“I would be very excited about Unplugged, if I knew what was going to happen.”
That’s what Anotherway director and Unplugged creator Ricardo Acosta told us in a snippet from our upcoming feature piece detailing the story of Unplugged’s development.
When I asked about Unplugged’s short and long-term future, Acosta revealed few specifics but teased a lot to come. Hot off the reveal of the Pantera DLC pack at the Upload VR Showcase, Ricardo hinted at more releases in the future. “We are working to add more music all the time. We want to add free music [as well], not just DLC. Also, I want to add more indie music because I think that there is a lot of really good indie music out there.”
In the short term, Unplugged will soon receive an accessibility update, adding features that will allow more players to enjoy the game, such as settings to help distinguish notes easier for color blind players. There’s also “another thing” coming in that update, but Acosta kept his lips sealed, only teasing that it’s “really big.” The title is published by Vertigo Games and stands as a stellar example of what’s possible with gameplay tuned for hand tracking input, with big plans over the long term.
“I cannot talk too much about it because Vertigo will kill me, but our plans are very big,” he said. “Unplugged is going to become bigger, at least in terms of features…I would be very excited about Unplugged if I knew what’s going to happen. Probably like in a year, Unplugged will be very different. It will have way more stuff. That’s it. That’s all I can say.”
What are you hoping comes to Unplugged in the next year? Let us know in the comments and keep an eye out for our full feature and video interview with Acosta this weekend.
As first reported by Video Games Chronicle, the Liverpool-based studio Firesprite is moving to a much larger office, likely indicating some form of expansion.
According to Invest Liverpool, Firesprite and Sony signed a 10-year lease on the new office, located in the Ropewalks district of Liverpool. The new office covers 50,000 square feet – a significant upgrade over the studio’s current office space, which covers just 2,519 square feet.
Given the huge upgrade in space, this could signal that Firesprite is gearing up for expansion and potentially taking on more projects in the near future. Sony looks likely to launch PSVR 2 in 2023, and while we don’t have a confirmed release date for Horizon: Call of the Mountain, it could be a launch title.
Regardless of its final release date, Horizon is likely in the latter sections of development. We recently got our best look at the game yet, featuring a full story campaign and a separate river ride experience. With all that in mind, it will be interesting to see what direction Firesprite heads in after Horizon.
We now know that the headset will also be receiving VR support for Resident Evil 8, alongside ‘VR content’ for the upcoming Resident Evil 4 port, as well as a handful of multi-platform releases. You can read about every confirmed and rumored PSVR 2 title here.
If you’re worried you won’t have enough players, don’t stress – there’s now a in-game matchmaking system for dungeons and raids. You can queue alone or as part of a party, with the remaining spots automatically filled by other players before you start.
There’s also new overworld dungeons, 20 new quests, new armor sets, and quests involving brand new weapons as well. We’ve only really scratched the surface here – there’s a bunch of fixed issues, balanced changes, minor additions, feature updates and new content and systems – you can read the full breakdown here.
Mothergunship: Forge is available for Quest 2 and PC VR headsets via Steam.
The game is a roguelike first-person VR shooter, and all-new spin-off and re-imagining of the 2018 PC title Mothergunship. The basic premise sees you fight off hordes of enemies in wave shooter style, but with the ability to craft ridiculous combinations of weaponry using connectors on your wrists.
The roguelike element means that you’ll reset each time you die, building new and interesting combos of weapons across every run.
When we went hands-on with the game back in March, Jamie came away quite impressed. While initially skeptical of another VR wave shooter, he noted that it was some of the most fun he’s had in that genre and that the VR adaptation isn’t just a tired rehash of the original.
The game appears to have the right mix of variety and structure to pull you through the wave shooter progression. It’s as much a rogue-lite as it is a wave shooter. Every time you enter a room in Mothergunship: Forge you’ll first clear out its enemies, collect a reward and then choose between two or three doors depending on what type of reward you want next. It might be a new gun part, weapon upgrade or currency for the in-run shop. When you die, crystals you’ve collected during your run will stack to afford you more permanent upgrades and help you progress further.
Supernatural is launching a new series of workouts themed around music from a new artist each month, starting with Katy Perry this June.
The Katy Perry series begins on June 27 and will include two separate workouts, one centered around boxing and the other around cardio with squats, twists and lunges. The workouts, each roughly 20 minutes in length, are led by Coach Leanne Pedante and Coach Raneir Pollard and will be set to a curated playlist of Perry’s hits.
The boxing playlist includes Hot N Cold, Smile, I Kissed A Girl, When I’m Gone, The One That Got Away and Roar — you can listen to the selection here on Spotify. The cardio/flow playlist includes When I’m Gone, Teenage Dream, Dark Horse, E.T., California Gurls and Unconditionally — Spotify playlist here.
The Katy Perry series is just the beginning — Supernatural will feature a new artist each month for the rest of the year with curated workouts led by coaches and set to the music of said artist.
July will feature Imagine Dragons, August will be The Weeknd and September will bring Swedish House Mafia into the fold. The year will be rounded out with Kid Cudi in October, Coldplay in November and Lady Gaga in December. Overall, it’s an impressive selection of music and highlights the depth of Supernatural’s music catalog.
Around a year ago, we spoke with Supernatural Head of Fitness and Coach Leanne Pedante about exercise in VR and her experience with Supernatural — you can check that out here.
The Katy Perry series is available from June 27 for Supernatural.
As revealed in our Upload VR Showcase, Cosmonious High’s accessibility update is available now, adding loads of new options to create an accessible experience for as many players as possible.
