Every so often Humble Bundle rolls out an awesome new limited time offer and there’s one available right now for the next couple of weeks. Called the “VR Discovery” bundle, the deal combines seven videogames and one soundtrack for one ridiculously cheap price.
The games on offer aren’t some random bottom of the bin ones either, they actually showcase how varied VR titles can be, from comedic single-player adventures to co-op multiplayer and rhythm action games.
Love cooking with mates? Then try Resolution Games’ Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale where up to four players have to serve hungry customers as fast as possible. Looking for a puzzle title that’s atmospheric with an engrossing storyline, you want Red Matter? It takes place in an alternate future on an abandoned base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons. When it comes to comedic Squanch Games’ Trover Saves the Universehas got you covered. Trover is a purple eye-hole monster trying to save the universe from a beaked lunatic named Glorkon who has kidnapped your dogs and put them in his eye sockets (yup no joke).
There’s more multiplayer mayhem to be found in Blaston, another Resolution Games title, this time a PvP shooter where two players duel it out in slow motion. While Panoptic is a local multiplayer game of cat and mouse, where the VR player is the Overseer trying to hunt down tiny beings controlled by a mate on PC. And then you’ve got Synth Riders, the rhythm action title that features tracks from bands like Muse.
Rounding out the VR Discovery bundle roster is Tower Tag and its accompanying soundtrack. Tower Tag is a sci-fi PvP shooter with 10 maps, 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 matches and Team Deathmatch, Elimination and Goal Tower gameplay modes.
So how much does this all cost? As a charitable endeavour, Humble Bundle runs a pay what you want scheme with a small starting price. The “VR Discovery” bundle with all that content starts at £9 GBP with buyers encouraged to top that up if they can, enabling more donations to be given to organisations like the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund or GamesAid.
For all the latest Humble Bundle VR deals, keep reading gmw3.
Die Meisterschaft startet am 8. März um 20 Uhr und gespielt wird in Teams aus jeweils zwei Spielenden. Die offiziellen Registrierungen starten am 1. März, ihr könnt euch jedoch bereits jetzt anmelden und an ersten Trainingseinheiten teilnehmen. Derzeit findet das Training jeden Dienstag und Donnerstag statt. Die finalen Spiele werden am 19. und 20. März ausgetragen und live übertragen.
Wenn ihr weitere Informationen sucht oder euch zur Meisterschaft anmelden wollt, dann besucht uns bitte auf Discord und meldet euch bei @Paulyv mit eurem Skilllevel, eurem Standort (EU) und den Namen des Teams und der Spielenden.
Wir würden uns sehr freuen, wenn ihr an den Tower Tag Bundle Championships im März teilnehmen würdet. Wenn ihr Tower Tag noch nicht besitzt, dann könnt ihr derzeit zum Humble Bundle greifen, mit dem wir auch Geld für einen guten Zweck sammeln. Wenn ihr mehr als einen Euro bezahlt, erhaltet ihr Tower Tag und die Soundtracks als Album. Bald werden wir auch spannende Neuigkeiten zum Spiel mit euch teilen können, denn die Reise von Tower Tag ist noch nicht beendet!
The application of VR into the attraction and amusement landscape is covered by industry specialist Kevin Williams, in his latest Virtual Arena column – looking at the growth in the LBE landscape for eSport, and competitive VR attractions.
Much has been made about the opportunities of eSport within a virtual ecosystem, though from a consumer perspective, there has been more speculative investment regarding the opportunity. As seen with the acquisition by Meta of emerging eSports company BigBox VR (developers of POPULATION: ONE). While hunger exists from the player-base for VR eSports competition, only the Out-of-Home entertainment landscape has seen a serious adoption of actual mainstream prize based, virtual, competitive play. And this trend can be seen to be gaining momentum.
