Category: The Lost Pit VR

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Kenzan Studios’ The Lost Pit VR Coming to HTC Vive in May

At the SVVR Conference & Expo, Kenzan Studios unveiled a virtual reality (VR) arcade initiative called Kenzan Arcade. One of the title’s set to feature at the installation is The Lost Pit VR, a 12-person multiplayer shooter which the developer has now revealed will appear on Steam for HTC Vive.

One of Kenzan Studios’ original IP’s, The Lost Pit VR is set on the forsaken planet of Sulfyria, where six tribes settle their disputes in a medieval arena. Torn by social tensions that threaten their very survival, a seventh tribe (mystical settlers called The Silent Ones), strictly follow the culture of Sulfyria’s ancient alien civilization and organize the battles between the six.

The Lost Pit VR screenshot 1

Players find themselves on a hovering rock above a bottomless pit fighting to eliminate their opponents. There will be three variations of The Lost Pit VR: The Total Experience, for Kenzan Arcade, where 12 players compete (10 on floating rocks with 2 on flying vehicles), The Training Ground will be for home HTC Vive users, with six players able to go head-to-head, and The VIP Lounge which will have live broadcasts of the matches.

“We announced The Lost Pit VR on our high-end VR experience Kenzan Arena and Kenzan Studios are delighted to bring our FPS to the VR home-gaming market.” said Ronny Tobler, CEO of Kenzan Studios in a statement. “Steam is a great platform to globally distribute our VR content as this lively and vibrant community members are located all over the world.”

“Our vision is an integrated gaming experience: we believe that the Steam version of The Lost Pit VR is the ideal in-home companion for the out-of-home entertainment version created for Kenzan Arena. In the future version both platforms can be virtually merged and make cross platform gameplay possible,” said Pascal Montjovent, Director of Creative R&D at Kenzan Studios.

Currently Kenzan Studios has just confirmed a May launch for The Lost Pit VR without specifying a date. Kenzan Arena is scheduled to open its doors in Zürich, Switzerland and Guangzhou, China, in August 2017.

For further The Lost Pit VR updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Kenzan Arena Brings Large-Scale Multiplayer VR to the Out-of-Home Entertainment Sector

Today at the SVVR Conference & Expo, San Jose, Kenzan Studios has unveiled a brand new virtual reality (VR) ‘playground’ initiative. Set to be known as Kenzan Arena, the project is a collaboration with Noitom which aims to set a new benchmark in both accuracy and latency in three-dimensional space.

Kenzan Studios logo

Designed for the out-of-home environment, Kenzan Arena is set to offer a variety of videogame experiences that target children, families and adults. The product will be sold into distribution on a franchise basis to shopping malls and leisure centres around the globe, with the first Kenzan Arena playground scheduled to open in late summer 2017 in Zurich Switzerland.

Using Noitom’s motion-tracking technology, Kenzan Arena will adapt large play spaces to the use of full-tracking VR, similar to the experiences currently available with The Void and Zero Latency. Players can touch and manipulate physical objects in the real-world with different implications in the VR experience. The Kenzan Arena will also integrate wind and flight simulators into the different videogames enhance the sense of immersion.

“Kenzan Arena is a place where technology allows everyone to discover extraordinary worlds, in the best possible way. Comfort and safety are of utmost importance. But for me, emotions, beauty and artistry remain non-negotiable values,” says Pascal Montjovent, Director of Creative Research & Development at Kenzan Studios.

The Lost Pit screenshot

Kenzan Studios plan to release new videogames every 12 months, with multiplayer competitions between multiple Kenzan Arena installations bringing eSports to an international scale. At present, four titles have been unveiled for the Kenzan Arena installations:

The Lost Pit VR is a multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) targeted at adults. In a futuristic colosseum on a planet far away, up to 12 players fight for survival on floating platforms. Two of these players will fly futuristic motorbikes over and under the platforms, using motion-tracked real-world input solutions.

EnigmAttic VR is a videogame created for groups of friends or families. In this mysterious escape room players have to work together to solve puzzles with the aim of transforming from a ghost back to a human being. The room is both virtual and physical, with objects in the real-world replicated in the VR environment.

Holiday Break VR is a single-player videogame created for children and families around every holiday period, be it Halloween, Easter, Christmas or even Valentine’s Day. Points are accumulated and rewards/discounts distributed by the hosting venue – tailored to their holiday offering.

Starpirates VR is a single-player videogame created for children and families in which players find themselves on a futuristic Jule Verne inspired pirate ship, takes with shooting and smashes as many bottles as possible in the allotted time. As with Holiday Break VR points are accumulated that can be used for rewards and discounts by the hosting venue.

Holiday Break screenshot

For all of the above titles, each Player is equipped with a backpack PC, a head-mounted display (HMD) and a set of controllers or special weapons. These are wireless, free roaming experiences. Depending on the videogame, either Noitom’s motion tracking technology or the HTC Vive platform will be used.

The entry level version of Kenzan Arena is a standard 200 square meter area (2150 sq ft) where up to 12 players can simultaneously participate. Therefore, the recommended space of a Kenzan Arena facility is 400 square meters (4300 sq ft). In addition to the 200 square meter playing area we recommend 100sqm waiting area and 100sqm for reception, coffee area, storage and operations. The minimum ceiling height is 3.5 Meters. On request, Kenzan Arena can be scaled to fit the structural circumstances of the operator’s facility.

Prior to today’s unveiling of the Kenzan Arena franchise, VRFocus met with Kenzan Studios to discuss the project and get hands-on with the videogames set to be offered as part of the package. There’s much more information to come soon, but those in attendance at SVVR Conference & Expo this week can get hands-on with the Kenzan Arena experience themselves.