Category: The VR Drop

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The VR Drop: An Action-Packed VR Summer

Even with the absence of E3 this year, virtual reality (VR) developers haven’t shied away from announcing plenty of exciting new projects and updates that are on the horizon. For now, though, let’s look at some of the videogames coming to VR headsets over the course of next week.

Groove Island Fit

Groove Fit Island!! – Ima Create Co.

Having previously released Groove Fit Kingdom! a couple of years ago for SteamVR headsets, Ima Create returns next week with a follow-up, Groove Fit Island!! Just like before, Groove Fit Island!! is all about mashing together fitness with rhythm action gameplay. It’ll feature sports such as tennis, boxing, and baseball as well as more unusual options like pizza delivery, fishing, and kendama.

MotherGunship: Forge – Terrible Posture Games

If you’re looking for some all-out action with big guns and an even bigger array of customisation options then Mothergunship: Forge is the place to be. Originally a PC and consol roguelite, Mothergunship: Forge gets the VR treatment, offering an endlessly replayable experience firmly geared around mixing and matching an assortment of components to make all manner of weaponry. And you don’t need to go it alone, there’s a co-op mode so a friend can join in the carnage.

Mothergunship: Forge

Monster Showdown: Prologue – Virtual Uppercut Studios

This initial release of Monster Showdown aims to give players a taste of this action-packed VR shooter. The prologue provides the first three maps – the final version will have 10 – where you can slaughter monstrous enemies with over 60 weapons for a randomised dispenser. You’ll then be able to upgrade them with Perk donuts or cash collected from fallen enemies.

Bocce Time! – Deep Dive Interactive

For something a little more chilled there’s Bocce Time! Here, you and up to three friends can play the ancient game of Bocce in tranquil surroundings. With half a dozen different bocce courts, each will provide its own unique challenge for players, or when no one is around practice against a bot or go 1v1 a random opponent online.

Bocce Time

Shadowgate VR: The Mines of Mythrok – Azure Drop Studios

Originally released for Meta Quest last year, now it’s the turn of PC VR players to step into Shadowgate VR: The Mines of Mythrok. A dungeon explorer able about fighting giant monsters, players will have to wield elemental magic, solve devious puzzles and unlock ancient secrets as they delve ever deeper into the mountain and its cavernous locations filled with trap-laden corridors.

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The VR Drop: Hailing The Last Beat

Welcome to another weekly edition of The VR Drop, where gmw3 looks ahead to see what exciting virtual reality (VR) videogames are coming to a headset near you in the coming days. We’ve got a full roster to end the month of May and welcome in June, from brain teasers to energetic rhythm titles.

The Last Taxi – ZenFri Inc.

Take part in a narrative set in a far-flung future where you’re the very last human taxi driver. The usual dystopian nightmare where surveillance, automation and human modification run rife, The Last Taxi is all about picking up fares and being chatty to earn tips and upgrade your ride. However, conversations with your passengers soon reveal the darker side of the city, putting you in the middle of whether to inform the authorities and the repercussions of doing so.

The Last Clockwinder – Pontoco

Time for a clone making brain tickler in The Last Clockwinder. Inside an ancient tree, there are valuable plants and seeds to save, only achieved by getting the place in working order. To do so you’ll need to plant seeds to grow and harvest the fruit needed to power the place, and many hands make light work. But as there’s only one of you, you’ll need to carefully clone yourself over and over again, performing tasks that all need to link up like one giant Rube Goldberg machine.

The Last Clockwinder

First Person Tennis – The Real Tennis Simulator – Mikori Games

Originally released back in 2019 for PC VR headsets, First Person Tennis – The Real Tennis Simulator then arrived for Meta Quest’s App Lab late last year. Next week, the tennis simulator will see an official Oculus Store release, making it easier for Quest owners to find the videogame. Offering both single-player and multiplayer modes, First Person Tennis has both Arcade and Simulation settings, clay, grass, indoor synthetic and more court surfaces as well as 13 tournaments (4 Slam and 9 Masters); everything a VR tennis fan needs.

Drums Rock – Garage51

It doesn’t feel like a proper VR Drop without at least one rhythm action title on the list, next week in the form of Drums Rock. This is another VR videogame making it to new headsets, coming to SteamVR having initially released as a Quest App Lab title. As the name suggests, Drums Rock sits you behind a classic drum setup, with a 4+ hour campaign to play through featuring Hard rock, heavy metal, Nu metal, and other genres. As this is an Early Access title, developer Garage51 plans on adding further content, already collaborating with Until You Fall from Schell Games.

