” notes Ted Price, Insomniac Games’ Founder in a blog posting.
As a member of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, however, this will mean all of its videogames will now be exclusive to the platform, which would also include VR titles. As mentioned, the studio is currently developing Stromland in conjunction with Oculus Studios so there (hopefully) shouldn’t be an issue with the experience coming to Oculus Rift. But this may mean a PlayStation VR version could eventually arrive, and most importantly any further VR projects will be PlayStation VR exclusive.
Companies like SIE and Microsoft Studios division have always snapped up smaller developers, yet that trend seems to be growing as they look to secure evermore exclusive content for their respective platforms.
Stormland is still scheduled for a 2019 launch window for Oculus Rift, putting players in the role of a robot who just happens to be a gardener on a lush alien planet. That was until The Tempest shattered your android body, so you must head out across the planet to augment yourself and save your friends. Featuring both single-player and multiplayer gameplay modes, players will have complete freedom to run, climb and fly across the expansive terrain. When VRFocuspreviewed the title we said that: “Stormland is undoubtedly Insomniac Games’ most ambitious VR project to date.”
When VRFocus learns more about Insomniac Games’ future VR plans, including how or if development of Stormland is affected we’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Insomniac Games — the developers behind Sony’s PS4 megahit Spider-Man — are going to become part of Sony Worldwide Studios.
Sony’s acquisition of Insomniac turns the PS4 and PSVR maker into the owner of upcoming PC VR game Stormland and a host of other VR and AR projects.
Big news: @InsomniacGames is joining PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios! We are honored and thrilled to join forces with this legendary developer. Please join us in congratulating our friends and partners at Insomniac! pic.twitter.com/hhhqhxZE7k
Insomniac also built the more experimental project Seedling for Magic Leap’s AR headsets, The Unspoken, Edge of Nowhere and Feral Rites for Rift as well as other games like Ratchet & Clank for PS4. They’ve been at the forefront of interaction and systems development in VR games and their titles reflect an exploration of these new input systems.
We’re curious what this means for the future of PC-powered games from Insomniac. Will the parent company focus Insomniac’s efforts instead exclusively on Sony hardware? A tweet from the official account for Stormland states “Stormland is still coming to the Rift platform Holiday 2019. That is not changing.”
Stormland is still coming to the Rift platform Holiday 2019. That is not changing.
We certainly hope the acquisition means a fully realized version of Spider-Man VR for whatever sequel to the game the company may be developing. We enjoyed web-slinging in the recent VR version of Spider-Man, from Sony and CreateVR, but we also trust Insomniac to know how to make web-slinging systems that feel totally natural in VR.
People have been saying Sony should acquire Insomniac since the Spyro days, but it’s never been truer than in 2019. Not only is Insomniac making bleeding edge VR games for Oculus like Stormland but it also launched the absolutely excellent Spider-Man PS4 exclusive last year. The fact that Insomniac is sitting on this much VR experience and hasn’t yet made a PSVR game is maddening. It probably won’t ever happen, but if there was one studio we’d choose for Sony to acquire, it’d be these guys.
Chances: Not likely at all
Jamie published that piece under the headline “6 VR Developers Sony Could Buy To Secure PSVR 2’s Future.”
Could we one day see Oculus exclusive games like Lone Echo, Stormland and Asgard’s Wrath on PSVR?
Oculus’ Jason Rubin would like that very much. Speaking to Kotaku at E3 last month, Oculus’ VP of Special Gaming Initiatives said he would “love” to make a trade with Sony.
“We’ve thought about it,” he replied when asked if Oculus games could come to PSVR. “I would love to make a trade with Sony. You know they have great stuff that they funded, and we have great stuff we’ve funded.”
Oculus publishes exclusive games for Rift and Quest under its Oculus Studios label. The Facebook-owned company funds games from developers like Ready at Dawn and Insomniac under this initiative. Sony, meanwhile, owns developers like Sony London that work on PSVR exclusive titles such as Blood & Truth. Both companies produce some of the most polished, visually astounding and all-round best games in VR.
But could a trade actually work? The VR scene finds itself in an interesting stage of collaboration in its early years, where companies are more concerned with making the industry sustainable than they are directly competing with rivals. Oculus could certainly stand to benefit from selling its software on PSVR, which has sold over 4.4 million units (Rift and Quest figures aren’t known).
