ARVORE, the studio behind the Pixel Ripped VR game franchise, announced it’s currently developing a VR soccer game called PAWBALL, which aims to get you leaping around and scoring goals like only a feline can.
On the studio’s Discord (invite link), Arvore Community Manager Freddy Pavão reveals the idea initially came from wanting dinosaurs to play soccer, although the team eventually settled on cats, which can move around in interesting and dynamic ways.
“With the change to our feline friends, the main idea for the game (and all the prototypes that came after) got a whole new range of possibilities,” Pavão says. “The game is still about soccer, but now using verticality, as the cats can jump super high, climb, hit the ball in aerial attacks, and so on. It is by far our game with the most possibilities for gameplay diversity, as players can do basically whatever they want to hit the ball and score a goal.”
Developer Ana Ribeiro shows off a peek at an early build:
Like many free-to-play games, the studio says it will be providing cosmetic upgrades. Granted, it’s still early days, however hopeful testers could also soon get their chance with early builds, which the studio says it will provide without the need of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) like many studios tend to do with still-in-development betas. That could arrive as early as June, Arvore says.
There’s no indication yet on what platforms the game is targeting either, however you can bet the free-to-play game will be searching for the widest possible distribution in hopes of replicating the sort of viral success of an obvious analogue, Gorilla Tag.
The primate-focused game of tag reported early last year it had garnered $26 million in revenue since its 2021 launch. That’s a tall order to fill, although if a pretty simple game of immersive tag can do it, maybe cats playing soccer can too?
SPACE BALL is a sports game currently free on Quest that mashes up Gorilla Tag’s movement scheme and the fast-paced gameplay of Rocket League. Indie VR studio 31 Labs announced it’s bringing the game to PC VR headsets next month.
The competitive multiplayer game offers up a number of modes, including Basketball, Soccer and Handball modes, letting players can go 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3 online, or play against bots to practice their skills.
Gorilla Tag and its knuckle-dragging locomotion scheme has definitely influenced Space Ball too, as players move about the field by pushing off the arena floor, also letting you execute boosts mid-air for quicker gameplay.
Space Ball is already available for free on Quest App Lab, but starting July 13th it will be launching for free on Steam Early Access too. It’s still early days for Space Ball, so if you’re looking for a match, you might want to join the game’s Discord (invite link) to find like-minded rocket-gorillas such as yourself.
To see Space Ball in action, check out a full introduction to the game from YouTuber ‘SpookyFairy VR’ for a quick look at gameplay:
Resolution Games, the studio behind Blaston (2020) and Demeo (2021), showed off its upcoming VR sports game Racket Club for the first time during Meta’s Quest Gaming Showcase.
Taking inspiration from many of the world’s most popular racket games, such as Tennis, Padel, Pickleball, and Squash, the new trailer released today shows off what Resolution Games calls “the first real look at how Racket Club is played.”
Here’s how the describes the action:
When players step onto the court, they’ll find the play area for their matches surrounded by four clear walls — each providing a surface for the ball to bounce off to keep it in play and provide a new dimension for strategic gameplay. The more times players can hit the ball back and forth during each rally, the higher the points value for the player that takes it. This “points rally” mechanic introduces a unique blend of risk and reward that’s not typically found in racket sports. Players will need to read their opponent’s behavior to determine just the right time to break their reluctant cooperation on any given rally and win the points for themselves.
The court size in Racket Club has been designed with living rooms in mind, giving players the ability to fully immerse themselves in racket sport VR play while keeping their footwork within a safe boundary. This allows for natural movement in all its forms, from traversing the court to taking big swings at just the right angles.
The built-for-VR racket sport is set to include both single player and online multiplayer, which at launch will include singles (1v1) and doubles (2v2) multiplayer in addition to single player career mode. You can wishlist the game today on the Quest Store.
Playing a sport like football, boxing, mini golf or ping pong is easy on the Quest platform. Here’s our list of the best sports games available on Oculus Quest 2.
The list is presented in no particular order and is not ranked, as we didn’t want to pit a variety of different sports against each other. However, for sports that have multiple VR games available on Quest, we’ve stuck with just including the one best experience available on Quest for each.
We’ve also included a few sports games that aren’t direct one-to-one translations of a real sport, but something altered to work in VR.
