stride – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

September 14, 2023

‘STRIDE: Fates’ Coming to Quest Soon as “full-fledged separate game”

Joy Way, the studio behind parkour action-shooter STRIDE (2022), announced that high-flying follow-up STRIDE: Fates is a “full-fledged sequel” to the original game, and it’s coming first to Quest this holiday season.

In addition to throwing out a new gameplay trailer, the studio also released more info on the game’s narrative:

Step into the shoes of a parkour spec-ops officer. Traverse and shoot your way through the rooftops and basements of dystopian Airon City – from slums to affluent skyscrapers. Deal with power shifts in gangs, dirty family feuds, corporate secrets, forbidden tech and other obstacles to understand your past. Enhancing everything players love about STRIDE, the full-fledged sequel ‘Fates’ pushes the parkour action formula even further with new gameplay and a story-driven campaign.

The studio also included a list of promised features:

Blockbuster-level narrative.
Climb buildings, vault through windows, and slide down cables with lightning speed.
Explore open-world locations under the watch of snipers and drones.
Feel the thrill of close-quarters combat with tactical shooter mechanics.
Use your gadgets and hacking skills to outwit thugs and corporates.
Meet a motley cast of characters to shape your Fate.
Puzzles, collectibles and more cool stuff that will be announced later.

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Originally set to be a relatively short story mode offered as free DLC to the base game, STRIDE: Fates is now being pitched as a “full-fledged separate game,” Joy Way tells Road to VR.

“Instead of an hour of gameplay, we made a separate game, better in every aspect, with new content, mechanics and 5-8 hours of story campaign (depending on side quests and time spent in open world locations),” the studio says.

Joy Way maintains the decision to make it a separate game and not free DLC was also based on avoiding technical limitations inherent to the base game. STRIDE: Fates is said to use a new engine, which offers improved graphics and interactivity for standalone VR, enhancing aspects like shooting, enemy AI, and more.

“At some point, after fruitless attempts to upgrade the existing engine, we had to restart the project and basically re-do almost all the code from scratch, and now the new engine is incompatible with the original STRIDE.”

STRIDE: Fates is coming first to Quest, slated to arrive on the Meta Quest Store sometime this holiday season, which could be as soon as November, the studio says. The game is also headed to SteamVR headsets sometime in 2024. Joy Way says it’s also considering a release on PSVR 2 and Pico headsets “later in 2024,” however that’s still being decided.

June 15, 2023

Long-awaited ‘STRIDE’ Story Mode Coming Later This Year, New Trailer Here

STRIDE: Fates, the upcoming story mode to the high-flying parkour game, was supposed to arrive late last year, although developer Joy Way delayed it in favor of fleshing out what promises to be a full-featured campaign.

Originally slated to launch in December 2022, STRIDE: Fates is set to introduce new parkour mechanics, new physics, and a narrative told from the life of a chaser in what at the time was said to be a 5+ hours solo adventure.

During the UploadVR Summer Showcase, the studio revealed new gameplay footage showing off the upcoming ‘Slums’ area, something slated to be a large open-world location that will take “about 15 minutes just to traverse from one end of the location to the other,” the studio says.

Notably, the Slums area is only “one of the many places you will parkour through as a chaser,” the studio says.

Joy Way says it will be revealing a launch date, target platforms, and all other details later this summer. The base game is already available on Quest 2, SteamVR and the original PSVR.

While release info is still thin on the ground, in the meantime we’ll be sticking to the game’s Twitter for all the latest updates.

April 7, 2023

Joy Way’s New Roguelike Shooter Looks Like Spider-Man Meets ‘DOOM’, Coming to Quest May 18th

Joy Way, the studio behind STRIDE and AGAINST, revealed a new VR game which seems to combine the web-slinging action of Spider-Man with the demon-slaying melee carnage of DOOM.

Called Dead Hook, the studio calls the upcoming Quest title an “explosive mix of roguelike and shooter genre with brutal combat and captivating storytelling.”

