Category: VR Headset

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10% Of Microsoft Flight Simulator Users Play Exclusively In VR

The developers of Microsoft Flight Simulator revealed that 10% of users play exclusively using VR headsets.

The statistic came up as part of a response to a user-submitted question in a live-streamed developer Q&A, which has since been posted to YouTube and is embedded below.

The question was asked when the developers said they were “planning on tackling VR issues.” This likely refers to the known VR-specific bugs listed in the latest development update, many of which are marked as ‘under investigation.’ You can see a full list of those bugs over on the Flight Simulator blog.

While addressing the question, Jorg Neumann, Asobo’s Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, noted that around 10% of players exclusively use VR headsets to play the game, completely forgoing any form of flatscreen experience. Neumann said that while he has to play on many platforms, he would consider himself almost part of that 10%, as he plays quite frequently using VR.

As for the issues at hand, Neumann promises that they are aware and aiming to fix them as soon as possible. Here’s the full quote:

“Honestly it came up last time [in the developer Q&A video] and we had planned on talking about VR last time … And it’s just … Frankly, we know 10% of you play pretty much exclusively in VR. And I would say I’m close to one of you. I play on different devices but I play on VR all the time. And we just need to dedicate the time. I’m sorry. We get that there’s a lot going on, but … We’re going to sit down, this week or next week, and talk it through. We have your feedback, we know it’s important and we need to just go do the work.”

In other recent Flight Simulator news, the game is set to receive helicopters later this year, while hand tracking support for VR is ‘under consideration.’Β 

Thanks to Alex for finding the video and notifying UploadVR. If you find something that might be of interest to us, please send it through to tips@uploadvr.com.Β 

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VR Gamescast: Moss: Book II, Cosmonious High Reviews & More

Lots to cover on this week’s VR Gamescast: competing city building games get competing release dates, plus reviews of Moss: Book II & Cosmonious High!

Jamie and I are back on the headset mics again for another episode of the VR Gamescast, with a bunch of news to cover this week. First off, we talked about the second annual Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, which is set to take place on April 20. A few games are confirmed already, but what else are we hoping to see?

Plus, two upcoming games — which were already competing in the same genre on Quest — now have competing release dates! City building titles Little Cities and Cities VR both announced release dates this week, and they’ll launch within a week of each other. Jamie and I break down why this might be, and how we hope either game will differentiate itself from the other.

Last but not least on the news front, Pistol Whip developers Cloudhead Games confirm they’re working on a new AAA VR game. Jamie has a few ideas on what to expect and what he’d like to see.

In terms of hands-on and impressions, it was a big week for Jamie who played through both Cosmonious High and Moss: Book II. There’s some good things about both titles, but not without some caveats — tune in to the full episode to learn more.

The VR Gamescast goes live every Thursday. Got any questions for next week’s show? Playing something that you’re dying to tell us about? Let us know in the comments below!

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Green Hell VR Releases April 7 On Meta Quest 2, PC VR Coming In May

Green Hell VR releases next week on April 7 for Meta Quest 2, with the PC VR version slightly delayed until May following recent feedback.

In what’s become a slew of recent announcements, survival game Green Hell is the latest title to announce a very imminent and sudden release date.

We knew that the game was slated to release in the first half of the year, but we weren’t expecting something so soon. More notably, the PC VR version has been delayed and the Quest version will release first.

Alongside the Quest release date, there’s also a new trailer for that version of the game, embedded above, featuring footage exclusively from the Quest 2 port. While we had seen some snippets of Quest footage, this is the best look at that version of the game yet. It’s certainly not as crisp and detailed as the PC VR version, but it also doesn’t seem as bad as it could be. That being said, we’ll reserve our judgement until the full release next week.

Back in February, Green Hell VR presented a Steam Next Fest demo for PC VR players. While we mostly enjoyed the (limited) gameplay available in the demo, we experienced regular judders, pop-in and performance issues despite running the demo on a 3070 Ti on medium settings. This was a pretty common occurrence, with many others players online reporting similar issues.