Eleven Table Tennis
Eleven Table Tennis is really as simple as it sounds — it’s table tennis in VR. However, to leave it at that would be to do it an injustice — it’s not just table tennis in VR, it’s really good table tennis in VR. It also works so well because it feels like the real thing — there’s relatively little physical resistance when hitting a ball in table tennis in real life, so a VR translation feels scarily accurate. Slight vibrations when you hit the ball are all that’s needed to make Eleven Table Tennis feel properly authentic. Plus, the game supports LAN matches for a lag-free experience, and you can even use a 3D printed paddle with your Touch controller for the full authentic experience. It’s table tennis in VR, recreated in impressive detail.
There’s also something special about being able to take your Quest anywhere and — provided you have an internet connection — play against a friend (or a random) online with a 1:1 recreation of a table tennis table. Upcoming updates will also add in support for the upgraded Meta avatars, with full upper body representation, along with 3-4 player support and an overhauled UI/menu system.
Cross-platform play: Yes, between Quest, Rift and SteamVR users.
Totally Baseball lets you be the pitcher, batter and outfielder all in one. The game has a unique “teleportation system” that will switch you between positions mid-game, giving you the full baseball experience in VR.
The game launched with just singleplayer in July last year, but has since been updated to include two multiplayer modes – 1v1 or free roam.
By the same developers as ForeVR Bowling, ForeVR Darts provides an easy option to get head-to-head with your friends in a round of virtual darts. It’s simple but effective – invite friends and meet up at the ForeVR pub, where you can each compete in a lane with classic darts rules, such as 301 up.
You can use either hands or controllers to throw darts – the hand tracking works quite well and, if anything, shooting a bullseye with an aiming reticule seems a little bit easier in VR than it does in real life…
The most challenging part of Carve Snowboarding is the first few hours — learning the ropes and adjusting a foot-driven sport to be controller by your hands take a bit of getting used to. It’s tough and quite tiring at first, but it’s well worth the effort. The game is less focused on impossible stunts and more concerned with using VR to simulate the rush of racing downhill, ducking under tree branches and daring yourself to hop into the air and try for an Indie or a Japan Air.
It doesn’t have the precision of classic snowboarding games and it’ll tie your mind in knots at times but, once you’ve experienced the rush of Carve’s downhill stunts, you wouldn’t want it any other way.
This game is perhaps the most abstract translation of a real life sport into VR, but it basically takes Ultimate Frisbee and creates a stunningly-deep and engaging VR version of the game with two teams of three fighting over a Frisbee in zero gravity. If you’re familiar with the book Ender’s Game, imagine a cross between that and Ultimate Frisbee and you’ve got Echo VR.
If you haven’t tried Echo VR, it’s probably as close to a native VR-first sport available on the platform. It’s a properly amazing new take on Frisbee that could only work in VR. Even better, it’s completely free to play on Oculus Quest.
Mini golf is one of those sports that lends itself particularly well to VR, and Walkabout Mini Golf is probably the best realization of the sport in VR. The only real difference to playing in real life is the lack of a proper club with the appropriate weight. However, you’ll quickly get the hang of it and can add an accessory to get that proper club feeling. Arguably, the game might even be better than physical mini golf with no pressure to get to the next hole, no hitches in the carpeting and the ability to move your putter right through obstacles instead of needing to move the ball away from it.
Walkabout Mini Golf launched on Oculus Quest but is also available on Steam from July 15 of 2021, with a phone version planned for later in the year. Cross-play is supported across all platforms too, so you’ll soon be able to play mini golf with Quest, PC VR and mobile users as well. There’s seven different courses in the game, set across some fun environments, with unlockable hard modes for the courses as well. There’s plans for one more course for the base game as well as some additional DLC courses as well.
This one’s for the rock climbing and bouldering fans — while Crytek’s The Climb 2 can’t quite capture the full body physicality of the real sport, it comes pretty close. Despite not being available for PC VR, we called it one of most visually impressive Quest games on the platform in our review, featuring some stunning vistas and climbing courses. It’s not just a visual spectacle either — there’s also quite a bit of nuance to the climbing mechanics, allowing you to half-grip, jump, use zip lines, avoid breakable rocks and much more.
It’s a thrilling experience that lets you climb in some situations that you might never want to risk in real life. On the harder levels, it can even be a good accidental workout as well.
When it comes to VR boxing, there’s a surprising number of options. However, when push comes to shove, Thrill of the Fight throws the best punches.
This boxing simulator puts you in a virtual ring to fight off against AI opponents in a manner similar to a real boxing match — you’re encouraged to move around the ring and the game will automatically adjust the difficulty depending on how hard (or soft) you hit. It’s definitely more of a simulator than a game, so don’t come in expecting a big campaign or lots of game-y structure. Developer Ian Fitz’s main focus was to mimic real life as much as possible, with different outcomes depending on where each of your hits land.