One of the first VR attraction developers to embrace the opportunities of eSport empowerment of their platform was Virtuix. The company known for their ‘Omni Arena’ competitive VR enclosure system have successfully installed some 45 units across the USA. Virtuix reported that it has seen over 2-million plays on its hardware. The system gained popularity through its prize pay-out competition. The company revealed the launch of their ‘2022 Omni Arena esports series’ – that will be supported by a cash prize pool of $100,000 for FEC venues. This investment has placed the platform on the map as being one of the largest VR eSports competitions in the West.
Image credit: Virtuix
The popularity of the competitive nature of the game can be seen in the revenue it generates for operators. Virtuix revealed that some of its eSports teams have already played over 200-times on the ‘Omni Arena’. This is also supported by the watching audience that gathers to support the team and the building of a community supported on social media. Virtuix already paid out some $250,000 in eSports cash prizes. It would be easy to liken this popularity to that once witnessed in the bowling scene, but the physicality of VR eSports takes the competitive spirit to new levels of engagement.
One of the few VR videogame titles to have a strong competitive life in the consumer scene is the smash hit Tower Tag by VR Nerds. The games have been played across popular consumer VR platforms in tournament competitions but have also had a strong showing in location-based entertainment (LBE). In a relationship with Japanese amusement giant SEGA, VR Nerds licensed the game to be turned into a VR attraction platform, supported by VAL (Virtual Athletics League). And recently announced that the game would be coming to the West in an agreement that will see it placed onto the SPREE Interactive arena system. This free-roaming platform, allowing up to 10-players at a time to compete, using the standalone Pico VR headset. And will adapt a wholly eSports version of Tower Tag that will be available on the ‘SPREE Arena’ system.
The SPREE Arena in operation. Image credit: KWP
Another platform that applies eSports to their line-up is HOLOGATE. Famous for its successful ‘HOLOGATE Arena’ that has groups of up to four players, using tethered HTC Pro headsets, within a unique enclosure. The high levels of competition are supported by the inclusion of an extensive and customisable eSports tournament platform. The library of competition content on this platform also includes the Tower Tag property.
It is this level of competition, as well as an extensive library of titles that has cemented the popularity of the HOLOGATE platform with the operators and their virtual athletes. Many operators use the platforms tournament to construct their own team-based, venue competitions. This ability to create live events, offers a level of repeat visitation to the venue, along with the additional spend from the audience it generates to watch the compelling competition.
Developer Phenomena has created its own ‘VR Esports Arena’ – the whole system being packaged as a turnkey eSports solution for entertainment venue operators. Taking much of the guesswork out of running a free-roaming VR experience, and the requirements of prize tournament competition. Recently demonstrated at the Orlando IAAPA trade event in November 2021, the new version of the system offers a fully contained arena, with up to eight players (within a 32 x 20 ft., enclosure). The players are wearing the latest HTC VIVE Focus 3, standalone VR headsets. With audience supported by score displays. The developer offering one of three highly competitive VR experiences to compete within and looking to build an international tournament in support of the platform.
France saw a massive VR eSports competition take place during the Paris Game Week in 2019. Developer, EVA (Esports Virtual Arenas), installed a temporary 1,000-m2 arena that saw players using backpack PC’s, HP headsets and tracked weaponry, to take part in a major prize tournament competition. Building on this the company announced their first ‘VR Esport league’, attracting some 52 teams, competing for a $19,000 (€17,000 Euro) cash-prize. Having generated some 400,000 unique spectators on Twitch during the playoffs.
EVA has installed some nine rooms in venues, offering between eight and 12-player VR eSports arenas in France. Having signed licenses to open some 40 additional arenas for the end of 2022 in the country. They have developed several games themselves that plunge groups into tournament competitions. During a recent franchise expo in Paris, the company revealed its intention to have opened 225 arenas by 2025, expanding to Germany and the USA. Having seen first-hand the popularity of their eSports competition platform with their play-base.