Drums Rock

CAVE – Sable Studio

Finally, there’s CAVE VR, an explorative puzzler set inside a cave system – hope you are not scared of tight spaces. Discover the hidden secrets of the cave, with ancient ruins littered with puzzles that block your way back to the surface.

  • Supported platform(s): Oculus Rift
  • Launch date: 3rd June
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The VR Drop: Slim May Pickings

As 2022’s spring season draws to a close there’s been a notable reduction in the amount of virtual reality (VR) titles hitting stores. Some big games have arrived such as Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall this week for Meta Quest 2, but all in all this coming week is no different. In fact, it’s the modding community that’s been filling in those gaps lately.

Shores of Loci

Shores of Loci – MikeTeevee

Coming to Early Access on SteamVR as well as Meta Quest’s App Lab, Shores of Loci is a casual, narrative-driven, single-player puzzle game. You’ll be transported to stunning environments where you have to solve elaborate challenges to help Giants and Villagers alike reclaim their lands and rebuild their cities.

World of Mechs – Studio 369

The big VR videogame gmw3 has been looking forward to after previewing it earlier in May, World of Mechs is a mechanised brawler with both single-player and multiplayer modes. The multiplayer is the core of the experience, pitting players in teams of 4 to fight across a variety of maps or go head-to-head in a deathmatch. With easy to pick up controls, players can quickly jump into 32 giant mechs, each with its own loadouts and upgrade options.

Manny Boxing VR

Manny Boxing VR – Appnori Inc.

Finally, the only other VR game so far confirmed for the final week of May is Appnori Inc’s Manny Boxing VR. A boxing title featuring world-renowned boxing star, Manny Pacquiao, there’s a selection of training modes including speed ball, dummy hitting practice and heavy bag training before fighting a selection of AI characters including Pacquiao himself.

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The VR Job Hub: VueReal, Ready at Dawn & Secret Location

Welcome to another VR Job Hub where every weekend gmw3 gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industries, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.

Location Company Role Link
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada VueReal Talent Acquisition Manager Click Here to Apply
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada VueReal Semiconductor Integration Engineer Click Here to Apply
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada VueReal Semiconductor Process Engineer Click Here to Apply
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada VueReal Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineer Click Here to Apply
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada VueReal Patent/Intellectual Property Assistant Click Here to Apply
Irvine, CA Ready at Dawn Audio Lead Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Senior Backend Services Engineer Click Here to Apply
Irvine, CA Ready at Dawn Senior Producer Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Lead Environment Model & Layout Artist Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Gameplay Programmer Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Senior Systems Designer (MP) Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Senior Lighting Technical Artist Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Character Artist Click Here to Apply
Remote, US Ready at Dawn Lighting Artist Click Here to Apply
Irvine, CA Ready at Dawn Community Moderation Associate Click Here to Apply
London, UK Secret Location Product Manager Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location 3D Animator (2-3 month contract) Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location 3D Environment Artist, Mid/Senior (2-3 month contract) Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Associate Creative Director Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Customer Service Manager Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Director, Business and Legal Affairs Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Illustrator Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Junior Accountant Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location QA Engineer Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location QA Lead Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Senior Back End Developer Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Unity Developer Click Here to Apply
Toronto, Canada Secret Location Unity Developer Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there are always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (community@gmw3.com).

We’ll see you next week on gmw3 at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

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The VR Drop: Driving a Living Metropolis

Welcome to another VR Drop where gmw3 looks at what XR videogames have been announced for the week ahead. There’s a superb collection to look forward to, from Early Access releases looking for community support to casual titles where you can sit back and relax to some virtual reality (VR) world-building.

Musical Range

Musical Range – Rockhopper Studios

First up is a rhythm action game called Musical Range, coming to Steam Early Access on Monday. This is a rhythm shooter with the rather unique mechanic of being able to bend and distort the notes after each shot. For the EA launch, Musical Range will have a selection of songs to try and achieve highscores on as well as a Freeplay Mode, shooting the notes to make your own music. Plus, there’s a custom song system where you can drop in sound files to play.

Area Man Lives – Numinous Games

This is a title gmw3 wasn’t sure would come to life, but it lives! Announced in 2020 as a reworking of Numinous Games’ much earlier Google Daydream title Untethered, Area Man Lives is part quirky radio drama and part mystery to solve, putting you in the chair of a local radio DJ. In this little bubble of radio paradise, you have to play some music, record commercials and most importantly, talk to callers and find out what’s going on and how you can help.

