There’s also no release date for the Quest 2 version of the game either, but we do know that it will be a Quest 2 exclusive at launch. The game was announced at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase in April, which featured a line-up of games that were all said to release within a year of the showcase airing. At the latest then (and presuming no delays) Ghostbusters VR would be set for April 2023, with a PSVR 2 release sometime after that.
So far, details on the game are scarce. We know that it will feature both single and multiplayer modes with cooperative gameplay, but little else. You can view the first trailer embedded above, but bear in mind that it’s a cinematic trailer rendered in the game’s engine — it isn’t actual 1:1 gameplay footage.
Today also marks the anniversary of the original Ghostbusters film, released in 1984. The PSVR 2 release isn’t the only piece of VR news announced today for Ghostbusters fans either. Sony Pictures Virtual Reality also announced a new location-based VR experience called Ghostbusters VR Academy. This will let up to 4 players don proton packs and pilot a flying ECTO vehicle at over 400 locations worldwide — more info here.
Just a few weeks ago Zero Latency announced some upgrades which include ditching the heavy backpacks and opting for a new system that wirelessly streams content to headsets from on-site PCs. After a demo at the company’s Docklands location in Melbourne, I can see the appeal.
I’ve tried Zero Latency twice before, and while both times were enjoyable, there were limitations with the tracking capabilities and comfort options for each player. It was a good location-based experience but it also wasn’t perfect.
New and existing venues, however, will now move to a new system. The heavy backpack PC and HP Reverb combination is being phased out in favor of a new solution where players are fitted with a standalone headset — a HTC Vive Focus 3 — and a gun peripheral. All of the content is now rendered by on-site PCs streaming wirelessly to each player’s headset. It supports up to eight players per session and uses cutting edge Wi-Fi 6E technology.
Wi-Fi 6E, which uses a higher frequency 6GHz band, is so new that it hasn’t even been approved by most national regulators yet. Australia is one of the first countries to do so, which has allowed Zero Latency to set up its new Docklands venue in Melbourne as the first with the wireless system.
Getting rid of heavy backpack PCs provides a smoother experience for both staff and players, while also significantly cutting down on the pre-session briefing and setup time. During the sessions, players are more free than ever and much less restricted in movement without the backpack and its associated straps and cords. Everything feels much more seamless and accessible.
From a technology perspective, I was worried that the new system might fall victim to unreliability and high latency — two well-known pressure points for wirelessly streaming VR content. However, coming out of a demo last week, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and reliable everything was. For the overwhelming majority of my near-45 minute playtime, I experienced little-to-no hiccups in terms of streaming performance — just two very brief freeze frames lasting barely a second. Otherwise, the headset fed me reliable, high-quality visuals that remained steady throughout. The tracking was also noticeably improved and seemed less glitchy than my previous Zero Latency sessions a few years ago.
That being said, it’s still not completely matched to locally-rendered VR on a Quest 2 or a wired PC VR system. Experienced VR users will likely notice a tiny amount of latency, most prominent when physically moving around the play space. It’s more noticeable than Oculus Link, for example, but I didn’t find it detrimental to the experience in any way. Importantly, it was never enough to make me feel uncomfortable or nauseated. Likewise, those with a keen eye might also notice that the image quality is very good, but still compressed for streaming performance — again, a minor nitpick.
It’s unlikely most players would be bothered by — or even notice — these differences and they feel like acceptable trade-offs for the overall improvements in every other area. This was my most comfortable, reliable and enjoyable session at Zero Latency yet, by quite a long shot.
The move to the HTC Vive Focus 3, pictured above, is also a huge upgrade. I found it to be the most comfortable headset offered by Zero Latency yet, while also significantly easier to fit and adjust to my liking. Best of all, there’s an IPD dial on the bottom of the headset, allowing you to easily and precisely adjust the lens distance at any time — a crucial option to avoid nausea and increase comfort.
While the Docklands location in Melbourne is the first to get the new technology, the plan is to roll it out across all new venues and upgrade existing ones as soon as possible. Speaking with Zero Latency CTO Scott Vandonkelaar after my demo, he told me that one of the bigger roll-out hurdles is simply waiting on Wi-Fi 6E certification in other countries.
That being said, once that comes through, the new system should be cheaper and quicker to set up than any other Zero Latency system so far — the setup time for Docklands was just one day, down from several days or even weeks with previous systems.
While the current plan is to continue using on-site PCs for rendering, Vandonkelaar also told me that they’ve experimented with remote cloud rendering in certain areas. That comes with some expected trade-offs — an increase in latency and decrease in bitrate — but Zero Latency says preliminary testing has found those numbers still within an acceptable range. It would likely be decided on a case-by-case basis according to location, but Vandonkelaar says it could become a viable option in the future.