Looking beyond the Western market, and we have seen eSports-based VR competition blossom on the Chinese entertainment scene. While the Chinese “VR Park” (the name given to VR arcades in the territory) has seen a continuing upheaval in business, the popularity of VR gaming is still alive and well. Competition plays a major part in defining the deployment of VR into this market – a market where many players will travel to venues to compete, be that the ubiquitous eSport cafes, or the explosion of new VR venues. Such as that operated by STEPVR, with over 130 ‘Future Battle’ stores, across 80 cities within China. These venues have groups of up to ten players competing in a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) experience. STEPVR has recently raised $15m (100-million-yuan) in funding towards international growth.
The territory was one of the first to embrace virtual competition, with the first VR eSports event, the ‘World Virtual Reality Arena 2015’, organized then by Battletimes Co., but this is still an embryonic market. More recently China has seen several major VR eSport tournaments streamed across popular social networks – such as this year with the ‘VR Esports International Championship in Beijing’. A point where we now see major social content providers, such as NetEase, showing interest to invest heavily in this emerging new business.
Returning to the West, and not just free-roaming VR is being employed in an eSports combination. VRstudios is a well-known developer of VR entertainment platforms, and recently launched a major new development, which looks to shake up the way VR amusement is played. Called Hoops Madness, the game experience has been revealed on the new ‘FURY’ unattended two-player kiosk – a self-service VR entertainment platform that incorporates a unique tethered HTC Vive Pro headset configuration, eye-catching LCD display, all in a ‘V’ shape design. But it is the game that drives the whole platform, with Hoops Madness representing a fast-paced basketball hoop’s shooting experience, testing the players’ skill. The game is the first in a line of ‘VRstudios Real-Sport Esports’ titles. The company offers operators guides to marketing and utilizing the ‘FURY’ and Hoops Madness as a platform for VR eSports events, competitions, and tournaments.
In the final observation, it is obvious that the ability to offer a real cash prize incentive to competition has driven much of the interest from the player base. As seen with the explosion of eSports in its more conventional flat-screen incarnation. But one of the benefits that the Out-of-Home version of the competition shares with the considerable investment in eSports, is the large audience live events. Many entertainment venue operators benefit from the audience that is drawn to see the competition on their platforms. The next move is that of streaming these events. The big ‘DOTA’, ‘Counter-Strike’, and ‘League of Legends’ championships, not only draw large live event attendance but generate immense audiences through their streamed broadcasts. The ‘League of Legends World Championships’ in 2020 saw at its peak, some 46 million concurrent viewers, while Global audiences for eSport were calculated at some 475 million in 2021.
We can expect to witness new entrants throw their hat into the ring towards competing in the commercial entertainment application of VR eSports. We have already seen Las Vegas casino chains install massive eSports arenas within their premises and have also seen the inclusion of VR within their layout. We will also start to see the establishment of eSports betting, and with the greater prize opportunities, we can expect major licensing deals for the lucrative sponsorship and coverage. Global revenue in 2021 from competitive gaming is projected to hit over $1 billion.
VR eSports is an attractive medium, and seems to be growing in popularity, but is it ready now for primetime in the West?
Im letzten Jahr haben wir mit Tower Tag unser eigenes Spiel auf Steam für VR-Brillen in den Early Access geschickt. In der Zwischenzeit ist viel passiert und wir freuen uns, Tower Tag aktuell mit einem Rabatt von 70% auf Steam für euch anbieten zu können. Außerdem könnt ihr euch noch schnell für unseren Spring Mix Cup anmelden, welcher von Torch VR und VR Play Park präsentiert wird.