Little Cities

Little Cities – Purple Yonder

Developed by British indie studio Purple Yonder and published by VR powerhouse nDreams (Fracked, Phantom: Covert Ops) Little Cities is a delightful city builder coming exclusively to Meta Quest. With various archipelagoes to build on (Desert, Volcano and more), Little Cities is all about balancing the needs of residents by creating enough housing, factories and commercial properties whilst adding essentials like network coverage, power and the occasional airport. Unlike other city builders, Little Cities doesn’t bog you down with deep financial planning, keeping gameplay light with the option of hand tracking support coming in June.

Omega Pilot – Xocus

Having launched its futuristic racer Z-Race for PCVR headsets last year, Xocus is back with Omega Pilot. The developer created the entirely new Omega Pilot because Z-Race fans wanted one thing, a cockpit viewpoint, which couldn’t be done due to Z-Race’s control scheme. So now players can jump into the cockpit of these futuristic vehicles and race at ludicrous speeds through winding tubular tracks.

Omega Pilot

Afterlife VR – Split Light Studio

Now let’s finish on a VR genre that loves to scare us all, horror, with the Early Access release for Afterlife VR from Split Light Studio. Play as a young rookie cop who needs to go and investigate a mental health facility and…well, you know what happens; stepping into an insane asylum at night only amounts to one thing. There are puzzles, you have telekinetic abilities and shit is going to jump out at you. So bring a flashlight and a spare pair of pants.

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The VR Drop: Survival of the Smartest

It might be 1st April and all the fun this day brings but here at gmw3 we don’t subscribe to such things when it comes to game launches. These are all real, albeit a little thin on the ground next week as our usual roster of five is cut down to three. Nevertheless, they’re still worth a look.

The Living Remain

The Living Remain – Five Finger Studios

Let’s start April with some old fashioned zombie slaying. An Early access title from indie team Five Finger Studios, The Living Remain has all the hallmarks of a classic undead adventure, lots of guns assault rifles, shot guns, pistols), crafting to make ammo and upgrade those guns, a story-driven campaign, and, of course, hordes of ravenous undead to cut down with a hail of bullets.

Demeo: PC Edition – Resolution Games

Okay, so technically this isn’t a VR videogame but it does support cross-play with VR headsets. Plus it’s Demeo, an awesome tabletop strategy title from Resolution Games. Demeo features three adventures to complete either solo or with up to four players in co-op, where you choose your hero (hunter, sorcerer, assassin, guardian, or bard) before stepping into monster-filled dungeons. Once inside, Demeo is a turn-based videogame where you can utilise specific character cards to battle enemies or help comrades.

  • Supported platform(s): PC
  • Launch date: 7th April

Green Hell VR: Quest Edition – Incuvo

If you own a Meta Quest 2 and love the idea of trying to survive in the Amazonian rainforest, then Green Hell VR is for you. A port of the PC game Green Hell, you find yourself alone in the jungle, learning how to survive by foraging for materials, crafting useful tools and weapons whilst trying to uncover a great mystery. Oh, and you’re not exactly alone, jaguars, crocodiles, scorpions, and indigenous tribesmen are all there, hidden in the dense undergrowth about to jump out on you; have fun!

  • Supported platform(s): Meta Quest 2
  • Launch date: 7th April
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The VR Drop: A Colourful Character Masterclass

March has been a great month for virtual reality (VR) gaming and this final week is no different, with highly anticipated sequels and big IPs making an appearance. So if you’re looking for videogames to spend that hard-earned money on, look no further.

Now There Be Goblins

Now There Be Goblins – Shocktopus Games

First up is the Early Access tower defense videogame Now There Be Goblins, where you have to, unsurprisingly, deal with a few rampaging goblins. Build up your defenses with a selection of powerful structures, place traps and utilise the interactive environment to your advantage. Then there’s always your hammer, allowing you to unleash some melee carnage upon your enemies. Developer Shocktopus Games expects Now There Be Goblins to be in EA for up to a year, adding more levels, enemies and more in that time.

Transformers Beyond Reality – Meta4 Interactive

The big IP of the week comes from Meta4 Interactive in the form of Transformers Beyond Reality, letting PS VR and PlayStation VR players jump into the Hasbro universe. An arcade-style first-person shooter (FPS), in Transformers Beyond Reality you play an Autobot fighting the Decepticons to help save both Earth and Cybertron. And in a nod to the franchise’s history, the character designs are in keeping with the original toy and cartoon aesthetics.