Prior to Dead Hook, Joy Way released a game called Outlier on Steam Early Access for PC VR, which was then cancelled shortly thereafter. At the time, the studio cited “overestimated demand” as a reason for pulling the plug on the alien-centric roguelike. Joy Way says it has since reworked the mechanics, storyline, and overall gameplay of Outlier to create Dead Hook.

In Dead Hook, you take on the role of Adam Stone, a mercenary, smuggler, and thief. In it, you explore the elder planet Resaract, collect legendary weapons and customize your character with what the studio says is “100 buffs and permanent upgrades to make each run unique.”

Enemies include regular and elite elders, which try to stop you in the air and on the ground as they defend their tombs, the studio says. Joy Way also says there’s bosses too which have “multiple phases, making each encounter feel tense and exciting.”

The roguelike shooter is also set to have a story. In it, you’ll “uncover the secrets of Resaract and AI duality, facing tough choices and unexpected twists along the way,” the studio says.

Joy Way, which late last year also released two games on Quest’s App Lab—RED FLOWERS and STACK—is slated to launch Dead Hook on the main store on May 18th.

Additionally, the studio confirmed with Road to VR that it’s still actively developing RED FLOWERS and STACK.

July 4, 2022

Stride Gets Fitness UI, Weapons And Quests In Single-Player Update

New content for VR parkour game Stride focuses on the game’s single-player offerings.

The free Guns N’ Drones update is available now on both Quest and PC VR. It mainly features new additions for the Arena and Endless modes. The former gets two new weapons, including an Uzi and a shotgun. There’s also new quest types that see you race ahead of drones or seize control of their data and even lasso them. Check out a trailer for the updates below.

New Stride Updates Arrive

Endless, meanwhile, gets two new pickups. One gives you a speed boost to stay ahead of the wall of death. Another will actually slow down the wall. Plus there are new door types that have you shooting out locks to pass through.

Elsewhere, there’s a new fitness dashboard that tracks how much you’ve been moving over play sessions.

These additions arrive shortly after the launch of the massive multiplayer update for the PC VR version of the game. Currently there’s no word on if that content could come to Quest or PSVR. Developer Joy Way is also working on a single-player campaign for the game but says this is also only announced for PC right now.

Last week Joy Way clarified that it was trying not to “repeat past mistakes” when it comes to how it talks about its games following the cancellation of Outlier and confusion over what features were coming to which versions of the game.

Are you diving into Stride to check out the game’s latest updates? Let us know in the comments below!

June 30, 2022

Joy Way Aims For Clearer Communication After Stride PSVR Confusion

Stride and Against developer Joy Way says it is “determined not to repeat our past mistakes” as the studio attempts to move on from issues related to how it communicates publicly.

Joy Way recently increased the price of Stride on PSVR from $14.99 to $19.99 while the company’s Twitter account posted that there’s no confirmation PSVR would see the game’s upcoming single-player campaign, which is coming to PC. If the studio can’t confirm the much needed addition is coming to Sony’s headset, then why increase the price?

The move comes a few months after Joy Way unexpectedly pulled the plug on its roguelite, Outlier, shortly after launching in early access. Responding to questions from UploadVR regarding the confusion surrounding its titles, Joy Way sent over the following statement:

“In response to the concerns of some individual players and members of the VR community, we find it necessary to remind:

When we mention that particular content is in development, we mean that we’re working on it in general, until we mention otherwise. And when we have more details about whether it will be available on a specific platform or not – we always make an official announcement. The same rule applies to the single-player content with story elements or multiplayer updates in STRIDE.

And until we announce it for specific platforms, we market the game on them as a parkour VR game with 3 game modes available: Endless, Arena, and Time Run (+Multiplayer on some of them). Please consider this when you plan to get the game on any of the platforms.

Speaking of our price policy, it may vary from platform to platform. It depends on many factors, and we are currently experimenting with it.

