Just Add Water's comedic construction simulator, DIG VR, makes its PlayStation VR2 and Steam debut this March.
In DIG VR, you become a construction god, digging up pesky dirt around the comically named Diglington in the County of Digshire. As you progress, you'll become privy to hidden lore across the city while unlocking complex machinery and crevice-creating tools like a Circular Saw, Compactor, and Grabber. On March 20th, PS VR2 and Steam players will have their chance to work through the building simulator's quirky campaign and enjoy DIG VR's handful of minigames and sandbox game mode, too.
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We enjoyed our time with DIG VR and gave it a 3.5/5-star review, describing it as “an enjoyable premise backed by a vibrant presentation, comically silly minigames, and beautifully British humor.”
DIG VR launched on Quest last November and recently received fresh content in its follow-up Winter Update. The update welcomed new cosmetics, a time trial mode, and an online leaderboard. Developer Just Add Water also introduced two new radio stations, Oceanic Beach Radio and Cultural Rhythms Radio, for players to listen to as they work.
DIG VR is available on Quest now, and it's coming to PS VR2 and SteamVR on March 20.
Steam now issues a warning to players if an early access game hasn't been updated for over a year.
While it's unclear when this specific update launched, SteamDB — a third-party database that tracks everything relating to Valve's platform — recently spotted the change on Bluesky. The exact threshold isn't confirmed but so far, the earliest inactivity warning we've seen is 12 months for Escape The Backrooms, the 2022 horror game that's since removed official VR support.
Escape The Backrooms update warning as of February 5, 2025
We've contacted Valve for further clarification about this new change, and we'll update this article if we learn more.
It's the latest development we've seen from the Steam Early Access program, which Valve began in 2013. Presently, each EA game requires developers to fill out an FAQ stating why it chose EA, how long they anticipate a game to be in EA, how the full release is planned to differ, and more. This new addition should make it easier for players to determine whether a game remains supported.
Redeeming these monthly games ensures continued access while your subscription remains active. Should you cancel your membership, previously redeemed games become accessible again if you resubscribe.
Quest+ is available on Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3, and Quest 3S.
Last month's redeemable monthly games were Dragon Fist: VR Kung Fu and Real VR Fishing. This month, February 2025, the Quest+ monthly redeemable games are Budget Cuts Ultimate and PowerWash Simulator VR.
Budget Cuts Ultimate
Budget Cuts was one of the earliest room-scale VR titles to take advantage of tracked controllers, originally released as a short demo for the HTC Vive launch back in early 2016.
In 2018 Budget Cuts saw a full release on PC VR, turning the promising demo into a 3-4 hour game. When Oculus Quest released in 2019, Budget Cuts was a top requested title for a standalone port, but there didn't seem to be much prospect of it happening - until it did.
In 2023, five years after its PC VR release, Budget Cuts Ultimate released for Quest and PlayStation VR2, bringing the title and its sequel to standalone and console VR.
We gave Budget Cuts Ultimate a "Recommended" rating when we reviewed it at launch. "Several flaws hamper this experience and you can tell this was originally conceived during a different time, though great action-stealth gameplay and good humor make Budget Cuts Ultimate worth a look".
PowerWash Simulator VR
PowerWash Simulator VR brings the viral cleaning game to Quest headsets.
In our review of PowerWash Simulator VR we called out its disappointing graphics and soundless ambience, while acknowledging that it "ports a lot of the brilliance that made the original game stand out", giving it a three star rating overall.
Last month, FuturLab announced that it would no longer be updating or supporting PowerWash Simulator VR, stating that while the studio “absolutely love and believe in VR,” the VR team was “working on a platform which costs us more than it makes.”
While Budget Cuts Ultimate and PowerWash Simulator VR are the games subscribers can redeem, Quest+ also offers a games catalog of titles that any Quest+ subscribers can play.
The Roto VR Explorer attempts to change the way you engage with VR experiences by using motorized 360-degrees spinning motion and haptic feedback. Officially listed as a Made For Meta product and priced around $800, we took the Explorer for a spin. Read on for our hands-on report.
Roto's aim with the Explorer is to entice VR gamers who crave a seated experience that's a step up from traditional swivel chairs. In the Roto Explorer, you feel the sensation of rotation provided by the chair's motor activated by an included tracking puck that is attached to the top of a headset, causing the chair to rotate itself to match the direction of your gaze. In select titles that use the Roto VR SDK, of which only one exists so far, the chair instead rotates to match the position of the virtual vehicle you're in, adding a deeper sense of realism.