  • Supported platform(s): PlayStation VR and SteamVR
  • Launch date: 31st March
Cosmonious High

Cosmonious High – Owlchemy Lab

Owlchemy Labs, the studio behind some of the most well known VR titles including Job Simulator, returns with another outrageous experience, Cosmonious High. With all the hands-on, zany gameplay you’d expect from the team, this time around you’re the new kid at a colourful intergalactic high school. Here you can learn, paint, make new friends and cause a little chaos, whilst unlocking new abilities such as firing water from your hands to help fix and clean the school.

Moss: Book II – Polyarc

If most PlayStation VR owners don’t buy this next week gmw3 will be surprised, as the eagerly awaited sequel to 2018’s Moss arrives as a platform exclusive. The little mouse that can, Quill, is back out on another adventure aided by you, her ghostly companion. This time around she’s got new puzzles to solve, enemies to fight and tricks up her sleeve including a new hammer. There are also new mechanics to get you more involved in the world, grabbing vines to create new paths for example. You don’t even need to have played the original, the story does continue but it’s all recapped for players new to the series.

  • Supported platform(s): PlayStation VR
  • Launch date: 31st March
Moss Book II

Mythic Defender – Hexware Studio

It’s been a while since gmw3 featured a VR tower defense game on The VR Drop and this week there are two! The second is from Hexware Studio with Mythic Defender – it does arrive on the worst date possible – where you battle mythological creatures by placing those all-important towers and then grabbing your trusty bow to ensure your kingdom remains safe.

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The VR Drop: Creative Kaiju Await

It’s the Game Developers Conference (GDC) this week which usually means new VR titles being announced or updates to the ones we’re all looking forward to. If you’re impatient and want new videogames right now then here are a few landing over the course of this week.

Tomorrow Ends

Tomorrow Ends – Kadanss Games

Ok, so this one landed over the weekend but so what, it looks worth a pop. A VR title that looks like it may have taken a small amount of inspiration from Majora’s Mask, Tomorrow Ends is an Oculus App Lab videogame – so its not finished yet – where a small town is three hours away from being destroyed (by the sun/moon?) so it’s up to you to investigate, speak to folk and find out where a magical book that kept the place save has gone.

Shadow Point – Coatsink

One of the original launch titles for Oculus Quest – as it was known – Coatsink’s Shadow Point is a puzzle adventure finally making its way to PlayStation VR. Featuring none other than Sir Patrick Stewart narrating – hopefully, you know who this acting legend is – Shadow Point features 80+ mind-bending puzzles that require gravity manipulation, playing with light and shadows, peering into alternate realities and more. All compatible with PlayStation Move.

  • Supported platform(s): PlayStation VR
  • Launch date: 22nd March
Shadow Point

On The Morning You Wake – Novelab, Atlas V

This isn’t a videogame, rather an immersive documentary based on an event that took place in 2018 and the chaos that ensued during 38 minutes of nuclear terror. Created and produced by Atlas V, Archer’s Mark, Meta, and ARTE France, On The Morning You wake (to the End of the World) charts 18th January when every inhabitant of Hawaii received a nuclear warning threat. It was human error but what happens when you’re confronted with a very real and urgent threat?

Vermillion – Thomas van den Berge

For all you artists out there, Vermillion is an oil-based pro painting simulator that first appeared on Steam last year and will now come to Meta Quest. Mixing real painting mechanics with the benefits of digital tools, Vermillion features realistic wet-on-wet colour mixing as well as the ability to undo mistakes, paint in layers or pull up a YouTube video to help guide you. It also includes passthrough and virtual environments depending on how realistic you want your painting session to be.

Vermillion

Tentacular – Firepunchd

Time for the most outrageous VR videogame on this list, where you get to play a giant (friendly) aquatic monster, using your tentacles to help the local townsfolk out. Tentacular is a building-based puzzler where you use those massive tentacle arms to build structures and contraptions that the inhabitants of La Kalma need. Or in your downtime, there’s also the sandbox mode to get creative.

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The VR Drop: A Thursday Downpour of VR Wonder

Oh my, when it rains it rains hard in VR. And there’s no better example than next week when five titles all drop on exactly the same day. Not all for the same platform, mind, but still next Thursday is going to be a busy one for all you VR gamers out there.

The Tale of Onogoro

The Tale of Onogoro – Amata K.K.

The next VR title from the Japanese team behind Last Labyrinth, The Tale of Onogoro is set to be another weird puzzle adventure; just with far less gore. In this tale, you’ve pulled through from another dimension by a high priestess (Haru) tasked with defeating five powerful monsters called Kami. Unfortunately, she has been betrayed and finds herself tethered to a rather large stone. So you have to solve puzzles, help Haru navigate the world, and then defeat the odd giant boss or two.