Racket NX takes a fundamentally different approach to some of the other games on this list — instead of taking a sport and trying to emulate it as closely as possible in VR, Racket NX gives you a racket and a ball and introduces a new form of gameplay made for VR.
You play inside a giant dome, using your Touch controller-turned racket to hit balls at targets that light up across the curved walls. There’s a single player campaign and endless mode, while multiplayer options offer versus and co-op modes with support for cross-platform play.
When this game released, we called it a simple but fun arcade-style VR adaptation of American football. However, since our initial review there’s been a wealth of new updates that have added more content and overhauled big parts of the game. The recently-launched “Challengers Edition” update is the culmination of this, adding multiple leagues, new play modes, a new soundtrack and some graphical upgrades to the fairly lackluster launch visuals.
It’s still a fairly simple arcade-y version of American football, but if you’re looking for some quarterback action in VR, this is the game for you.
On the surface, ForeVR Bowl does everything right — it’s incredibly polished, has real character and gives plenty of reasons to keep playing. However, unlike other games on the list, the sport it’s simulating presents one big problem — bowling relies heavily on feeling the weight of the ball as you throw it. In VR, this simply isn’t possible. ForeVR Bowl tries to offer some smart solutions — it gives balls stats for weight and speed, offering options for different techniques — but ultimately it still comes off as an iteration of Wii Sports-style bowling as opposed to something more realistic.
The reason it’s on the list over other bowling games, such as Premium Bowling, is because it offers a more realistic experience overall, even if it does have those control issues associated with the lack of weight. It also offers multiplayer and once you accept the game’s limitations, it’s still a lot of casual fun. The developers have also already made improvements to the throwing mechanics since launch and are continuing work on additional changes.
Real VR Fishing is the game for you if you’re looking for something that captures the calming joy of just sitting out on the shore or boat with your line in the water and chatting with friends to your right and left. You can collect catches for your aquarium and visit a range of beautiful settings, plus there’s a pretty large range of difficulty options. When you’re just starting out, the game helps you see where the fish are, but you can turn that off for an even more realistic and challenging experience. The developers are planning a US West DLC pack for new areas to fish in as well as a revamp of the game’s mechanics.
In terms of basketball, Gym Class is probably the best route on Quest 2. We’ve tried other basketball games that take a more skee ball-inspired arcade approach to the sport, but Gym Class opts to translate the proper basketball game experience as best as possible in VR, similar to the approach taken by Eleven for table tennis.
Basketball is a lot harder to pull off properly in VR, but Gym Class is a solid attempt with good core mechanics and ball physics. You can shoot hoops solo on a full court, but the main draw is multiplayer, where you can play with up to 8 people across 2 teams. There’s support for audio chat on the court, as well as full-body IK to make players appear more natural.
The ball has good weight to it, which works alongside a smart auto-release mechanic for throwing and bouncing. We’ve mainly tried the solo mode and haven’t played a full online match – nor are we experts in real life basketball either – but it felt like the game struck a nice balance between providing a realistic, true-to-life experience and necessary adjustments to make everything work well in VR.
Racket: Nx (2018), the VR sports game from One Hamsa, just got an update that includes the long-awaited addition of a level editor.
The Israel-based studio has been teasing the update since late May, although fans have been asking for a level editor since it was released in Early Access on PC VR headsets back in 2017.
Now, live as a free update to the game on all supported platforms, editing is done in-game, allowing you to choose from a range of powerups, obstacles, and gadgets to get your ball zooming around the spherical playing field.
FINALLY!
Make your own levels IN VR! Play them SEAMLESSLY! Make them PUBLIC! Get them voted for MONTHLY CHALLENGE!
If you’ve never played Racket: Nx, it’s a bit like racquetball-meets-Breakout: hit the ball against the wall, try to break the correct hexagonal blocks, and avoid the wrong ones. That’s the basics, but in practice it becomes much more complicated as you go for chain combos and encounter increasingly difficult levels in a race against the clock.
It’s a full-featured game—and quite a workout too. Online play allows you to either play in co-op or PvP, and single player mode lets you go against a lengthy campaign or swat away at an endless survival mode. Just make sure to clear the area, and stay far away from TVs and monitors.
Today, during the first-ever all-digital Facebook: Game Developers Showcase, Ready at Dawn announced that its upcoming Oculus Quest port of competitive zero-gravity disc game, Echo VR, will have a Closed Alpha test later this month on March 26th.