The Facts
What is it? Motorized 360° spinning / haptic chair for VR Platforms: Quest (other headsets via external head tracker puck) Company: Roto VR Price: $799
Unboxing and Setup
Weighing in at a whopping seventy-five pounds, the Explorer package required some muscle and a little bit of assistance to maneuver from the porch into my setup area. Thanks to a well-organized manual and easy-to-follow video guide, after about 30 minutes of contorting myself across my living room floor, I found myself perched atop a modern-looking stool with adjustable seat height and footrest, a built-in cable management system, and onboard haptics.
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Once it was all set up I strapped on the included head tracking puck completing a full 360-degree turn was fluid and the chair is responsive to rapid direction changes. The Roto Explorer also features built-in haptics via a transducer bolted to the seat bottom, but the effect in most games is little more than repurposed bass translated into vibrations from the seat cushion. There is a Roto SDK developers can add to enhance this, but from my time in the chair the haptics are nothing like the feeling you might get in specific areas of your body from vests like bHaptics. That said, wearing one of those vests in combination with using the chair could be a thrilling experience.
What’s In the Box
Roto VR Explorer Chair Head Tracker AC Adapter Basic Cable Magazine
Specifications:
Height: 88.5 cm / 2 ft 10 in Rotating Diameter: 84 cm / 2 ft 9 in Weight: 30 kg / 66 lbs
Gameplay Testing
While I initially thought the Roto Explorer would be amazing for racing and flying games, I quickly remembered those kind of games really wouldn't be a good fit for this chair in its current state due to the fact that it currently has no form of VR motion compensation. Elliott Myers, founder at Roto VR, tells UploadVR they're working on first party motion compensation software that would allow virtual environments to react to the movements of the chair, and vice versa.
Without motion compensation in place, as you turn the wheel in a virtual car or tilt the stick of an aircraft to the side, the seat won't change its physical direction to match your new virtual direction. So games like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Assetto Corsa EVO are not better in this chair than any other, though we'll follow up if that changes.
What is a good fit for the Roto Explorer, though, are VR games with gaze-based directional movement. That means titles like Iron Man VR and SWARM 2 where you already tilt your head as part of your movement. These match up their gameplay incredibly well to the chair's effects.
Iron Man VR's gaze-based navigation seemed synced up with the rotations of the chair. Pulling off superhero maneuvers high above the ground, as I turned fluidly in the direction of my gaze, the chair amplified my sense that I was actually flying as Tony Stark freshly suited up in a Mark V flying freely through the skies.
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Switching to SWARM and SWARM 2, I navigated their familiar and chaotic worlds in ways I never had. Swinging and flying across the maps provided a visceral intensity. The chair's responsiveness kept pace with my rapid head movements, and the tracking felt solid. The rotating chair turned this game I had played so many times into something a bit different, helping me become more fully immersed.
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Testing FPS and action titles felt a bit odd at first. I've played a lot of VR shooters from the comfort of my regular office chair over the years, but feeling the seat rotate as I turned my head took some getting used. After a few minutes though, I started to see the utility in having this chair as a gameplay enhancement in these titles. You can turn pretty quickly to face on an oncoming enemy and this was a cool feeling, although not as much a game changer as the sensations you get in titles with flying or swinging involved.
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The last game I tested, and currently the one and only native game to use the Roto SDK, was Dig VR. Hopefully we'll see more developers incorporating the Roto VR SDK into games where use of the chair would feel appropriate. At the time of this writing, if you buy a Roto VR Explorer, Dig VR is the only natively working game available.
Motorized Swivel VR?
The spinning mechanism and haptic feedback of the Roto VR Explorer does provide a more immersive gaming experience for certain titles, adding an exhilarating layer of physical sensations to VR gameplay. It’s also relatively quiet during operation, provided the rumble feature is turned off, which is a plus for late-night gaming sessions in family households or apartment buildings where you don’t want to disturb the neighbors. For such an expensive chair, though, the comfort could be much better. I'm 5'11" and weigh around 260 pounds, and found the rounded stool-like seat and chair's low back were too small and stiff for my body type. After about 20-30 minutes in the chair my hip and back started to hurt. This aching made me want to stop playing, which is not typical for seated VR sessions where I would normally spend several hours playing.
The footguard is also not permanently attached and, during some of my game testing sessions, my feet would brush against it, causing the loosely fitting plastic shell to shift out of place. This triggers a very shrill alarm, creating a jarring distraction during intense moments of gameplay. The alarm is so loud that the sound has been the subject of a few complaints from my family members. I hope in the future Roto VR provides a way to either turn this volume down or, even better, just disable the alarm altogether.
Comfort Enhancements On The Way
While at CES this year I tried comfort and quality of life upgrades on the way from Roto VR. The demo at the booth featured a full seat back and various controller attachments that look to make the experience more comfortable and functional. While there, I also talked to Steve Corrigan from Roto VR about the company's latest efforts.