It will be interesting to see how Zero Latency develops its content offerings for this new generation of location-based VR. At Docklands, I tried Zombie Arena, a experience developed in-house, and part of Far Cry VR, brought to Zero Latency in partnership with Ubisoft and developed by nDreams. While the former was still quite enjoyable, it was the latter that was more visually impressive and likely more compelling to casual audiences.
While Vandonkelaarwas remained tight-lipped, he hinted that more content partnerships might already be in the works. Popular properties like Star Wars and Avengers helped draw people to The Void locations pre-pandemic, so we’ll be watching to see if Zero Latency is able to bring a similar level of new content to its locations with this new setup.
The content will be related to the recent Apple TV+ show Prehistoric Planet, which debuted on the streaming service last month with Favreau as showrunner and David Attenborough as the narrator.
The report contains few other details on the nature of the Prehistoric Planet content for Apple’s headset, except that Favreau is “working to bring that show’s dinosaurs to life on the headset.” That being said, some kind of 3D immersive experience seems likely.
Favreau is an acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker, director and actor. His directing credits include Elf (2003), Iron Man (2008), Chef (2014) and The Jungle Book (2016), as well as most recently working on popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian for Disney+. He also been heavily involved in various capacities with Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
“[We] created this multiplayer VR filmmaking game where all the crew put on headsets and they were able to walk around and look around the Pride Lands and watch the animated performances and set cameras inside VR,” he told Jimmy Kimmel in 2019. “So it felt like we were making a live action film inside virtual reality.”
Speaking to UploadVR in 2016 about Gnomes & Goblins, Favreau said he wasn’t sure if he could see himself spending the majority of his time as a director working in an immersive medium. Nonetheless, it’s clear virtual and mixed reality has kept his interest since then.
According to industry analysts and publications, Apple’s mixed reality headset is set to be revealed either this year or early next, for a release in 2023.
Stride will leave Early Access on Steam on June 9 with the game’s full release update, adding multiplayer modes and more single player content.
It was just last week that we learned that Stride’s multiplayer update would arrive on Quest and SteamVR this month, but now we have a release date and many new details.
Joy Way also confirmed that multiplayer is only coming to the Steam and Meta Quest stores, with cross-platform play — Viveport and PSVR multiplayer support is currently not planned.
Stride’s Multiplayer will launch with 2 game modes, 4 maps, a player hub, matchmaking and social features (voice chat, player customization, etc.). The first game mode is ‘Horde’, which is a variation of tag:
In this mode, players take on the role of zombies or non-infected survivors. Survivors must avoid being touched by infected zombie players, while zombies must infect as many survivors as possible within the allotted time.
The second multiplayer mode ‘King of the Hill’, featured in the video embedded above, will see players “grab a crown and wear it longer than other players to win.”
Joy Way says it is working on further updates to multiplayer, featuring new modes, maps, private lobbies and more.
In terms of single player content, the full release patch will include a “major content update”, with more details to come closer to release. However, Joy Way teased that “hardcore and casual players, as well as fans of VR fitness, will definitely like it.”
Stride will continue to be updated post-full release, including work on single player story content, however, Joy Way says its “main focus for the near future will be on the multiplayer.”
Stride’s full release update launches June 9 for SteamVR and Meta Quest platforms.
— Walkabout Mini Golf VR (@WalkaboutMG) June 2, 2022
El Dorado is the 12th course available in the game and the latest installment in the Lost Cities series of DLC maps released over the last few months.
Here’s a description of the new El Dorado map from Mighty Coconut:
In the highland jungles of South America lies the mythical city of gold: El Dorado. Putt your way through the ruins of an ancient civilization in the search for lost treasures, lost balls, putters, and just maybe the perfect game of Walkabout Mini Golf.
Mighty Coconut is currently targeting a release of one new map per month. Previous releases include the Gardens of Babylon and Shangri-La maps, as part of Lost Cities, and the Sweetopia course filled with sugary goodness.
Walkabout also received a free update in April adding a new welcome island that essentially acts as a re-imagined and interactive main menu area.
While not a huge surprise, the upcoming follow-up to the 2020 title will release on PSVR 2 alongside PC VR and Quest 2 platforms. The announcement was made during Sony’s State of Play presentation, accompanied by a new trailer, showcasing more footage and including a better look at the new chainsaw weapon.
While we still don’t have a release date for PSVR 2 itself, the trailer that aired during the State of Play presentation listed a 2022 release date for Saints & Sinners Chapter 2. We know that the game is set for a 2022 release on Quest 2 and PC VR, but it’s currently unclear whether PSVR 2 will launch by the end of this year or be pushed into 2023. Given reports of delays, the latter is looking increasingly likely.
