Category: Waltz of the Wizard

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Waltz of the Wizard’s Natural Magic Update Confirmed for July

Waltz of the Wizard

Virtual reality (VR) developer Aldin has been teasing its next big update for Waltz of the Wizard since 2020. Called “Natural Magic” its set to feature new locations as well a reworked spell casting system to make it feel, well…more natural. Today, as part of a slew of VR announcements to kick off the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2021 this week the studio has confirmed the update will arrive next month.

Waltz of the Wizard

Previous updates like the “Telepath” movement system added incremental improvements, whereas Natural Magic will be Aldin’s largest expansion to date. Starting off in a peaceful courtyard sandbox where players can practice and play with the new magic system, they’ll find intuitive controls to pick up distant objects or unleash devastating attacks. This is useful as the other area is the Fortress, a sprawling location home to the Observers, interdimensional beings that harness magic to control time and space.

These “Observers” are the bad guys, of course, and to get to them players will encounter a variety of enemies to wield their magic against. The Fortress also houses hidden artefacts which might be useful. It’s also the first location the developer has built that is procedurally generated, so each run-through will be slightly different.

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic will have plenty of other interesting features for hours of entertainment, including mic input which turns a players voice into magical soundwaves to attack foes, enemies with detachable bodyparts and believable defensive reactions, and user health shown by their fingers turning skeletal.

Waltz of the Wizard

Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic is set to launch on 6th July 2021 as a free update for existing owners of the videogame. There is a slight caveat in the fact that the update will be for SteamVR and Oculus headsets but not for PlayStation VR. Aldin’s CEO Hrafn Thorisson previously said in November 2020 that future updates for the headset were on hold due to the lack of info regarding a PlayStation VR 2 (at the time).

For further updates on Waltz of the Wizard: Natural Magic, keep reading VRFocus.

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More Developers Reveal They’re Part of Oculus Quest’s $1m+ Club

Until You Fall

Facebook made some big announcements yesterday regarding its Oculus Quest platform and how well some developers were doing. Over 60 titles have managed to exceed the $1 million USD marker with the company naming several of them. Since that announcement, studios have taken to Twitter to confirm which of them had managed to be part of this coveted group.

Phantom: Covert Ops

Some weren’t that surprising like nDreams’ stealth shooter Phantom: Covert Ops. Available on both Oculus Quest and Rift, it launched in June last year and only a month later had achieved over $1m in gross revenue from both platforms. The studio Tweeted that Oculus Quest revenue has exceeded $1 million on its own.

Fitness titles OhShape and Synth Riders are also part of that list. The Synth Riders team also confirmed to VRFocus in an email that since the release of the Oculus Quest 2 monthly active players had tripled and that monthly revenue showed a 9x increase.

This type of jump in figures was echoed by others in the community. Hrafn Thorisson, CEO and co-founder of Aldin Dynamics – the studio behind Waltz of the Wizard – Tweeted: “Our sales on December 25th 2020 were 5x greater than on December 25th in 2019. January 2021 was our biggest sales month on Quest to date. More than 4x greater than January 2020.”

Waltz of the Wizard

Pro Putt by Topgolf and Apex Construct by Fast Travel Games made the cut, whilst two of Schell Games’ projects I Expect You To Die and Until You Fall were successful. Schell Games recently confirmed its escape room title would be getting a sequel, I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy And Liar, slated to arrive later in the year.

Good news all around then, with some of these managing to make their way even higher up the revenue pile. It’s important to note that while Facebook might be using $1 million as a positive marker, for long term videogame development that figure is a drop in the ocean. For further updates on the health of Oculus Quest’s ecosystem, keep reading VRFocus.

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Until You Fall, Phantom And More Make Over $1 Million On Quest

More VR developers are coming forward to confirm they’ve made over $1 million in revenue on the Oculus Quest platform.

Yesterday, Facebook confirmed that over 60 titles had passed that milestone. At the same time, the company confirmed a few games like Onward and Population: One were included in that list and other studios like Resolution Games have revealed that their own titles made the cut too.