We are determined not to repeat our past mistakes and are now taking a more careful approach to choosing words in relation to any content for our games on any platform. So as not to encourage players to overhype stuff we’re working on”.

Though questions over Stride’s PSVR pricing remain, the company hopes to move on from these communication issues and focus on additional content for Stride alongside its other PC VR project, Against.

June 5, 2022

Stride Leaves Early Access On June 9 With Multiplayer Modes & More

Stride will leave Early Access on Steam on June 9 with the game’s full release update, adding multiplayer modes and more single player content.

It was just last week that we learned that Stride’s multiplayer update would arrive on Quest and SteamVR this month, but now we have a release date and many new details.

Joy Way also confirmed that multiplayer is only coming to the Steam and Meta Quest stores, with cross-platform play — Viveport and PSVR multiplayer support is currently not planned.

Stride’s Multiplayer will launch with 2 game modes, 4 maps, a player hub, matchmaking and social features (voice chat, player customization, etc.). The first game mode is ‘Horde’, which is a variation of tag:

In this mode, players take on the role of zombies or non-infected survivors. Survivors must avoid being touched by infected zombie players, while zombies must infect as many survivors as possible within the allotted time.

The second multiplayer mode ‘King of the Hill’, featured in the video embedded above, will see players “grab a crown and wear it longer than other players to win.”

Joy Way says it is working on further updates to multiplayer, featuring new modes, maps, private lobbies and more.

In terms of single player content, the full release patch will include a “major content update”, with more details to come closer to release. However, Joy Way teased that “hardcore and casual players, as well as fans of VR fitness, will definitely like it.”

Stride will continue to be updated post-full release, including work on single player story content, however, Joy Way says its “main focus for the near future will be on the multiplayer.”

Stride’s full release update launches June 9 for SteamVR and Meta Quest platforms.

June 1, 2022

New VR Games June 2022: All The Biggest Releases

Looking for the new VR games June 2022 list? We’ve got you covered with our full rundown.

June is promising to be a packed month for new VR games and announcements. Alongside a raft of launches for Quest and PC VR headsets, we’ll be back with the Upload VR Showcase on June 9 for yet more reveals and trailers! Let’s take a look at what’s coming your way this month.

New VR Games June 2022

Upload VR Showcase June 9, 8am PT

First off, if you haven’t heard the news, make sure to mark down the Upload VR Showcase on June 9 at 8am PT. We’ll be back with our bi-annual show to announce new VR games and reveal more trailers and gameplay for titles coming soon. Who knows, we may even have a few surprise launches.

Wings 1941 (June 2) – Quest

An arcade shoot ’em up in the style of Capcom’s classic 1942, Wings 1941 has you guiding different aircraft through 10 levels as you dodge bullets and return fire. The promise of a co-op campaign has us especially interested in this one.

First Person Tennis (June 2) – Quest

This take on VR tennis is jumping off of App Lab and onto the full Quest store very soon. Get ready to serve and return like a pro with both online multiplayer and single player modes.

The Last Clockwinder (June 2) – Quest, PC VR

A single-player co-op puzzler in which you take control of a robot and record your actions, working with your past recordings to form a production line. Expect mind-bending puzzles that have you thinking outside the box.

Green Hell VR (June 9) – PC VR

The PC VR version of this flatscreen survival game is finally ready for launch. As opposed to April’s Quest 2 launch, Green Hell VR on PC brings the entire experience to headsets, offering a demanding challenge as you fight to stay alive in a harsh jungle wilderness.

Mothergunship: Forge (June 16) – Quest 2, PC VR

A new VR wave shooter building off of the original Mothergunship, Forge lets you build ridiculous weaponry with a constant barrage of attachments to add to your wrist-mounted gauntlets.

Demeo: Curse of the Serpent Lord (June 16) – Quest, PC VR

The fourth free campaign for Demeo is nearly here. There’s still a lot to learn about what’s to come in Curse of the Serpent Lord, but we do know a two-player mode where each user controls two characters is on the way.