We've opted to publish this hardware analysis as a hands-on breakdown rather than a formal review because, while we think this is interesting for our readers to know about, Roto VR needs to gain more native support from developers and offer solid motion compensation for traditional simulator style games to warrant serious consideration. We'll revisit this hardware for a full review in the future once we have had a chance to test out the comfort enhancements and if the company should see broader developer support.
Overall, the Roto VR Explorer chair does deliver an innovative approach to seated VR and one that enhances the immersive qualities of certain games. My time spent playing games like Iron Man VR and SWARM 2 was exhilarating, but reconciling these standout experiences with the chair's cost isn't going to work out right now for the vast majority of VR owners.
While I enjoyed my time using the Roto VR Explorer, I can't justify replacing my regular and very comfortable swivel chair. A seat that turns you in VR is an interesting idea, but with only one game officially supported, no motion compensation, comfort issues for plus-sized players out of the box and an entry price of $800, there's a long way to go before Roto is ready to change the way most people enjoy seated VR.
DIVR Labs' VR rails shooter Aim Assault is debuting a demo on February 13 for PC VR.
Developed by DIVR Labs, Aim Assault is a VR homage to the rail shooters of arcades past. Set across a series of high-octane combat levels, players are tasked with tinkering and perfecting their gunplay style as a complex barrage of enemy fighters seeks to take them out. The studio recently released gameplay demo footage, which you can see below.
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“VR gave us a rare opportunity to recreate the arcade shooters we all loved as kids in a new way,” explained Aim Assault Game Director Jakub Kucera via the Steam Page. “Because of VR, we have new tools to immerse players even more into a game full of action.”
According to the Steam Page, Aim Assist also features a global leaderboard with multiple loadout and difficulty options to choose between when competing for high scores. Players can pick to dual-wield or single-wield their guns, as well as toggle on and off their crosshairs. Aim assist is not supported, reloading is done by pointing your gun to the ground, while shooting medkits increases your health.
The free demo will focus on the first level of Aim Assault’s campaign, allowing players to experience high-octane bullet dodging first-hand. This comes ahead of the full release, and the release date is currently unconfirmed.
Boxed Out, a color matching VR puzzle game, is heading for Quest next month.
Developed by Red Chain Games, who are also handling upcoming VR aerial combat game Supersonic Fight, the game initially launched in 2017 for PC VR before reaching PlayStation VR in 2021. Previously titled Boxed In, it's been renamed 'Boxed Out' on Meta Quest to avoid clashing with a different game of the same name. Here's the announcement trailer.
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Red Chain Games describes the title as a fast-paced game where players are trapped in a room filled with continuously multiplying boxes. Using a device known as the BlockOTron™ 3000, this allows you to change the box colors and matching up the same colored blocks causes them to explode, while the pace gradually increases.
Promising a soundtrack ranging from EDM to Saturday Morning Cartoons, Boxed Out also includes four themes at launch: Original, Pastel, Code, and Soft Play. In a press release, the studio confirms more themes will arrive over the next 12 months. The trailer also highlights a hidden jetpack minigame inspired by Pilotwings, where players fly through rings across a tropical island.
Boxed Out arrives on March 24 for the Meta Quest platform.
Project Aeroes, a mixed reality game where you guide spaceships, is free for a limited time on Quest 3.
Developed by SUPER HYPER MEGA (Noun Town series), Project Aeroes is a single-player roomscale sci-fi game where you guide spaceships to safety. This involves avoiding dangers like meteor showers and neutrino blasts, taking advantage of abilities like slowing down time to make it through. Originally targeting a December 12 launch, it's now launching today and here's the previous trailer from the UploadVR Winter Showcase 2024 here.
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SUPER HYPER MEGA states more playtime increases the chance of finding rare AEROES, while credits earned during gameplay can deliver upgrades like increased safety. There's also a challenge mode that grades you for unique performances, the game's difficulty will increase as you progress through new waves, while landing “lore” ships details more about this world.
While the base game would normally cost $9.99, the studio is initially making this a free download you can keep “for 30 days only.” Five separate DLC packs with three new ships and a music track each are available for $4 individually or $10 as a bundle. A golden hangar bundle is also available for $100, which includes the above and replaces the default hangar. Multiplayer support is also promised in future updates.
Project Aeroes is out now for the Meta Quest 3 family, and it's for free to download on the Quest Store until March 5.
Owlchemy Labs permanently reduced the price for Vacation Simulator and Cosmonious High, though PlayStation owners will need to wait.
Previously priced at $29.99 each, Owlchemy Labs confirmed that Vacation Simulator and Cosmonious High are now available permanently at $19.99 on Quest, Steam, Pico, and Apple. While Job Simulator didn't receive a similar reduction, Owlchemy's original hit was already priced at $19.99 across its supported platforms.