Since then, many more studios have come forward with their successful apps. Among them are:

Hrafn Thorisson, CEO and co-founder at Aldin, confirmed that January 2021 sales were Waltz’s biggest ever, achieving four times more copies sold than the previous January. Kluge, meanwhile, confirmed that since the launch of the Oculus Quest 2 in October 2020, Synth Riders has more than tripled its active player base and increased its revenue by nine times year-over-year.

This week Facebook also launched App Lab, a new means of accessing experimental Quest games and experiences without needing to sideload, and started integrating Facebook Messenger support into the standalone headset.

The company hasn’t revealed sale stats for the headset itself but, clearly, Quest 2 is making a meaningful impact on VR developers. Coming up, we know that arena shooter Hyper Dash will hit the headset this month, and The Climb 2 is on the way to the platform too.

 

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Waltz Of The Wizard Dev Pauses PSVR Updates ‘Until Sony Talks What’s Next’

Hrafn Thorisson, the CEO of Aldin Dynamics, has said that the team is holding off on updates for the PSVR version of Waltz of the Wizards until Sony talks more about the future of VR on the PlayStation platform.

Aldin Dynamics is best known for Waltz of the Wizard, which is available across most VR platforms, including PC VR, Quest and PSVR. However, while the game has seen regular updates on all platforms, Thorisson and co won’t keep investing in the PSVR version until they has an idea about what’s coming down the line for PlayStation and VR.

You can see the tweet here, or read a full transcription below:

Sony apparently isn’t hellbent on keeping 1st gen PSVR away from PS5, but question remains what they’ll do next. I think they should do PSPVR (PS5 connection option).

We’re holding off on further VR product updates on PS (including Natural Magic) until Sony talks what’s next.

Thorisson refers to the upcoming Natural Magic expansion as a specific example. Set to launch in 2021, Natural Magic is the first full expansion for Waltz of the Wizard and will give users new forms of magic to try out and new areas to explore. While the update was set to release on all platforms, Thorisson’s latest tweet indicates that the team will not work on the update for PSVR until Sony talks more about future plans for VR on the PlayStation platform.

PSVR hardware is supported on PS5 through PS4 backwards compatibility, however new PS5 games cannot use the PSVR hardware — only PS4 titles can support PSVR on PS5 through backwards compatibility.

There have been many questions as to what a new PSVR headset might look like, and when it will release. We know it won’t arrive in 2021 and that Sony are still ‘intrigued‘ by VR, but we haven’t had any solid confirmation that a hardware refresh is on the way. Despite this, we’ve caught a few peeks at what might be redesigned Move controllers for a future PSVR headset.

If you still want to know more, be sure to check out everything we know about PSVR 2 so far.

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10 Games Getting Quest 2 Enhancements at Launch

Oculus Quest 2 launches tomorrow, bringing along with it higher resolution, higher refresh rate, and a cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset to drive native VR games on the company’s most powerful standalone headset yet.

Although all games out of the box will benefit from Quest 2’s overall bump in hardware specs to some extent, there’s already a few Quest games out there that are getting graphical overhauls just in time for tomorrow’s launch to make good use of the upgrades.

To squeeze out everything Quest 2 has to offer, some developers have already gone into their previously released Quest games and optimized for the headset’s ‘experimental’ 90Hz support and ability to push higher quality assets and textures thanks to Snapdragon XR2. While this list may evolve as new games come to light, here’s the 10 games we’ve found that are going to benefit from developer optimization:

Apex Construct

  • Summary: Apex Construct is a single player VR action/adventure. Wield an upgradable bow & shield combination to battle enemy robots while exploring and solving mysteries in a shattered world.
  • Release date: May 21st, 2019
  • Developer: Fast Travel Games
  • Price: $20

Store link

Arizona Sunshine

  • Summary: VR meets the zombie apocalypse! Arizona Sunshine is the original zombie shooter rebuilt entirely for Oculus Quest. Powered by 360° gameplay freedom, the untethered Arizona Sunshine® experience immerses you and up to 3 fellow survivors in a world overrun by zombies more than ever.
  • Release date: December 5th, 2019
  • Developer: Vertigo Games
  • Price: $40