Because of that, developers Incuvo made the decision to delay the PC VR release to May. “To ensure the best possible experience for all Steam VR users, we decided to push back the PC VR version a little bit to allow us to implement the valuable feedback we got from the demo earlier this year,” said Incuvo CEO Andrzej Wychowaniec in a prepared statement.

Green Hell VR is available to pre-order on Meta Quest 2 now, with a 10% discount until release. Original Quest headsets are not supported, and the PC VR release will follow in May.

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Among Us VR, Cities: VR Confirmed For Meta Quest Showcase

Among Us VR and Cities: VR will be present at the Meta Gaming Showcase next month.

The showcase is the second of its kind, providing the latest looks at titles coming to Quest. As announced yesterday, it will begin at 10am PT on April 20, hosted by Oculus Studio Executive Producer Ruth Bram.

Yesterday we speculated on what we might see at the showcase, including potential updates on GTA: San Andreas, Vertigo Games, Stress Level Zero, Splinter Cell/Assassin’s Creed and Among Us VR.

Well, it looks like we’ll be getting our wish for at least one of those — the Among Us VR Twitter account confirmed the game will appear in the upcoming showcase, featuring some new footage. Hopefully we’ll also learn a little about a possible release date for the game, too.

We also got confirmation that Cities: VR, the spin-off of the popular Skylines game, will be at the show. Developer Fast Travel pointed out that you won’t want to miss the event. Could this be where we learn about the spring release date for the Quest 2 exclusive?

For now, those are the only developers and publishers we’ve heard from — the rest of the showcase remains wrapped under a blanket of mystery. We should also expect a bit of the unexpected as well — Meta confirmed yesterday that alongside updates on previously-announced titles, we’re also in store for some brand new game announcements.

It won’t be the only VR showcase this year either — the UploadVR Showcase is back this June. Keep an eye out for more details soon.

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How Osso Became One Of VR’s Biggest Companies (Interview)

Surgical education platform Osso VR recently announced $66 million in funding raised in its Series C funding round.

The startup’s founder and CEO, Dr. Justin Barad, sat down with us in VR to discuss the company’s path and potential to impact the healthcare industry.

“Technically, Osso VR is based in San Francisco, but since day one that first day in October 2016, we’ve always been fully remote and VR enabled and people thought we were crazy back then, but obviously this is more of a thing now,” Dr. Barad told us. “So we’ve always been and always will be a fully remote company. And as of today, we’re about 160 full-time employees and we’ll be 300 by the end of the year.”

The latest funding round was led by Oak HC/FT but also included participation from Signalfire, GSR Ventures, Tiger Global Management and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. Osso says that the funding will be used to accelerate its “initiative to broaden access to surgical education for all healthcare professionals and continue the investment in hiring top-tier talent to bring high-fidelity surgical training experiences to additional specialty areas.”

“In two years, maybe we’ll be somewhere between 600 to 800 people. Some of our focus specialties include orthopedics and interventional specialties, so interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular surgery. So I’d like us to see 90% to 100% penetration with healthcare professionals in these specialties,” Dr. Barad said.

“Our mission is to improve outcomes, increase the adoption of higher value technologies and techniques and democratize access to surgical education for everyone everywhere. And so my vision for Osso VR, however long that may take, five to 10 years, is that every single procedure that you could possibly do is simulated in this universal simulation platform called Osso. And that it is also a central repository for all proficiency data in healthcare.”

The platform allows medical professionals to engage in interactive training with virtual reality headsets, custom hardware and haptic devices. Since launch, the platform has seen many updates and expansions, upping the visual fidelity of the experience and expanding the training selection to include new areas.

“If you’re going in for…something like a joint replacement, or some commonly performed sports procedure, I would say the likelihood would be quite high in a couple of years, I would say 60% to 80%, that that healthcare professional has at least done some VR training for the relevant procedure,” Dr. Barad said. “And then if you go a few years out, what’s interesting is this incoming generation they’re not just excited about this technology, they expect it.”