Shadowgate VR: The Mines of Mythrok (June 17) – PC VR

A classic adventure series returns for some VR dungeon crawling. Expect to wield magic and take on fantastical beasts in what’s intended to be the first in a series of VR experiences.

Kayak VR: Mirage (June 28) – PC VR

A visual arresting take on kayaking in VR, this physics-driven experience lets you take part in single-player exploration and races across several stunning environments.

Ragnarok Hellfest DLC (TBA June) – Quest, PC VR

One of our favorite VR rhythm games is getting DLC featuring artists from one of the biggest metal festivals on the planet. Expect from tracks from bands performing at this year’s event and themed levels to play in.

Stride Multiplayer (TBA June) – Quest, PC VR

Dropping at some point this month, the long-awaited multiplayer update for Stride will bring online parkour to virtual arenas.

And that’s the list of new VR games June 2022 line-up! What are you planning on picking up? Let us know in the comments below.

May 30, 2022

Stride Multiplayer Mode Set To Launch In June For Quest, SteamVR

Joy Way confirmed that multiplayer is coming to Stride for Quest and PC VR via Steam in June, with more details to come soon.

The developers announced the news via Reddit, accompanied by a new trailer showcasing the multiplayer mode in action.

As you can see in the trailer embedded above, you’ll be able to play with a number of different players, performing parkour moves across various maps. You’ll also seemingly be able to choose from a number of different outfits for your avatar and interact with other players in some non-parkour capacities.

In a comment on Reddit, Joy Way said it will share more details on the mode next week. There’s no details on multiplayer launch date for PSVR yet, with the launch next month seemingly targeting PC via Steam and Quest platforms only. It’s unclear whether the Oculus Store release for PC VR will also receive the multiplayer update in June as well.

Multiplayer has been a long time coming for Stride. Joy Way first began testing it in Alpha on PC almost a year ago, in June 2021, with plans to later bring the mode to all platforms. That test involved a mode called ‘Zombie Horde‘, which was essentially a version of tag where a group of players were cast as survivors and another group as zombies. The latter have to chase and tag the former — the last survivor standing was the winner of the round.

In November 2021, Joy Way took the test servers down and noted that improvements would be made based on player feedback. The studio also indicated that several other multiplayer modes were in development as well — hopefully we see those in the full launch next month.

Just earlier this month, Stride was restored to the Quest store after it was made unavailable for over a month, as part of a move from Meta to unlist apps with “financial entities” based in Russia. You can find more details on that story here.

May 23, 2022

VR Roguelike ‘OUTLIER’ Cancelled Due to “overestimated demand”

Joy Way, the studio behind VR titles Stride and Against, announced it’s abandoning development on its most recent PC VR title, Outlier, which hit early access on Steam in March.

The studio released a statement on Friday detailing the decision to remove Outlier from sale on Steam.

Joy Way advises users to either refund the game or keep it in their library with the knowledge that there will be no new development going on. Here’s the full statement below:

Dear players,

In the spirit of transparency, we wanted to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on OUTLIER.

Our plans for this project were ambitious, but unfortunately we overestimated the demand for this game. And underestimated the complexity of the roguelike genre. After the launch, we realized that the effort to implement our initial vision of this game would be too big compared to the relatively small audience we were targeting.

According to our calculations, we would have to involve a significant part of the developement team to work on this project over the next 8-12 months with a low probability that the project will ever achieve at least financial self-sufficiency.

The lesson has been learned, and we will reallocate human and financial resources to our other projects – STRIDE and AGAINST, in order to release updates for these games more often.

The title will shortly be removed from sale on Steam. Given that OUTLIER will no longer receive any updates, feel free to refund it. You can also contact Steam support if you need help with this. If you enjoyed the game, you can still play it, OUTLIER will remain in your library.

If you need any help from our side, please email us at community@joyway.games.