One of the biggest additions is one-handed mode, which means the entire game can be played with one hand from start to finish. This will kick in when the game automatically detects that the player is using just a single controller.
There’s also now more options for seated play — every table and workstation now has a handle so that the height can be easily adjusted, plus all animations and interactions will now work at any height.
Object interactions have also been improved, making some items easier to grab overall, plus tutorials have been adjusted to kick in if the player hasn’t played in a while or if the game detects that the player isn’t using certain powers.
Iconography has been changed across the game as well, so that more icons “effectively communicate complex instructions at a glance without having to read lots of text.”
In addition to accessibility updates, a few additions for localization and inclusivity have been made as well. The pronouns for each character in the game are now more clearly displayed, plus there’s now a “small human mode” switch at the registration desk and in the player’s backpack.
Developed by Mixed Realms and published by Vertigo Games, this gory VR combat game is now confirmed for release on Quest 2, along with PC VR, next year. More details here.
Releasing for Quest 2 and PC VR, equip two baseball bats and do absolutely anything besides play a game of baseball later this year. More details here.
Midway through the Showcase, our friend Greg Miller from Kinda Funny delivered us some news relating to updates for Cities VR, Virutoso, The Patcher, Into the Radius and Demeo. You can watch that segment here.
UploadVR Correspondents Alex and Skeeva also ran through a brief look at some upcoming indie VR titles, including Orbital Strike, Wands Alliances, Next Player Please, Tin Hearts, Eolia and Requisition VR. You can watch that segment here.
Propagation: Paradise Hotel is now confirmed for release on Meta Quest 2 later this year.
This game is sequel to VR horror game, Propagation VR, developed by Wanadev, the studio behind rhythm game Ragnarok. While Paradise Hotel was announced last December and we got our first look at gameplay a few weeks ago, we had yet to hear any confirmed platforms besides the vague indication of “all major VR platforms.”
Propagation: Paradise Hotel Coming To Quest 2
However, in a developer Q&A that debuted today in our Upload VR Showcase, Wanadev confirmed a Quest 2 release for Paradise Hotel, without mentioning any other specific platforms just yet.
They also answered some more questions submitted by fans, revealing a bit more about the game. In terms of weapons, options will be limited. “We really want the handling of objects to be the heart of the gameplay. Among these objects, there will be weapons of course, but ones that we have carefully selected and that will be in a limited number – a gun and a shotgun. But anyway, running away or hiding may sometimes be wiser.”
Likewise, a question about boss encounters was answered with a coy wink, while co-op multiplayer support was also ruled out of the equation. “To focus on the universe, the story, the progress and the control of the events, we decided to develop this game as a solo experience. You will only count on yourself to get out of Paradise Hotel.”
You can check out the full Q&A in the video embedded above. Will you be checking in to Paradise Hotel later this year? Let us know what you think in the comments.
A new trailer for Ragnarock’s Hellfest Raid debuted today at our Upload VR Showcase, confirming that the DLC pack is now available across all platforms.
Announced early last month, the Hellfest Raid is a new pack of DLC songs for VR rhythm game Ragnarock and a collaboration with one of the world’s biggest heavy metal festivals. The Hellfest Summer Open Air festival takes place annually in France, and now you’ll be able to bring a little piece of this year’s festival into VR.
Ragnarock Hellfest Raid DLC Pack Available Now
When the collaboration was announced, we knew that some of the artists from this year’s lineup would be featured in the DLC and speculated on who they might be. As confirmed in the trailer above, artists such as The Offspring, Dragonforce, Nightwish, Gojira and more will be included.
There’s also a sick new Hellfest environment to play in, which will you see you play your way to the main stage and crowd surf across hundreds of heavy metal fans. The DLC is available right now on both PC VR (Steam, Viveport) and Meta Quest.
It’s not the only heavy metal announcement from our Upload VR Showcase either — we also debuted a trailer for the next Unplugged DLC pack. It features the legendary metal band Pantera, and guess what? It’s also available right now. What a day for heavy metal and VR fans.
Will you be rocking out on the virtual Hellfest main stage in Ragnarock? Let us know in the comments below.
Sony Pictures Virtual Reality announced a new location-based Ghostbusters VR experience developed by Hologate for its Arena and Blitz platforms around the world.
It’s called Ghostbusters VR Academy and it will launch across 400 venues across the rest of this year, available as two separate experiences.
The experience is described as a “fully immersive training simulator broken up into two distinct games, set in the world of Ghostbusters.” As you can see in the concept art above, Hologate’s location-based VR offering involves one standing, roomscale-like experience (Arena) and a second VR driving simulator apparatus (Blitz), also pictured below.
For Ghostbusters VR Academy, the Arena section will let players “strap on their proton packs and work together as a team in high-risk ghost encounter scenarios.” For the Blitz section, players can use the driving apparatus to get behind the wheel of a new prototype flying ECTO vehicle. You’ll pilot the vehicle through the Ghostbusters universe alongside other players and “compete to see who is the fastest, most skillful driver in a high-speed ghostly race.”
Sony Pictures Virtual Reality will publish the experience across the 400 venues globally where Hologate experiences are available. That includes venues in 38 countries, including many across the United States and others in Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and New Zealand.
Ghostbusters VR Academy is a different experience entirely to the recently-announced Ghostbusters VR game coming to Quest 2. That title is being handled by Fracked and Phantom developer nDreams, with both co-op and single player modes. You can read more about that game here.