The real question is if Sony would be willing to cooperate. PlayStation-published games tend to remain exclusive to PlayStation, but bringing high-end PC titles to its next VR headset, rumored to be supporting the next PlayStation console, could be hugely advantageous. At the same time, we’d love to play the likes of Astro Bot: Rescue Mission on a Rift.
Excited for Insomniac’s latest Oculus Rift exclusive? Want to know the Stormland release window? Then you might want to watch the team’s latest livestream.
Insomniac this week hosted an hour-long stream for the anticipated VR game. It wasn’t a straight hour of gameplay as such, more an extended developer preview showcasing various assets and teasing new details. This week’s stream is mainly focused on world-building, an important part of making any VR game.
Before the team digs deep, though, Senior Community Developer Tim Salvitti confirms the Stormland release window. It’s releasing “Holiday 2019”. We already knew it was coming this year so that seemed somewhat obvious at this point, but it’s good to have confirmation. Perhaps we’ll get a final release date at Oculus Connect 6 in a few months?
Do stick around for the rest of the stream, though. The team goes into Stormland’s different ‘realms’ that you’ll visit throughout the game. They’re comprised of different islands that you can explore by yourself or with friends in co-op.
“We created a whole suite of tools to help us create the world. And so some aspects of that are procedural, a lot of aspects of that are handcrafted. I don’t want to pigeon-hole it into one or the other,” Lead Designer Mike Daly says, adding that players can ‘judge for themselves’ how procedural the game is.
Senior Environment Artist Jason Anderson adds that the game is a “good mix” of procedural and handcrafted tools.
Oh and, just in case you were wondering, the team also confirmed it’s definitely not on Quest. Sorry!
Like what you see? Well good news – Insomniac is planning to do more of them in the run-up to launch. We’ll bring you more details when we get them.
Insomniac Games’ upcoming Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S exclusive Stormland is one of VRFocus’most keenly anticipated titles of 2019, set to offer a massive sci-fi adventure to players. While there’s still no confirmation regarding when the title will arrive this year, the studio has just released a rather epic looking trailer to keep fans excited.
The trailer is for PAX East, a videogame event in Boston, US, which starts tomorrow and runs through until Sunday 31st March. Expanding upon the original trailer released last year for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), this new video mixes in both cinematic back story content with plenty of action-packed gameplay footage.
Stormland puts you in the role of a robot who just happens to be a gardener on a lush alien planet. That was until The Tempest shattered your android body, so you must head out across the planet to augment yourself and save your friends. The title will feature both single-player and multiplayer options, with players having complete freedom to run, climb and fly across the expansive terrain.
The trailer features some impressive and diverse looking locations, massive battles against giant robots, explosive scenery, and much more.
When VRFocuspreviewed the title we said that: “So Stormland is a VR title that takes inspiration from some of the best the medium has yet offered to make something bigger than the sum of its parts. It’s surprising to see the developer go this route after the more immediate nature of The Unspoken and Feral Rites, but fresh from the success of Spider-Man for PlayStation 4, Stormland is undoubtedly Insomniac Games’ most ambitious VR project to date.”
Hopefully, with the release of Oculus Rift S taking place in the Spring, Stormland will follow suit and be released sooner rather than later. As more details are revealed, VRFocus will keep you updated.
It was just last week we got a fresh look at Stormland, the new Oculus Rift S exclusive from Insomniac. But another new trailer arrives this week, just in time for PAX East.
This trailer has a much bigger focus on story. We see what the game’s titular setting looked like before an event called ‘The Tempest’. We also learn that players are in search of ‘the others’, which likely refers to other defunct robots around the world. In the world of Stormland you too embody a robot that appears to have been left offline for many years. Once reactivated, you explore what remains of the world, upgrading your abilities by finding pieces of other robots.
And, finally, we get some more action-packed gameplay clips. While last week’s hands-on mainly focused on exploration, this video reassures that Stormland offers plenty of first-person shooter (FPS) action. Visually the game is easily one of VR’s best-looking titles and our hands-on suggests it’ll be one of its deepest too. Gamers often call for VR to get full, long-form, AAA videogames and Stormland certainly looks like it could fit that bill.
And, yes, Stormland will be playable at PAX East this weekend. Oculus is set to have a pretty big presence at the show, showcasing much of the content it revealed at GDC. Attendees will also get a chance to try out Asgard’s Wrath and Journey of the Gods.
The game should be out later this year. It’ll support both Rift and Oculus’ shiny new PC VR headset, Rift S.