The $66 million Series C funding follows from the last funding round mid-last year, which raised $27 million.

You can check out our full interview with Dr. Barad in the video embedded above or over on our YouTube channel, discussing his path to the latest funding round and his plans for Osso in the future.

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Meta’s Quest Gaming Showcase Returns On April 20

The second annual Meta Quest Gaming Showcase will take place on April 20, featuring updates and new game announcements for the Quest platform.

The showcase will begin at 10am PT, hosted Ruth Bram, Executive Producer at Oculus Studios. Meta says the showcase will feature “announcements, gameplay first-looks, updates on games coming in the next year, and a whole lot of surprises.”

Quest Gaming Showcase Returns

Beyond that, there are no specific clues for what to expect, but there are certainly a few things we’re hoping to get updates on. At last year’s Connect, Meta announced that PS2-era classic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is coming to Quest 2, but we’re yet to hear anything else since. Likewise, we also know that Vertigo Games (developers of After The Fall) is bringing four new games to the Quest in partnership with Oculus Studios, any of which could be revealed at the showcase.

We’re also still waiting to hear more from Stress Level Zero on their Boneworks spin-off for Quest, which has been in development for a while now. Likewise, it’s been pretty dry for Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed VR news since those games were announced in late 2020. While not exclusive to Quest, there’s also a chance we could hear about the upcoming Among Us VR port, which was announced for Quest, PC VR and PSVR at The Game Awards last year.

Here’s hoping for news on all of the above and more. Last year’s show gave us an in-depth look at Resident Evil 4 VR and saw the announcement of Carve Snowboarding, though also largely focused on updates for games that are already available.Β  You can tune in to the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase at 10am PT on April 20 on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Oculus TV. Of course, it won’t be the only VR gaming showcase this year – we’ll be back with the Upload VR Showcase in June. More details soon!

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Live Performers Returning To The Under Presents From April 1

Live actors are returning to Tender Claws’ experience The Under Presents for a limited run starting from April 1.

The Under Presents launched in late 2019, as a wholly unique VR experience that merged single player, multiplayer, social VR and live theater together into one surreal package. There’s a whole single player campaign to work through, but there’s also a multiplayer and social side to the experience that blends pre-recorded and live segments together and is ever-changing.

In July 2020, Tender Claws ran a different kind of live-in-VR performance, which introduced a new 45 minute interpretation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest presented with live actors in The Under Presents. At the time, we called it “unlike anything else in virtual reality right now” and performances returned for a second run in 2021.

Three years on from release, many of the original cast members are returning for a “limited engagement” of new live performances in The Under Presents. From April 1, players will be able to view these new performances that feature “new story beats and mini events to explore.”

You can see a glimpse of what to expect in the video embedded above, tweeted by Tender Claws, showing a giant (and presumably live) skeleton bend down to pick up an item and interact with players.

Tender Claws is known as a studio that pushes the boundaries of VR and examines the medium through a surrealist, critical lens across varied types of experiences. Its most recent release, Virtual Virtual Reality 2, was a very different project that was equally ambitious as The Under Presents, but not quite as successful in its execution.

Will you be returning to The Under Presents for new live performances? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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Warplanes: Battles Over Pacific Launches March 31 On Quest Via AppLab

Surprise — another big VR game is launching this week! Warplanes: Battles Over Pacific will release via App Lab for Quest headsets this Thursday, March 31.

Battles Over Pacific is a WWII-focused sequel to the original Warplanes: WW1 Fighters, which sees players pilot planes in scenarios focused around key battles and moments of each world war.

The sequel was only announced a few weeks ago, so we’re slightly surprised to see it launching so suddenly on Quest, even if it is on App Lab and not the main Quest store. That being said, developers Home Net Games previously said they were “fairly confident” in a late September release, with early access available beforehand.

The Quest platforms — official store or App Lab — don’t have an early access system or a way to label games as such, hence why the series will return to App Lab for this release initially. But you can expect to see the game come to the full Quest store when the full release is ready. Likewise, the PC VR version of the game will be releasing in early access on Steam before the full launch later on.