Tower Tag 70% reduziert und Spring Cup angekündigt
Im Spring Mix Cup geht es darum, neue und erfahrene Spieler und Spielerinnen zusammenzubringen und in kurzer Zeit zu einem echten Team zu werden. Angetreten wird in Teams mit je 3 Spielern und Spielerinnen und insgesamt steht ein Preis-Pool von 1500€ für die Teilnehmenden bereit. Hier könnt ihr euch mit einer kurzen Nachricht anmelden (Discord Channel). Damit auch Menschen partizipieren können, die im Sale zugeschlagen haben, haben wir die Frist für die Anmeldung verlängert. Wenn ihr euch noch in dieser Woche meldet, könnt ihr am Turnier teilnehmen.
Doch auch wenn ihr nicht am Turnier teilnehmen möchtet, freuen wir uns über jeden neuen VR-Nerd, den wir auf unseren Servern begrüßen dürfen.
Um auch für die Zukunft gerüstet zu sein und die Anzahl an Spielenden zu erhöhen, arbeiten wir derzeit auch an einer Version für die Oculus Quest und Oculus Quest 2. Die Arbeit an dieser Version wird jedoch noch etwas Zeit in Anspruch nehmen. Wenn ihr über alle Entwicklungen auf dem Laufenden bleiben wollt, dann besucht uns gerne auf Discord.
Mit Tower Tag haben wir seit einigen Jahren ein Spiel in der Entwicklung, welches im letzten Jahr den Sprung von der VR-Arcade in die eigenen vier Wände auf Steam geschafft hat. Nun steht der nächste Sprung an und dafür suchen wir nach Unterstützung.
VR-Nerds sucht Unity Entwicklerin (m/w/d)
Tower Tag ist ein Multiplayer-Spiel, welches mit Unity entwickelt wird und mit Photon arbeitet. Wenn du uns unterstützen willst, solltest du Unity und C# sehr gut beherrschen. Optimal wäre es, wenn du zudem bereits Erfahrungen mit der Entwicklung für die Oculus Quest und der Verwendung von Photon hast. Für die Arbeit ist keine Anwesenheit in Hamburg erforderlich.
Wenn die Stelle für dich interessant klingt, dann schick uns doch gerne deine Unterlagen an Info@vrnerds.de mit dem Betreff “Bewerbung Unity Entwicklerin (m/w/d)”. Wir freuen uns auf eure Bewerbungen.
Investment in Out-of-Home entertainment development continues, and in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams collects the latest investments, partnerships, and acquisition news, shaping the landscape of the location-based immersive entertainment business.
The recent movements in investment being made into location-based entertainment (LBE) developers and operators cannot be ignored. Even if most Western venues are in lockdown currently, numerous institutions and investors are banking on the post-COVID #Springback hitting the social entertainment market as the pent-up need for fun hits the streets. Many investors positioning themselves to capture this expected windfall.
The SPREE Arena in operation. Image credit: KWP
One such development was German developer SPREE Interactive, VRFocus recently reporting the successful securing of a multimillion-euro investment from strategic investors. Along with announcing that they had launched a V2 of their ‘SPREE Arena’ using the Valve Lighthouse tracking platform for easier operation and pricing. All this and a far-reaching partnership with Pico Interactive to deploy their ‘Pico Neo 2’ headset (powered by the Qualcomm XR chipset), integrated on the ‘SPREE Arena’ platform.
It is this level of investment on the future of LBE that marks the recent slew of announcements emanating from an industry that only a few months ago, some parties were keen to write off. The investment and development community has seen the need to establish a strong position in the opportunity that the social entertainment business will offer the post-lockdown audience.
Regarding that social entertainment mix trying to be developed, competitive eSports and tournament play are crucial elements, and we are seeing the development of a new cross-over between in-home and out-of-home players. One of the aspects of the SPREE Interactive announcement was their partnership with game developer VR Nerds to release an exclusive version of their smash VR competitive blaster Tower Tag. As previously reported, Tower Tag has been deployed in LBE venues in Japan through a previous affiliation with amusement factory SEGA. Having also been launched as a consumer title, the new SPREE release of the videogame will offer a dedicated eSports element for competition, with a leaderboard shared between the home and venue players.