Oculus today revealed a new trailer for its upcoming Rift exclusive, Stormland, which is in development by Insomniac Games and due for release later this year. The new trailer gives us a glimpse at bigger and badder enemies and new environments that players will explore on their journey to reclaim their world.
Stormland is a promising action adventure title that builds on Insomniac’s prior Rift exclusive titles, Edge of Nowhere, The Unspoken, and Feral Rites, all released in 2016.
The studio’s experience in VR is clearly shining through in Stormland; on the several occasions in which I’ve demoed the game thus far, I’ve come away very impressed with the game’s freeing locomotion scheme—which seamlessly brings together elements of smooth locomotion, flying, and climbing in a way that makes the player feel very in-control—and a cohesive approach to VR interaction.
A new trailer revealed today begins to hint at the game’s underlying story setting, which seems to involve a once thriving robot civilization that’s been wiped out by “The Tempest.” As the player, you’re expected to “reclaim your world.”
The trailer also gives us a glimpse at a much more menacing enemy than the humanoid robots and flying robots that we’ve seen in previous demos. This much larger baddie sports mobile energy shields and looks ready to put up a more significant fight. A good thing too, as enemy variety is key to keeping gameplay fresh.
In Stormland, Insomniac appears to be doing a great job of making the easy to controler while at the same time making the player feel capable and embodied. Smart VR design choices can be seen at every turn.
There’s the multi-pronged locomotion scheme, which not only naturally paces gameplay but allows the player to navigate large spaces with both vertical and horizontal dimensions; the ability to rip apart empty weapons for useful scraps, rather than simply dropping them on the ground; an intuitive shoulder and hip inventory system, along with a holographic map projected from your hand; and weapons which can be used with one hand or two, with some meaningful differences between the two. I could go on (really).
Image courtesy Oculus
Stormland is brimming with potential, and we can’t wait to get our hands on the full game. Unfortunately Oculus still isn’t ready to reveal a release date more specific than ‘2019’. Our best guess is that the company will choose to launch the game alongside Rift S, which is expected this Spring.
Stormland is easily one of the most anticipated VR games of the year. Ever since it was first announced around E3 last year we’ve only seen one single demo of the game in action at PAX West and OC5. Now today at GDC 2019 Oculus is showing a brand new demo and we got to take a deep dive into what Insomniac has been cooking up.
When Stormland hits Rifts later this year it really has the potential to be something special. We’ve seen big Oculus-funded titles before like From Other Suns that have lots of replayability or Lone Echo which offered a great linear narrative, but Stormland feels like the next level of VR gaming. It’s got a large open world that’s dynamic and ever-changing, there’s co-op, you can upgrade your abilities, find loot, climb anywhere, glide around, skate across the clouds, and generally explore to your heart’s content. I think it’s fair to say that Stormland is unlike anything we’ve seen in VR yet.
As opposed to the previous Stormland demo, which was heavily focused on combat, this new demo was much more narrative-driven and actually kicked off from the very beginning of the game.
From what I can tell the story revolves around you being one of the last androids left remaining. There is a massive storm called the Tempest that has ravaged the Stormland and left nothing but destruction in its wake. Most of my demo just had me exploring islands above the clouds, gliding around, and viewing recorded memories of past androids walking around different base camps.
What stood out to me, other than the excellent visuals, was the wonderful voice acting. Everything has a very AI-sounding filter over the top of it, but it does a great job of immersing you in the world and actually making you feel like a robotic avatar. I don’t think there are many VR games that let you yank off one of your arms, place it on a table, and install upgrades before locking it back into the socket. It’s like a new type of phantom dismemberment feeling.
It’s worth noting that my demo was actually on the new upcoming Rift S headset and not the original Rift, although Stormland will of course work fine on either one. Playing on Rift S meant I didn’t have to worry about the placement of the sensors in the demo space at all and could freely move around easily. There was still the cord to contend with of course, but the lack of sensor placement was freeing in comparison to other Rift experiences I’ve had.
Since the Rift S has five total cameras on it (two in front pointed slightly down, one one each side, also angled down a bit, and one on top) the tracking never gave me any issues. In fact, while hanging from a wall, I could turn and shoot with my other hand and remain stuck to the wall just fine.
During my demo, which took about a half hour to get through, it seemed like I was unlocking new things at a quick pace, which makes me wonder how the full game is going to feel. Within that thirty-minute timeframe I had gotten two types of guns, a shield, boosters for gliding and skating across clouds, and tools on my hands for climbing.