Echo Arena pits two small teams of players against one another in what’s basically a zero-gravity game of ultimate frisbee. The objective is to pass and throw the disc down the arena and through the goal to score a point. You can fling the disc as hard as you want, punch the other team to stun them, and get creative with bank shots around corners. It’s really a ton of fun.
When we tried out Echo VR on Oculus Quest back at Oculus Connect 6 (OC6) we noted that it was clearly an inferior version of the game, but all things considered it seemed to play and perform well. The limitations of the Quest’s four external tracking cameras are apparent when you start to reach behind your back a lot or generally hold the disc low, out of sight for the device.
As of now it seems like only the Echo Arena portion of Echo VR is making its way into the Quest port, but maybe we will get Echo Combat on Quest too sometime soon.
If you’re interested in joining and helping the developers test the game, you can fill out the form right here. Let us know if you plan on participating in the Closed Beta down in the comments below!
In late 2017, CCP Games shuttered their VR-producing studios, shifting their focus to PC and mobile games after selling off the Newcastle branch behind EVE: Valkryie (2016) and closing down the Atlanta-based branch behind SPARC (2017). Although CCP made a commitment to keep servers from going dark, it comes as great surprise that the studio has actually pushed out a significant update to the futuristic VR sports game.
The update, called the ‘Championship Update’, is said to include new cross-platform modes, including Custom and Ranked matches, and an improved Spectator Mode. In a press statement, CCP calls it Sparc’s “first major update.”
Here’s a quick breakdown of the updates landing today on all supported platforms:
Quick Play – This is the fastest way to get into the action with other players. Select the desired game mode (Basic or Advanced) and join through Quick Play, Public Custom Game or Create Your Own Game (to which other Quick Play players can join).
Custom Games – Browse a list of available games or choose to create a custom game with the desired game mode and privacy settings. Optional password settings are provided for both players and spectators.
Ranked – Compete in a cross-platform competitive mode using the Advanced rules. Players remain unranked until they have completed their first 10 matches, after which their recent record determines their tier (Legend, Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze) and position (1-100) within that tier.
Spectating tools have also changed somewhat. Custom games can be joined as a headless spectator that won’t occupy a player slot; the spectator is invisible to both players and other spectators. Players can also cycle through preset camera locations to view the action or free-fly using their controllers to propel themselves around the arena.
The studio hasn’t made any indication whether today’s update signals a move back towards active VR development, although it’s clear the studio has had enough success with Sparc to merit the manhours needed to push out today’s update. We’ve asked CCP for comment and will update when/if we hear back.
Das Start-up YUR (“why you are“) veröffentlicht ein neues digitales Plug-in zur Nutzung für VR-Apps. Der virtuelle Kalorienzähler YURfit soll die Daten beim VR-Sport und -Spiel erheben und einen Überblick über verbrannte Kalorien aufzeigen. Wie das funktioniert, zeigen die Verantwortlichen am VR-Rhythmustitel Beat Saber.
YURfit – Plug-in zum Kalorienzählen bei VR-Sport- und -Spielen
Der virtuelle Kalorienzähler von YUR läuft im Hintergrund und analysiert die Tracking-Daten, die bei der Bewegung der Motion-Controller und der VR-Brille entstehen. Dadurch errechnet die App den ungefähren Kalorienverbrauch beim Spielen der VR-Titel. Ein ähnliches Prinzip, welches Smartwatches beim Schrittzählen verwenden.
Dafür soll zukünftig ebenso eine Mobile-App bereitgestellt werden, um die Daten mit anderen Gesundheitsapps, wie Apple Health für iOS zu synchronisieren und dadurch das Tages-Workout abzustimmen. Zum dauerhaften Einsatz in VR-Erfahrungen müssten die Entwickler das Plug-in des Start-ups in ihre eigenen VR-Titel integrieren.
Inspiriert von dieser Geschichte gründeten Cix Liv und Dilan Shah das Fitness-Start-up YUR. Da vielen Gamern nicht einmal bewusst ist, dass Top-VR-Spiele zum Abnehmen durchaus förderlich sind, haben sie das Plug-in YURfit entwickelt. Der aufgezeigte Kalorienverbrauch soll Sportmuffel dazu motivieren, sich mehr zu bewegen und aktiv zu betätigen. Und dies auf spielerische Art zu ermöglichen, ist wohl die beste Motivation, wie Cix Liv beschreibt:
“Gaming und Fitness waren schon immer meine beiden größten Leidenschaften. Unsere Software ermöglicht unseren Nutzern, beides gezielt miteinander zu kombinieren.”