We can't lower the cost of eggs, but we can do the next best thing...
Vacation Simulator and Cosmonious High are now PERMANENTLY $19.99 on Meta, Steam, Pico, and Apple (VS Only).
p.s. PlayStation, you're changing soon too, promise
Presently, only the PlayStation versions of both games haven't received price reductions, though Owlchemy confirms those changes are coming “soon.” That said, anyone who subscribes to PlayStation Plus premium can currently access Vacation Simulator and Job Simulator through Sony's Game Catalog.
Since their respective launches, both games have received notable post-launch support over the years. Vacation Simulator later introduced hand-tracking support, the 'Back to Job' DLC, Quest 3 enhancements, and eventually sold one million units after being ported to Pico and PlayStation VR2. An Android XR port is next, following last year's Apple Vision Pro launch.
As for Cosmonious High, Owlchemy's alien high school adventure added accessibility improvements, with the first update delivering a one-handed mode, iconography changes and additional options for seated play. The following year's Vision Accessibility Update introduced a new assist button that provides audio descriptions for the environments, objects and more.
Over 1 million players have now unlocked the first achievement of the Quest 3 & 3S exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow.
French YouTuber QuestWithMatt has been tracking how many people have unlocked the achievement, which typically happens within the first 5 to 10 minutes of gameplay, for months now. Before Christmas that figure stood at less than 400,000, and as of today it has crossed 1 million.
Batman: Arkham Shadow comes free with every Quest 3S headset purchase, and every new Quest 3 since Meta Connect 2024, which took place at the end of September. For previous Quest 3 buyers the game is priced at $50.'
The game does not support Quest 2, because it was developed by Meta-owned studio that used the improved GPU power of the new headsets to deliver a graphical experience beyond what would have been performant on Quest 2, including crisp dynamic shadows. That means all the players in the graph above are from Meta's current generation headsets only.
The chart shows the effect of Christmas on Quest 3S and Quest 3 sales, with a sharp uptick visible. The Meta Horizon app needed to set up Quest headsets was also the #1 free iPhone app on Christmas Day 2024, and Quest 3S was the highest selling console on Amazon US in 2024.
It's unclear how many Quest 3S owners actually redeemed, installed, and played Batman: Arkham Shadow, so 1 million represents an absolute minimum for unit sales, not a direct estimate.
Meanwhile, the number of people who have unlocked the achievement gained for completing the First Encounters mixed reality experience, which launches if you agree to scan a 3D mesh of your room during the headset's setup process, passed 2 million earlier this month. First Encounters is also only available on Quest 3 and Quest 3S, as previous Meta headsets aren't capable of scanning a 3D scene mesh.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.55 Adds A New Formula 1-Inspired Car On PS VR2
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Gran Turismo 7 continues delivering new monthly updates, and version 1.55 is now available on PlayStation VR2 with four new cars — the Formula 1-inspired Gran Turismo F3500-A, Honda Civic Si Extra (EF) ’87, Hyundai IONIQ 5 N ‘24, and Toyota C-HR S ’18. A new Café menu, three new World Circuits events, and a Chromatic Drive Curation in Scapes were also added.
VRAL Games Acquires 30% Stake In Exoshock Studio Polarity One
VR publisher VRAL Games acquired a 30% stake in Polarity One, a development studio currently working on sci-fi VR shooter Exoshock. Inspired by Halo, Doom, and Gears of War, the upcoming game promises a grimdark universe filled with “corporate intrigue and galactic conflict.” That arrives later this year, and the official website states early access is “coming soon.”
VR Games Showcase Returns Once More This March
Following its inaugural showcase and indie-focused follow up last year, the VR Games Showcase has announced it’s returning this March. Little is currently known about what to expect beyond the next showcase offering “our biggest line-up yet,” though the first presentation included over 15 games across Quest, PC VR, and PlayStation VR2.
Arken Age Introduces New Map System In Latest Update
Arken Age, a VR sci-fi adventure recently launched by VitruviusVR, added a new map system in this latest update. This allows you to track main objectives, side quests and machinery locations through the in-game map, while Version 1.005.00 also delivered a raft of bug fixes.
Infinite Inside Developer Maze Theory Is Now An Independent Studio
Maze Theory, best known for Infinite Inside and Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom, is now an independent company. Splitting from Saltwater Games, the studio confirmed in a press release it's working on four ongoing projects: The Lost Depths DLC for Infinite Inside, an Ancient Dungeon multiplayer update on PlayStation VR2, parkour game Freerunner in early access, and an unannounced title set to launch at the end of 2025.
Other Updates
Here's a quick rundown of everything else we've seen these last two weeks.
Henry Stockdale