HTC’s compact VR headset, Vive Flow, launched late last year targeting a different kind of VR user. The company says that feedback since launch has consistently been around two features, both of which it plans to address.
Vive Flow is a compact VR headset targeting casual VR users who want a portable headset for relaxation and productivity. Out of the gate the product got high marks for its diminutive size, but HTC says there were two common themes in the post-launch feedback: a lack of support for iPhone and two-handed input.
Speaking during this week’s AWE 2022, Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin tells Road to VR that both points are in active development and the company expects to have details to share soon.
Vive Flow isn’t a fully standalone headset; it must be plugged into a smartphone for both battery and input. But not just any smartphone… only Android devices have been supported since launch. For the huge number of iPhone users out there, that makes the device a non-starter, even if Flow’s unique ‘causal’ approach to VR is appealing.
Graylin said Vive Flow support for iPhone is on the way, though it may not offer the full set of capabilities that are possible when used with Android.
A big part of Vive Flow’s appeal is being able to cast flat apps from your phone into the headset, making the headset a simple personal theater for watching content on Netflix, YouTube, and the like. But if we had to guess, we’d say this capability could be limited when the headset is used with an iOS device, given Apple’s more restrictive approach to interoperability.
Image courtesy HTCViv
As mentioned, Vive Flow also uses the attached phone for input—both as a laser pointer and touchscreen input. But the single-handed and 3DOF nature of the ‘phone-as-a-controller’ leaves something to be desired. Graylin said that some form of two-handed input is in the works.
Two-handed input would not only make users feel a bit more capable in the headset, but could also open up more possibilities for different apps to work on the headset without being reworked for a single controller modality.
There’s a good chance the two-handed input will come in the form of hand-tracking—which HTC has supported on other headsets previously—but it’s possible the company might also surprise us by adding some kind of controller accessory to the headset. However, given the headset’s intention as a simple and portable device, hand-tracking seems to make the most sense.
Meta is still pretty camera-shy when it comes to showing off Project Cambria, the company’s upcoming high-end VR headset which offers AR passthrough. It’s been intentionally blurred for its few on-screen demos, however now we may have just gotten a look under the hood.
YouTuber and tech analyst Brad Lynch (SadlyItsBradley) released a number of images in a post on his Patreon page which appear to be CAD files of Project Cambria.
Lynch previously released a render of an alleged production version of Cambria back in April, however he says some of those details were misinterpreted. With the leaked files, Lynch says there’s a few key items he’s noticed that are included in the upcoming headset that weren’t previously apparent.
“You may notice a wire on the right side of the device. In one of the pictures its sorta coiled/curved. This is the power delivery wire that connects the battery in the back of the head strap to the HMD up front. It seems that when you adjust the strap to the ‘closest point,’ it will coil automatically. And stretch to be straight when you adjust the opposite way,” Lynch says in the Patreon post.
Image courtesy Brad Lynch
Lynch notes that on the headset’s left side, a clip attached to the headstrap may be for the USB-C cable that is allegedly bundled with the device.
“This is very similar to how most PC VR HMDs include a plastic clip to run a tether around comfortable their devices. I am shocked they are including this, since I figured they would push the Oculus Air Link method rather than the Oculus (wired) Link method but there it is. Especially from the fact this device is almost certain to include Wifi-6E.”
In the image above you can also make out the adjustment knob for the headset’s strap.
Image courtesy Brad Lynch
Lynch also posits that a knob on the front of the headset is to dial-in lens distance from the face, or similar to how the comfort dial works on Valve Index.
He also alleges the IPD mechanism is set by “grabbing the lenses themselves and moving them,” as opposed to dialing them in with some sort of wheel mechanism. Unlike Quest 2, Lynch says it offers smooth adjustments between interpupillary distance (IPD) sizes for more precise user comfort.
Image courtesy Brad Lynch
And what sets Cambria apart from other headsets: Lynch alleges it has two “glacier” cameras on the front left and right, and one “teton” high resolution RGB Camera in the center, the latter of which is used to colorize the monochrome stereo glacier sensors.
Image courtesy Brad Lynch
A supposed infrared (IR) projector is also there—a small square sitting just above the centrally located RGB sensor—which is said to provide additional depth data for environmental mapping.
Lynch has spent considerable time over the past few months datamining with fellow VR cohorts Basti564 and Samulia to track down rumors and info. Although Lynch doesn’t reveal where this info came from, he maintains its a “large leak.”
Lynch has also included a prediction of specs based on those files and other obtained info. It’s said to feature:
2,160 x 2,160 MiniLED Backlit LCD Panels (2)
Custom Pancake Lenses (2)
16MP Color Camera for Color Passthrough
Eye + Face Tracking (IR Camera based)
Qualcomm XR2+ Gen 1 SoC
12GB LPDDR5 RAM
256GB SSD
WiFi 6E Support
~5000 mAh battery
There’s still no precise launch information yet for Project Cambria, although Meta has gone one record saying it’s slated to be “significantly higher” than $800, making it targeted more squarely at developers and enthusiasts.