Other LBE developers have looked at the need for a dedicated cross-over between the home players, and the future facility tournament competitions. VRstudios has revealed its new VRstudio Sports line, with the release of their VR basketball experience Hoops Madness. The eight-player game has been specially developed to offer an intense competition element, that is supported by a dedicated eSports competition component and leaderboard. But the company has also expanded the competition element by supporting an innovative business model that links the consumer to the venue. Consumer VR players hone their skills to try-out at the facility tournaments.
The investment in using standalone headsets as an alternative to the tethered and backpack PC’s continued, with news of a new partnership from Asia entering the Western LBE scene. Vietnamese based Holomia announced the launch of an update to the game MissionX – VR Laser Tag. A frenetic multiplayer VR arena platform offering 3 game modes, such as capture the flag and deathmatch, across a series of unique maps. The system can accommodate up to 10 players, with the developer running 8 headsets in a game at one time as part of their tournament competition.
MissionX – VR Laser Tag. Image credit: Holomia
The developers have the game running on the Oculus Quest 2, with the developer currently using SideQuest to provide a download, offering commercial use license for VR arcades. The use of SideQuest hoping to negate the need to abide by the Oculus for Business restrictions on commercial entertainment usage, of this kind. But in a move to break into the Western market the company is working to release their platform in partnership with SynthesisVR – developers of a VR facility management and content distribution platform.
Speaking of VR arcade content delivery and support, and one of the largest of these operations had an announcement of their own. SpringboardVR, the leading VR venue management and distribution platform currently, serving some 500 venues with over 400 pieces of VR content; revealed that they had been acquired by Vertigo Games, famous for their multi-platform VR development and publishing with VR titles such as Arizona Sunshine.
Vertigo Games was recently acquired themselves by Koch Media GmbH Austria (a subsidiary of Embracer Group AB), and this latest move was part of the operation consolidating its position in the commercial VR entertainment landscape. Recently we reported on the work that the Vertigo Arcade LBE division of the company had achieved with their new game ‘Ghost Patrol’. In acquiring SpringboardVR, they now represent the leading providers of venue content. As well as managing the revenue operation and royalty transaction of these facilities and games.
It was announced that following the acquisition of SpringboardVR, emerging from this move is a brand new operation called ArborXR – developed as content providers to deploy enterprise VR at scale. This follows on from our report from the London education conference, BETT, in 2020 where we reported on development by the team on VR educational content in partnership with HP on their platform.
The investment into commercial (enterprise) development as eagerly attacked by many new start-ups. Where the home entertainment scene seems to be constantly incubating this immersive technology, the need for a more inclusive business model sees growing investment.
We expect to cover in the next part if this report, another series of major acquisitions and partnerships in the coming days.
In a bid to expand its global partnerships and free-roam virtual reality (VR) esports experiences, SPREE Interactive (formerly HolodeckVR) has announced a successful seed round as well as an exclusive licensing partnership with Tower Tag developer VR Nerds.
SPREE Interactive hasn’t disclosed how much the investment round generated, just that it had “successfully secured a seven-digit investment” from “two strategic investors and two financial investors.” This will enable the company to expand into two of its key client base, Family Entertainment Centers (FEC) and shopping centres.
“COVID has fueled even more demand from shopping malls which now desperately need alternate revenue streams and innovative ways to utilize the floor space especially with foot traffic fluctuating and increasing in various markets,” says Jonathan Nowak Delgado, Founder and Managing Director, SPREE Interactive in a statement
To aid this endeavour SPREE Interactive’s partnership with VR Nerds will see it distribute the mobile free-roam, VR eSports experience Tower Tag. Already available in 40 countries, Tower Tag enables players to engage in competitive, laser tag style tournaments. Locations will be able to adopt SPREE Arena, allowing up to 8 players to compete against each other in PvP battles or teamup against AI bots.