Store link

Gravity Lab

  • Summary: Build Your Incredible Machine – Gravity Lab would like to introduce our new range of gravity modifying appliances! Currently awaiting regulatory approval, we invite you to visit our testing facility and give them a go! We have prepared a selection of test scenarios for you and we are certain you can solve them!
  • Release date: August 20th, 2020
  • Developer: Mark Schramm
  • Price: $15

Store link

Ironlights

  • Summary: Ironlights is a VR dueling game with skillful, fluid, slow-motion melee combat. Test your skills in multiplayer battles, or fight to the top of the league in the huge single-player campaign!
  • Release date: April 9th, 2020
  • Developer: E McNeill
  • Price: $20

Store link

Phantom: Covert Ops

  • Summary: Dispatched into hostile wetlands in your military kayak, utilise weapons and equipment to neutralise enemies. Engage targets lethally or infiltrate unnoticed from the shadows across a full campaign. This is stealth action redefined.
  • Release date: June 25th, 2020
  • Developer: nDreams
  • Price: $30

Store link

Real VR Fishing

  • Summary: Let’s dive in and explore the world of fishing or just sit back and relax in a mesmerizing scenery together. Real VR Fishing invites you to the incredible real-world fishing spots to feel the taste of fishing in the Multiplayer mode or to relax and enjoy the stillness in the Single-play mode.
  • Release date: September 12th, 2019
  • Developer: MIRAGESOFT
  • Price:  $16

Store link

Red Matter

  • Summary: Red Matter is a story-driven VR puzzle adventure game set during a dystopian Sci-Fi Cold War. Take on the role of Agent Epsilon, an astronaut of the Atlantic Union dispatched to an abandoned Volgravian base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons. Your mission: to investigate a shady top secret research project.
  • Release date: August 15th, 2019
  • Developer: Vertical Robot
  • Price: $25

Store link

Superhot VR

  • Summary: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move.
  • Release date: May 21st, 2019
  • Developer: SUPERHOT Team
  • Price: $25

Store link

Trover Saves the Universe

  • Summary: From the co-creator of Rick and Morty comes Trover Saves the Universe. Your dogs have been dognapped by a beaked lunatic who stuffed them into his eye holes and is using their life essence to destroy the universe. Only you and Trover can save everything in this bizarre comedy adventure filled with combat, platforming, puzzles, and morally questionable choices
  • Release date: June 18th, 2020
  • Developer: Squanch Games
  • Price: $30

Store link

Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition

  • Summary: If you have ever wanted to make things disappear with a snap of your finger, throw fireballs, or telekinesis, then this experience is for you. Now included among many other hand tracking features!
  • Release date: December 5th, 2019
  • Developer: Aldin Dynamics
  • Price: $10

Store link

Virtual Desktop

  • Summary: Not a game, but rather a utility to connect to your computer to watch movies, browse the web or play games on a giant virtual screen or in various theater environments. Developer Guy Godin says Virtual Desktop will allow Quest 2 streams at higher resolutions, a higher maximum bitrate (150 Mbps instead of 100) and supports 60, 72, 80 and 90Hz.
  • Release date: May 21st, 2019
  • Developer: Guy Godin
  • Price: $20

Store link

– – — – –

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you’re overhauling your Quest game, or know of one that’s getting some graphical bumps to optimize for Quest 2, let us know in the comments below!

The post 10 Games Getting Quest 2 Enhancements at Launch appeared first on Road to VR.

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10 Games Getting Quest 2 Enhancements at Launch

Oculus Quest 2 launches tomorrow, bringing along with it higher resolution, higher refresh rate, and a cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset to drive native VR games on the company’s most powerful standalone headset yet.

Although all games out of the box will benefit from Quest 2’s overall bump in hardware specs to some extent, there’s already a few Quest games out there that are getting graphical overhauls just in time for tomorrow’s launch to make good use of the upgrades.