Pimax today announced the Pimax Crystal, a new headset that’s broadly similar to the company’s upcoming Pimax “12K” QLED headset, but with a few features pared back and a reduced price. Though the price is lower at $1,900, it still puts the headset well into the ‘ultra-enthusiast’ category, positioning it as a direct competitor to Varjo’s Aero headset.
Pimax Crystal has many of the same ambitious features: standalone processing with PC compatibility, eye-tracking, ultra-high resolution, support for a WiGig wireless module, high refresh rate, inside-out tracking, and more. What sets it apart from its more expensive sibling is a somewhat lower resolution and a lower field-of-view.
While the $2,400 Pimax “12K” QLED aims for an ultra-high resolution and an ultra-wide 240° diagonal field-of-view, Pimax Crystal lowers both, but claims to maintain a very high 42PPD with a 120° diagonal field-of-view, or 35PPD with a 140° field-of-view—the choice is up to the user, thanks to interchangeable lenses, one of the headset’s unique features.
Image courtesy Pimax
Priced at $1,900, the Pimax Crystal appears to be looking to compete directly with Varjo’s ultra-enthusiast Aero headset, which is priced at $2,000 (but doesn’t include controllers or required tracking base stations). On the other hand, Pimax says the Crystal will include headset-tracked controllers and inside-out tracking out of the box at the $1,900 price point.
An optional $200 SteamVR Tracking faceplate will be offered at launch, and the company says it’s working on a stereo camera faceplate for color passthrough, though price and availability have not been announced.
Here’s a full breakdown of the Pimax Crystal specs:
120° or 140 diagonal (depending on lens configuration)
Processor
Snapdragon XR2
RAM
Unknown
Storage
Unknown
Wireless
Wi-Fi 6E, optional 60GHz add-on
Connectors
Unknown
Battery Life
Unknown (6,000mAh)
Optical Adjustments
IPD (automatic motor driven), eye-relief (12–20mm), diopter (0–7)
IPD Adjustment Range
58–72mm
Connectors
DisplayPort
Cable Length
Unknown
Tracking
Inside-out (no external beacons), optional SteamVR Tracking add-on
On-board cameras
4x head/hand/controller-tracking, 2x eye-tracking
Input
Included headset-tracked controllers, optionally compatible with SteamVR Tracking controllers
Audio
In-headstrap speakers, optional off-ear speakers
Microphone
Unknown
Pass-through view
Optional add-on
Weight
Unknown
While Pimax says it wants to offer a ‘no compromise’ experience for its customers, the Crystal headset reaffirms the company’s affinity for introducing multiple, modular headset models that force customers to choose between an array of overlapping features and capabilities; it’s unclear why the company is planning to launch the Crystal in Q3, just a few months before the “12K” QLED in Q4.
In any case, we’ll certainly be impressed if Pimax manages to deliver everything it’s promising with these ambitious headsets.
Note: We put the “12K” part of the Pimax 12K QLED name in quotes because Pimax isn’t referring to the same 12K that is often used to describe TVs and monitors. The headset’s total horizontal resolution is near 12K, but this is split across each eye. Additionally, the resolution height is just half the height of what one would expect from a 12K TV. When referring to the headset’s name, we put “12K” in quotes to help our readers understand that it’s being used differently than they might expect.
Joy Way confirmed that multiplayer is coming to Stride for Quest and PC VR via Steam in June, with more details to come soon.
The developers announced the news via Reddit, accompanied by a new trailer showcasing the multiplayer mode in action.
As you can see in the trailer embedded above, you’ll be able to play with a number of different players, performing parkour moves across various maps. You’ll also seemingly be able to choose from a number of different outfits for your avatar and interact with other players in some non-parkour capacities.
In a comment on Reddit, Joy Way said it will share more details on the mode next week. There’s no details on multiplayer launch date for PSVR yet, with the launch next month seemingly targeting PC via Steam and Quest platforms only. It’s unclear whether the Oculus Store release for PC VR will also receive the multiplayer update in June as well.
Multiplayer has been a long time coming for Stride. Joy Way first began testing it in Alpha on PC almost a year ago, in June 2021, with plans to later bring the mode to all platforms. That test involved a mode called ‘Zombie Horde‘, which was essentially a version of tag where a group of players were cast as survivors and another group as zombies. The latter have to chase and tag the former — the last survivor standing was the winner of the round.
Just earlier this month, Stride was restored to the Quest store after it was made unavailable for over a month, as part of a move from Meta to unlist apps with “financial entities” based in Russia. You can find more details on that story here.