We treasure the help of dedicated players who helped us playtest the game and left detailed feedback, your impact was really valuable during the course of development. Your efforts and more than a year of hard work by our developers: all best practices from OUTLIER will find their application in our other existing games.

Thank you for giving the game a chance, and we hope you had some fun :)

Best,
Joy Way Team

Outlier was a bit of a mixed bag when it launched on Steam Early Access. The single-player game borrows a good amount of locomotion mechanics from Stride, the studio’s 2020 “parkour-shooter” game that has users executing highflying jumps and dodges whilst blasting away with various guns. On top of its battle-rested VR mechanics, Outlier also promised five VR-centric weapons, elemental powers, and 50+ upgrades and modifiers to keep players coming back for more of its procedurally-generated levels set on an alien world.

Joy Way intended to use its time on PC VR to work out issues before eventually releasing a version for Quest, which was initially planned to release sometime in 2022. Since its Early Access launch, the game has received ‘Mixed’ user ratings, with around 60 percent of overall users rating the game as ‘Positive’, which seems to have dampened a favorable outlook for its jump to Quest.

To date, all of the studio’s VR games on Steam are still in Early Access, including Time Hacker, Stride, and its latest rhythm-combat title Against. Stride is however the studio’s first (and only) to make it to the official Quest Store.

The post VR Roguelike ‘OUTLIER’ Cancelled Due to “overestimated demand” appeared first on Road to VR.

May 16, 2022

Stride Returns To Quest Store As Developer Resolves Russian Dispute

Popluar VR free running game, Stride, has returned to the Quest store after being taken down more than a month ago in a move from Meta to unlist apps with “financial entities” based in Russia.

Stride is developed by indie studio Joy Way, and was removed from sale on Quest in late March. During that time, it remained on sale on Steam, though some PSVR users also reported issues with finding the game.

Stride Returns To Oculus Store

However, in a statement issued over email to UploadVR in March, a Meta spokesperson suggested that economic restrictions placed on Russia in light of its invasion of Ukraine had led the company to de-list certain apps. “Due to difficulties in making financial transactions and processing payments in and from Russia, we will not be able to list any applications on Quest that require payment to financial entities based in Russia,” the statement reads.

“While we do not sell Quest devices in Russia, those who have acquired a device through a resale market or other means have likely been impacted by various restrictions that have been placed.”

Over the course of Stride’s absence, Joy Way, repeatedly told us that it did not know why Stride was removed from the store. In emails to UploadVR a representative said that, whilst the studio was established by a mix of European and Russian developers, the company is “majorly controlled by Cypriots” and was registered as a Cyprus company in September 2021 with its main development office now located there.

“During the early stage the company’s IT development team was based in Russia,” the Joy Way rep wrote. “Later on after the successful launch of Stride we initiated a process of company restructuring and incorporated a Cyprus company. This was made for certain reasons. First of all, the European jurisdiction is claimed to be more favorable and reliable for doing business. Secondly, the majority shareholders are Cypriots and this was their mandatory requirement to structure the business in Cyprus.”

This weekend, however, Stride returned to the Quest Store without warning. “Speaking of this whole situation, we still don’t know the exact reason why the game was taken down on Quest,” Joy Way said in a follow-up statement. “Meta asked us to provide legal information about Joy Way LTD and STRIDE in particular. After doing so, they took their time to make a decision, and we were not informed of any specific details of their internal discussion, we only had an approximate time frame for this decision.”

“So it was pretty stressful and we’re glad that STRIDE is back to the store.”

The company says it now has “very few employees” left in Russia, with many relocated. Those that remain due to “family circumstances or due to lack of necessary documents” are mainly within the studio’s quality assurance department, according to a Joy Way representative. Ukrainian developers have also relocated, the studio claims.

“It is impossible not to feel pain seeing the situation in Ukraine,” the studio added. “Fortunately we have managed to give every assistance to our Ukrainian team mates and their families and evacuate the majority of our employees to a safe place.”