To squeeze out everything Quest 2 has to offer, some developers have already gone into their previously released Quest games and optimized for the headset’s ‘experimental’ 90Hz support and ability to push higher quality assets and textures thanks to Snapdragon XR2. While this list may evolve as new games come to light, here’s the 10 games we’ve found that are going to benefit from developer optimization:

Apex Construct

  • Summary: Apex Construct is a single player VR action/adventure. Wield an upgradable bow & shield combination to battle enemy robots while exploring and solving mysteries in a shattered world.
  • Release date: May 21st, 2019
  • Developer: Fast Travel Games
  • Price: $20

Store link

Arizona Sunshine

  • Summary: VR meets the zombie apocalypse! Arizona Sunshine is the original zombie shooter rebuilt entirely for Oculus Quest. Powered by 360° gameplay freedom, the untethered Arizona Sunshine® experience immerses you and up to 3 fellow survivors in a world overrun by zombies more than ever.
  • Release date: December 5th, 2019
  • Developer: Vertigo Games
  • Price: $40

Store link

Gravity Lab

  • Summary: Build Your Incredible Machine – Gravity Lab would like to introduce our new range of gravity modifying appliances! Currently awaiting regulatory approval, we invite you to visit our testing facility and give them a go! We have prepared a selection of test scenarios for you and we are certain you can solve them!
  • Release date: August 20th, 2020
  • Developer: Mark Schramm
  • Price: $15

Store link

Ironlights

  • Summary: Ironlights is a VR dueling game with skillful, fluid, slow-motion melee combat. Test your skills in multiplayer battles, or fight to the top of the league in the huge single-player campaign!
  • Release date: April 9th, 2020
  • Developer: E McNeill
  • Price: $20

Store link

Phantom: Covert Ops

  • Summary: Dispatched into hostile wetlands in your military kayak, utilise weapons and equipment to neutralise enemies. Engage targets lethally or infiltrate unnoticed from the shadows across a full campaign. This is stealth action redefined.
  • Release date: June 25th, 2020
  • Developer: nDreams
  • Price: $30

Store link

Real VR Fishing

  • Summary: Let’s dive in and explore the world of fishing or just sit back and relax in a mesmerizing scenery together. Real VR Fishing invites you to the incredible real-world fishing spots to feel the taste of fishing in the Multiplayer mode or to relax and enjoy the stillness in the Single-play mode.
  • Release date: September 12th, 2019
  • Developer: MIRAGESOFT
  • Price:  $16

Store link

Red Matter

  • Summary: Red Matter is a story-driven VR puzzle adventure game set during a dystopian Sci-Fi Cold War. Take on the role of Agent Epsilon, an astronaut of the Atlantic Union dispatched to an abandoned Volgravian base on Rhea, one of Saturn’s moons. Your mission: to investigate a shady top secret research project.
  • Release date: August 15th, 2019
  • Developer: Vertical Robot
  • Price: $25

Store link

Superhot VR

  • Summary: Multi-award winning, smash-hit SUPERHOT VR blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. The definitive VR action experience. Time moves only when you move.
  • Release date: May 21st, 2019
  • Developer: SUPERHOT Team
  • Price: $25

Store link

Trover Saves the Universe

  • Summary: From the co-creator of Rick and Morty comes Trover Saves the Universe. Your dogs have been dognapped by a beaked lunatic who stuffed them into his eye holes and is using their life essence to destroy the universe. Only you and Trover can save everything in this bizarre comedy adventure filled with combat, platforming, puzzles, and morally questionable choices
  • Release date: June 18th, 2020
  • Developer: Squanch Games
  • Price: $30

Store link

Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition

  • Summary: If you have ever wanted to make things disappear with a snap of your finger, throw fireballs, or telekinesis, then this experience is for you. Now included among many other hand tracking features!
  • Release date: December 5th, 2019
  • Developer: Aldin Dynamics
  • Price: $10

Store link

Virtual Desktop

  • Summary: Not a game, but rather a utility to connect to your computer to watch movies, browse the web or play games on a giant virtual screen or in various theater environments. Developer Guy Godin says Virtual Desktop will allow Quest 2 streams at higher resolutions, a higher maximum bitrate (150 Mbps instead of 100) and supports 60, 72, 80 and 90Hz.
  • Release date: May 21st, 2019
  • Developer: Guy Godin
  • Price: $20

Store link

– – — – –

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you’re overhauling your Quest game, or know of one that’s getting some graphical bumps to optimize for Quest 2, let us know in the comments below!