  • Supported platform(s): Meta Quest 2
  • Launch date: 17th March

Outlier – Joy Way

A Steam Early Access release by Joy Way, the folks behind Stride and Against, in Outlier, you play someone looking for a new planet to call home. You get sucked into a black hole and find a suitable location, apart from all the dangerous enemies that is. And so begins a roguelite adventure where you have to fight a seemingly endless selection of enemies using guns and some rather mysterious powers. If you die, then it’s right back to the start, a little stronger and hopefully a little wiser for the next run.

Outlier

Startenders – Foggy Box Games

Time for a less dramatic videogame but no less hectic, serving some cosmic cocktails. gmw3 liked Startenders in our preview last month, next week it’s your turn to enrol in the Startenders Academy where you’ll learn to prep an assortment of bizarre beverages, try and keep customers happy and maybe earn some cash to upgrade your equipment to make even better creations!

  • Supported platform(s): Meta Quest 1 & 2 and PlayStation VR
  • Launch date: 17th March

Mare – Visiontrick Media

The first of two ports next week, Visiontrick Media has been working hard on bringing its Meta Quest exclusive Mare to PC VR. With some beautifully scenic visuals, Mare is a casual puzzle title where you play a mechanical bird helping a small child traverse a desolate and dangerous land.

Mare

Cave Digger 2: Dig Harder – VRKiwi

Already on Steam Early Access, Cave Digger 2: Dig Harder is due to hit Oculus App Lab next Thursday, bringing its tunnelling adventure to the standalone headset. Playing a prospector looking for riches, you start out small and expand your camp to new places and dig for new treasures, uncovering a few secrets along the way. This launch will also feature the new Steam update adding a new biome to the experience.

  • Supported platform(s): Meta Quest 2 (App Lab)
  • Launch date: 17th March
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The VR Drop: March VR Variety

2022 is starting to kick into gear when it comes to virtual reality (VR) videogame launches. Next week is a perfect example with titles arriving for most headsets that aren’t all first-person shooters. There are some guns alongside pirates, musical flair, and bizarre mysteries to uncover. So take a look at what’s just around the corner.

Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister

Buccaneers! – Skyward Digital

Last week Skyward Digital released Buccaneers! The New Age of Piracy a free-to-play demo for its upcoming pirate adventure. Buccaneers! arrives this coming week, a single-player RPG where you become a fearsome captain waging naval warfare, with a campaign where you sign up with either the British, French or Spanish empires or the Buccaneers’ League. Engage in tense naval and land battles whilst customising your ship with new paint schemes, cannons and upgrades. Fight ship-to-ship combat then board enemy vessels and assault forts to loot the best treasure.

Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister – Pixel Toys

Having released Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister as a Meta Quest platform exclusive back in 2020 know it’s the turn of PC VR players. This is a non-stop action-adventure where you play the role of Sister Ophelia, a veteran Sister of Battle who is searching for her long lost twin sister whilst fighting to save all of humanity. Choose from Bolters, Plasma Pistols, Flamers, Las Rifles, Power Swords and Chainswords as you cut down heretics, Chaos Space Marines and even bigger foes.

Virtuoso

Virtuoso – Really Interactive

Want to unleash that inner musician in you or looking for new, innovative ways to create a beat? Then Virtuoso is for you. Build songs using some familiar and unfamiliar instruments, physically drum your own beat, use the Looper tool to create layer upon layer of sound or try your hand at the three-dimensional Oorgan. Utilise the six instruments to record tracks and share them with the community.

République: Anniversary Edition – Camouflaj

The mobile stealth adventure arrived back in 2013 and in the following years Camouflaj expanded support to VR headsets like Gear VR and Oculus Go. After a long wait, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR are finally getting support with République: Anniversary Edition. The 10-hour campaign puts the fate of Hope, a hacker, in your hands, guiding her by viewing each level through security cameras. The main difference with this anniversary edition is the addition of a developer’s commentary.

  • Supported platform(s): PlayStation VR
  • Launch date: 10th March
Hitchhiker

HitchHiker: A Mystery Game – Mad About Pandas

Last on the list for next week’s launch collection is HitchHiker: A Mystery Game. As the title suggests, you play a hitchhiker grabbing rides from strangers. With no memory of who you are the goal is to uncover your backstory by jumping in cars, visiting new locations and finding clues.