Tower Tag
SPREE Interactive’s platform is built upon patented sensor technology in combination with its own content distribution platform. All of SPREE’s locations use all-in-one headsets from Pico Interactive thanks to a global partnership. The recent Pico Neo 2 is one of the only devices to offer an alternative to the Oculus Quest.
That’s not all SPREE Interactive has planned with Delgado adding: “In order to continue to be on the forefront of the VR attractions industry, we will continue to build upon proprietary, patented sensor fusion technology, strategic partnerships and cutting edge content distribution platform as we plan our Series A round later this year.”
2020 hasn’t been an easy year for location-based entertainment (LBE) venues due to local lockdowns but there are those still preparing for a more prosperous 2021. For further updates on the industry, keep reading VRFocus.
Auch im letzten Jahr sollte der Deutsche Entwicklerpreis stattfinden, jedoch musste das Event aufgrund der Pandemie verschoben werden. Am Mittwoch um 20 Uhr wird die Vergabe der Awards jedoch digital nachgeholt.
Deutscher Entwicklerpreis 2020
Am Mittwoch um 20 Uhr startet die Verleihung des Deutschen Entwicklerpreises und wir freuen uns, dass auch unser VR-Spiel Tower Tagin diesem Jahr für den Innovationspreis, einem Sonderpreis der Stadt Köln, nominiert ist.
Damit das Event möglichst viele Zuschauer ansprechen kann, gibt es direkt mehrere Angebote, wie ihr live dabei sein könnt. Der Show-Stream wird über Rocketbeans.tv stattfinden und als Moderatoren und Moderatorinnen sind Fabian Siegismund, Lara Loft, Daniel Budiman und Valentina Birke gelistet.
Zudem wird es einen Reaction-Stream von PietSmiet, einen Dauerbrenner-Stream und einen Facebook-Stream geben. Alle Informationen zu den einzelnen Streams bekommt ihr hier.
Der Tower Tag Duo Cup geht in die letzte Runde und ihr könnt heute ab 20 Uhr die finalen Runden live bei uns auf Youtube.com sehen.
Tower Tag Duo Cup Finale live ab 20 Uhr
Bei unserem Tower Tag Duo Cup treten die besten Teams aus je zwei Spielern oder Spielerinnen gegeneinander an und kämpfen um einen Preispool von 1000 Euro. In den letzten Tagen lieferten sich die Mannschaften spannende Matches in der Gruppenphase und heute werden schließlich ab 20 Uhr die finalen Runden stattfinden, welche wir live auf Youtube übertragen und kommentieren werden.
Das Jahr hat nur noch wenige Tage übrig, welche viele Menschen dieses Jahr wohl in den eigenen vier Wänden verbringen müssen. Damit euch nicht die Decke auf den Kopf fällt, hat Steam den Winter Sale gestartet und auch unser Spiel Tower Tag ist um 50% reduziert.
Steam Winter Sale: Tower Tag um 50% reduziert
Mit Tower Tag haben wir in diesem Jahr unser eigenes VR-Spiel auf Steam gebracht, welches wir zuvor bereits einige Jahre erfolgreich in Arcades auf der ganzen Welt ausgespielt hatten. Tower Tag ist ein Multiplayer Shooter der seinen Fokus auf den Wettkampf zwischen zwei Teams mit jeweils bis zu vier Spielenden legt.
Wenn ihr uns unterstützen wollt, dann würden wir uns sehr freuen, euch auf den Servern von Tower Tag zu treffen. Da unser Spiel auf den Mehrspielermodus setzt, ist es aktuell unser wichtigstes Ziel, eine gute Basis an Spielenden aufzubauen.
Damit die Sache auch spannend bleibt, richten wir regelmäßig Turniere aus, bei denen ihr stets tolle Preise gewinnen könnt. So findet aktuell der Duo Cup in Tower Tag mit einem Preispool von 1000 Euro statt.