As previously reported, the sequel will feature a similar feature set to the original title — a single-player campaign, this time set during WWII, along with PvP and co-op multiplayer modes, with a selection of 10 aircraft available across the game. We were big fans of the first game and have high hopes for this sequel.

Are you going to be picking up Warplanes: Battles Over Pacific this week? Let us know in the comments below!

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nDreams Announces $35M Investment, Working On PSVR 2 Titles

Fracked and Phantom developer nDreams announced today an investment of $35 million that will help the grow the studio on all fronts, while also confirming work on unannounced titles for PSVR 2.

The investment comes from Aonic Group. In a prepared statement, nDreams co-founder and CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh called the investment a “pivotal moment” for the company that will help “accelerate our rapid growth and take advantage of the many opportunities that continue to come our way.”

The press release from nDreams announcing the investment also confirmed that the studio has a line-up of projects already in development, “including next-gen games for the PlayStation VR2.”

nDreams has seen several funding rounds since it moved into VR development roughly 10 years ago now, and released several high profile titles in recent years including last summer’s PSVR exclusive shooter, Fracked.

Initially, just one studio, in the last year the company opened two additional studios producing VR content. The second studio, opened in July 2021, is called nDreams Orbital and is dedicated to making “live games for VR.” The third, opened a few months later in January, is called nDreams Studio Elevation and is focused on producing new IPs and AAA VR experiences.

Just over a year ago, nDreams also set up a $2 million publishing fund to help develop, market and publish external VR titles from other developers. The first release under this fund will be Little Cities in Spring.

nDreams says the $35M investment will be used to help create more ambitious VR experiences and grow its three internal studios, while also allowing them to expand their new publishing initiative.

While the studio has been around since 2006, it first took the dive into VR in 2013. You can read more about nDreams’ journey in our exclusive and in-depth profile featuring Chief Development Officer Tom Gillo here.

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GDC Day 4: ARVORE, Hyper Dash, Emerge Wave 1 Haptics & More

The fourth and final day of GDC 2022 has come and gone. Don’t be too sad though — we’ve got lots of interesting interviews with VR developers straight from the show floor to cheer you up.

It was a great week at GDC last week, with lots of interesting news over the course of the four days at the show. Alex and Skeeva from Between Realities were checking it all out for us as UploadVR Correspondents, pulling some fantastic developers aside for interviews each day.

On day one, they spoke to Walkabout Mini Golf developers Mighty Coconut, Zenith developer Ramen VR and more.

Day two saw them speak to Polyarc about Moss: Book 2, along with Fast Travel Games on Cities VR and Virtuoso. Day three brought some hardware into the mix, including demos and talks with the developers of the upcoming Lynx R1 mixed reality headset. They also caught up Tilt Five and Owlchemy Labs, developers of Cosmonious High (releasing later this week).

For the fourth and final day, Alex and Skeeva first checked in with ARVORE, developer of last year’s Yuki and the Pixel Ripped series. When questioned about any new Pixel Ripped content or releases in the near future, Rodrigo Terra from ARVORE was tight lipped but did mention an upcoming collaboration with Holoride (who make VR experiences designed to take place inside moving cars) that might satisfy fans of the series.

Rodrigo also said that the studio is working on a few new projects, which could release this year or next, so keep an eye out.

Alex and Skeeva also spoke to the developers of Hyper Dash, who revealed a new free game mode will release for the title on April 1, called ‘Ball’. Triangle Factory CEO and Co-Found Timothy Vanherbergen insisted it wasn’t a joke, despite the release date, and described the mode as “Rocket League but with guns.”

Last but not least, there were some interesting discussions with the developers of the Emerge Wave 1 haptic device, which uses sound and vibrations to provide a new kind of haptic feedback, and the developer of Finger Guns, an FPS shooter using hand tracking technology coming to Quest this year.

What was your favorite news or reveal from this year’s GDC?Β Let us know in the comments below.