The post 10 Games Getting Quest 2 Enhancements at Launch appeared first on Road to VR.

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Arziona Sunshine, Trover Saves The Universe To Get Quest 2 Enhancements, Facebook Confirms

Facebook shared details on five games that are now officially enhanced for Oculus Quest 2, including previously unconfirmed updates for Arizona Sunshine and Trover Saves The Universe. As soon as you get your headset, you’ll be able to try these games out with enhanced visuals and/or performance.

Here are the five games and a breakdown of how they’ve been enhanced for Quest 2:

Arizona Sunshine: Updated visuals and improved zombie physics.

Ironlights: Improved render resolution, enhanced particle system and shading.

Red Matter: New textures and further LOD (level of detail) distance.

Trover Saves the Universe: New crisp visuals, increased resolution and improved framerate (more details here).

Waltz of the Wizard: Improved fidelity, real-time lights and post-processing, more interactive objects and particle effects, increased world detail and more.

These five titles will be featured on the store on launch day, as part of a ‘Newly Enhanced for Quest 2’ pack — we haven’t received any pricing details yet, but fingers crossed there’s discount applied as well.

While not listed above, we also found that The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, which is coming soon to the Quest platform, is also enhanced for Quest 2 — you can read more about that here.

For those out of the loop, the Oculus Quest 2 is a more powerful headset with lots of specification bumps compared to the original Quest. This means that developers have been able to optimize their existing Quest games to boost performance and improve the visuals, thanks to the beefier specs.

Oculus Quest 2 launches October 13, and all five games listed above will be available with Quest 2 enhancements at launch. The headset available in $299 and $399 models at 64GB and 256GB sizes respectively, and all existing Quest content will work across both headsets, even if it’s not been specifically enhanced for Quest 2.

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Waltz Of The Wizard Quest 2 vs Quest 1 Graphics Comparison

Waltz of the Wizard has been updated to include several visual enhancements specifically for Oculus Quest 2, ahead of the headset’s launch later this month. Let’s take a look at the changes in our Waltz of the Wizard graphics comparison!

The changes are available as part of a new patch, v1.5, detailed on the game’s Discord server. Even better, the update is already available to download, which means Quest 2 users will be able to try out Waltz of the Wizard with hardware-specific enhancements from day one, right on launch. In fact, we’ve already had a quick go at the update ourselves. Check out some of that footage below.

Waltz of the Wizard Graphics Comparison

Here’s a summary of the changes from the Waltz of the Wizard discord:

Improved fidelity on Oculus Quest 2 makes the world more believable and magical with real-time lights and true post-processing for realistic glow effects, greater number of interactive objects, more particle effects, increased world detail, and more. It also offers a Super Resolution mode which increases resolution to 150% for crystal-clear visuals, truly showcasing what the Quest 2 display is capable of.

The full list of changes for Quest 2, as per the patch notes, include:

  • Added real bloom
  • Added realtime lights on various spells and objects
  • Added Super Resolution Mode that increases resolution to 150%
  • Turned anisotropic textures on
  • Added more objects in Main Room
  • Improved various particle/spell effects
  • Added decals scattered around the Main Room, like spider webs
  • Added fire particles to torches in the Labyrinth

There’s also some general improvements that apply to both the original Quest and Quest 2, including improvements to the baked lighting and shadows, as well as the textures and quality of some objects.

The Oculus Quest 2 is a more powerful headset with lots of specification bumps compared to the original Oculus Quest. It launches October 13 and available in $299 and $399 models at 64GB and 256GB sizes respectively. While all Quest content will work across both headsets (for now, at least), developers are already taking advantage of the beefier specs — check out our comparison between Saints & Sinners on both headsets.

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Natural Magic Expansion For Waltz Of The Wizard Coming In Early 2021

Aldin Dynamics is planning a major expansion to Waltz of the Wizard on Steam and Quest that’ll add “Natural Magic” alongside large new areas.

The update is planned for early 2021 and Aldin is likely to raise the price for the game with release. So if you have a PC VR headset or a Quest and don’t have Waltz of the Wizard yet, now might be a good time to pick up the groundbreaking title so you get the Natural Magic update when it arrives.