You know that feature most VR games use that allow you to point and use telekinesis to make items float to your hand from a distance? Stormland does that, but it also does the same thing for climbing. So even if you can’t quite reach that wall that you’re climbing up you can emit a little tether that connects to the wall almost like a short-range hookshot. This is super useful for swinging yourself across gaps.
There is no full-on flight in Stormland, but you can glide when falling from extreme heights. I didn’t do a whole lot of combat this time around, but all of the collectible resources in the environment have some satisfying effects when you break them apart. The bits of metal cascading around me felt a lot like the nuts and bolts currency in Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank.
Insomniac is no stranger to VR game development. First there was the excellent supernatural action adventure thriller Edge of Nowhere, then the top-down brawler Feral Rites, and finally magic dueling game The Unspoken. Now, they’re taking their talents in a new direction.
Stormland has more in common with the studio’s non-VR development roots than their past projects, such as Ratchet & Clank and Sunset Overdrive with its heavy focus on modified weapons and freedom of exploration. Except this time it seems to take cues from the likes of Anthem, Destiny, and The Division as well with its cooperative atmosphere and ever-changing world.
Since Stormland has been in development for multiple years we probably won’t see a game like this from Insomniac for quite some time. Hopefully it comes out soon since it was announced almost a year ago, but we weren’t given any indication of the actual date.
Stormland is due to launch on Oculus Rift (and/or Rift S) later this year. Let us know what you think of the game so far down in the comments below!
Facebook is launching a replacement for the Oculus Rift this Spring called Rift S.
Every Oculus VR headset launch so far has been accompanied with a collection of new games. These five major Oculus exclusives launching this year could be Rift S’s big hitters.
All five games are fully funded by Oculus Studios, Facebook’s VR content division. All will work with the current Oculus Rift headset. Rift S is a refresh, fully backwards compatible.
Stormland
Insomniac Games
Stormland is a AAA open world co-op adventure from Insomniac Games.
The game features a vast open world that is part procedural and part hand-crafted. It also features mechanics like crafting, gliding, and climbing. The graphics look incredible from what we’ve seen when we went hands-on with it. This honestly may be the best looking made-for-VR open world title yet.
Insomniac’s previous VR titles were the 3rd-person Lovecraftian adventure Edge of Nowhere [9/10], a lackluster top-down view brawler Feral Rites [5/10], and 1vs1 wizard dueling game The Unspoken [9/10]. Outside VR they’ve developed hit titles like Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, Sunset Overdrive, and the Resistance series. More recently they developed Marvel’s Spider-Man.
In Asgard’s Wrath you take on the role of a Norse God with the power to inhabit the bodies of mortals. Throughout the 30+ hour adventure you’ll frequently swap back and forth between the perspectives of a towering God with an epic sense of scale and the perspective of on-the-ground mortal warriors to take advantage of the game’s brutal melee combat.
Lone Echo 2 is the sequel to the hit 2017 voice acted story from Ready at Dawn.
We loved the original Lone Echo, giving it 8.5/10 in our review, stating that it was a “landmark achievement” in locomotion, UI, and interaction, and that the character-driven storytelling creates “a compelling sense of presence that few VR games could hope to match”. Our biggest complaint was that it simply felt incomplete, making us hungry for a full-fledged sequel.
Not much is known about Lone Echo II yet, but if it’s anything like the original, it’s sure to be a title to look out for.
Defector
Twisted Pixel Games
Defector is an action packed spy game that turns you into Jason Bourne (or James Bond, if you prefer). Originally slated for 2018, the game was delayed to some time this year.
We’ve tried this game a few times now — most recently at Oculus Connect 5. Each time we tried it we had a blast. This game probably won’t make you think a whole lot other than deciding how to smooth talk your way out of trouble, but its exhilarating over the top action sequences are downright fun.
Twisted Pixel previously developed Wilson’s Heart [9/10], an incredible VR black & white mystery thriller reminiscent of The Twilight Zone.
Untitled FPS
Respawn Entertainment
At Oculus Connect 4 in 2017 it was announced that the developer of Titanfall is working on an Oculus Rift exclusive for launch in 2019.
No details have been given so far, other than it is definitely not a Titanfall VR spinoff, but given Respawn’s impressive catalog with Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends all outside of VR we’re expecting big things from this shooter.
What do you think will be the big games poised to carry Rift S (and for that matter, Rift itself) this yea? Let us know down in the comments below!