It is the weekend, its also well in Autumn now, which means some sporting seasons are ending, while others are starting. As always, VRFocusbrings you the latest on where sports and immersive technology intersect. This week sees golf and basketball bring the action into 360-degrees for fans to get a better view.
An Experiment With 8K 360-Degree Video For Golf
A proof-of-concept at the Sky Sports British Masters has demonstrated how 8K quality 360-degree video can be used to let fans of Golf follow their favourite players across the course.
The test was conducted by The European Tour and Tata Communications, which showed how fans could use a virtual reality (VR) headset to get a virtual tour of famous European Tour venues like Walton Heath or Valderrama.
“This proof-of-concept is part of our strategy to attract new fans to the sport by harnessing the latest digital technologies and introducing new, shorter and faster formats,” said Michael Cole, Chief Technology Officer, European Tour. “With Shotclock Masters, for example, players have just 40 or 50 seconds to play a shot. We’re also using more and more shot data to bring fans more engaging insights. We look forward to leveraging live 360° video in 8K to make each tournament more immersive for golf newbies and our core fan base.”
“Today’s sports fans are savvier than ever – they have an insatiable appetite for data and content that gives them deeper and higher quality viewing experiences,” said Mehul Kapadia, Global Head of Marketing, Tata Communications. “The adoption of the Video Assistant Referee at the recent FIFA World Cup is just one example of the transformational potential of digital technologies in global sports – which benefits the players, the fans and the entire sports ecosystem. In the same way, apps with live 360° video in 8K would redefine fan engagement in golf, and even have the potential to change how the sport is refereed.”
Oculus will Be Streaming NBA Games For Free
Fans of basketball have a chance to watch this season’s games in VR for free, thanks to efforts from Oculus and VR live-streaming service NextVR along with the Oculus Venues app.
Oculus Venues launched for Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR earlier this year as a social VR app that lets users share a virtual space to take in live events such as sports games or music performances.
Watching NBA games online usually requires the purchase of an NBA League Pass, but watching through Oculus Venues is free, though users watching through the NextVR app will need to pay.
“Now in our third NBA season, we continue to evolve our VR broadcast to provide the highest quality, most immersive NBA experience in VR,” said NextVR CEO David Cole in a statement. “Every night of the NBA season, NextVR is providing fans worldwide with multiple live VR viewing options, coupled with free on-demand highlights.”
Check back next week for some more This Week In VR Sport.
Racket: NX (2018), the futuristic VR racket game, has left Early Access on Steam and the Oculus Store.
Developed by Tel Aviv-based studio One Hamsa, Racket: NX puts a stylish VR spin on some classic game mechanics made famous in titles such as Breakout and Arkanoid. Using your single racket to break block targets, you go for the high score as you hammer the ball at the dome-shaped wall, hoping for that wall-sliding chain reaction to help you clear the level.
Racket: NX supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows VR headsets, and features two single player modes, and an intense multiplayer. You’ll definitely need to clear some space though, because once the targets start to envelop your entire 360 playing space, you can easily lose track of where you are (and how close you are to lamps, kittens, innocent bystanders).
Road to VR‘s Matthew MacGee was mightily impressed with Racket: NX in our Early Access review of the game, saying:
“At times it’s breathless entertainment, and a good rally will have you laughing at the sheer thrill of it all. It feels very pure, very old school, and very polished. For a game in the vanguard of the initial VR wave—embracing the most modern gaming tech—in the hands, it whisks you back to playgrounds and simpler times.”
The full title now boasts new powerups, more impressive visuals, a completely new solo campaign, and what One Hamsa calls a “much improved multiplayer.”
Image courtesy One Hamsa
While the thumping soundtrack fits really well for a heart-pounding session, you can also play with your own music now too, which is an available option through the game’s settings menu.
“Developing this game, the first One Hamsa release, has been a life changing experience for us,” the developers say in a statement on Steam. “We had many challenges along the way, and we can honestly say we would not have been able to withstand them if it wasn’t for our Early Access players. The love, enthusiasm, feedback and companionship you guys offered throughout made all the difference.”
RX: Racket is currently on sale for 25% off the usual $20 price tag, and is available from both Steam (Vive, Rift, Windows VR) and the Oculus Store (Rift).
Celebrating a new trailer designed by our community 
Make your own levels IN VR!
Play them SEAMLESSLY!
Make them PUBLIC!
Get them voted for MONTHLY CHALLENGE!