Aldin Dynamics was founded in 2013 and Waltz has been the studio’s flagship game since shipping it in 2016 as an early example of room-scale PC VR with tracked motion controllers. The developers consistently expand and update it, with the extended edition available on Steam and Quest version being one of the few titles with controller-free hand tracking supported throughout. If you haven’t tried it already, Waltz of the Wizard’s finger-based slingshot is a must see on Quest.

Natural Magic

The Natural Magic expansion is described as Aldin’s first full expansion for Waltz of the Wizard with new forms of magic for users to control and new places to see. In particular, the new castle courtyard is triple the size of the main room from Waltz of the Wizard while still being jam-packed with interactivity throughout. There’s also a procedurally generated labyrinth filled with traps as well as “easter eggs and hand-sculpted events to add variety to the experience,” according to Aldin CEO Hrafn Thorisson.

The new magic system is pitched as a natural force in Aldin’s virtual world that’s connected to other forces like gravity and wind. “Your natural gestures control those energies, making magic feel and work more as if it’s real. Only the most skillful wizards will fully unleash their mystical powers,” the studio explains.

The expansion will also add challenges and achievements while featuring “improved visual fidelity on Oculus Quest 2.” There’s an official Aldin Discord group where you can join for a chance to be a part of the invite-only beta later this year.

“Visit the new castle courtyard and find the mysterious ritual circle to travel to new worlds – starting with the labyrinth,” the studio teases. “Adventurous wizards will explore its depths to recover forbidden knowledge and artifacts of the Observers, a race of interdimensional beings that have learned to harness magical energies to power strange gadgets and modify the fabric of space and time.”

Thorisson says they are exploring eye tracking and multi-user modes that might come into play eventually, depending on how things work out with the Natural Magic expansion. While the studio started its journey with Waltz of the Wizard on PC VR, Aldin seems to be experimenting the most — and finding very good sales — on Oculus Quest. So I asked Thorisson how he thinks the PC VR market stands relative to Quest.

“We think it’s very important to have SteamVR as an open alternative in the industry…we were one of the first roomscale developers, with one of the broadest features at launch for Index controllers and one of few with optimizations for 144hz,” Thorisson explained in an email. “That said, we think Quest is offering features that are vital for bringing VR to broader audiences and for what we are trying to accomplish. Standalone functionality,  fully articulated handtracking and a more user-friendly consumer experience is something we continue to urge our friends at Valve and SteamVR partners to pursue.”

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Waltz Of The Wizard Sees VR Sales Record From $2 Discount On Oculus Quest

A one-day sale for Waltz of the Wizard Extended Edition on Oculus Quest resulted in a VR sales record for development studio Aldin Dynamics.

The game typically sells for $9.99 but on Saturday it was discounted by 20 percent for a one-day discount. As of this writing, it sits at #7 on the top selling list for Quest.

“We’ve never made as much in a single day on any other platform,” Aldin CEO Hrafn Thorisson wrote in a direct message. “Every Quest sale has brought in greater revenue than the last.”

That’s a notable achievement for a random Saturday in July from a studio that’s had some version of Waltz available on the VR market since 2016 on PC-based systems, and since 2019 for PSVR. In recent weeks, Aldin added major new features to the Quest version of Waltz of the Wizard, including hand tracking throughout the entire game and a super cool feature that adds a magical slingshot extending from your fingers.

A number of VR studios have pointed toward Christmas day as bringing them single-day sales records as new headset owners look to load up their systems with content. The high revenue mark in mid-July, though, points to the likelihood Facebook continues to ship a lot of Quests even outside the holidays, and that buyers seem to be responding to the small number of sales and discounts available for games on the highly curated storefront.

“I wish we could make more of them faster during this period,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in April. “I’m quite pleased with how Quest is doing and I wish we could make more of them.”

We interviewed Thorisson recently about the addition of hand tracking to Waltz of the Wizard and you can check out that discussion here:

The post Waltz Of The Wizard Sees VR Sales Record From $2 Discount On Oculus Quest appeared first on UploadVR.