Gambit is a VR co-op shooter from the studio behind well known multiplayer VR shooter Zero Caliber. The forthcoming title has been in the works for at least two years now and today saw the reveal of its first gameplay trailer.
Gambit is a four player VR co-op shooter heading to PC VR and Quest 2 this year. The game was first revealed all the way back in 2020 and was planned for a 2021 release, but clearly that didn’t happen. Today during the UploadVR Showcase, the studio offered up a first look at some gameplay and now says the game will launch this year:
The trailer doesn’t give us a comprehensive idea of how it will play, but developer XREAL Games has made some ambitious promises for the game.
“a campaign that takes 20+ hours to plunder, 9 levels in 3 chapters, 4-player co-op, dozens of guns, a myriad of attachments, skins, masks, deathmatch, tournament ladders, minigames, leaderboards, climbing, graffiti, hidden rewards, the GNOP, bossfights, free updates, dedicated customer support, and so on,” the studio writes on the game’s steam page.
Image courtesy XREAL Games
Oh and don’t forget cross-platform multiplayer, which will allow Quest 2 and PC VR players to player together when the game launches later this year.
XREAL Games, the Budapest-based studio behind Zero Caliber VR (2018), announced that its upcoming co-op shooter Gambit! is finally set to release on Quest 2 and PC VR headsets next week.
Update (March 31st, 2023): After a long wait, XREAL Games today announced that Gambit! is now set to launch on April 6th, releasing simultaneously on SteamVR headsets and Quest 2.
The cross-platform game is said to offer “hours to plunder, 4-player co-op, dozens of guns, a myriad of attachments, skins, masks, deathmatch, tournament ladders, minigames, leaderboards, climbing, graffiti, hidden rewards, the GNOP, bossfights, free updates, dedicated customer support, and so on.”
Check out the latest gameplay trailer below:
Original Article (February 9th, 2022): Gambit! was first revealed around a year and half ago, promising a campaign-driven adventure full of guns, gangs, mayhem, and rock and roll. Although originally hoping to launch in 2021, now the team says it’s coming in Q2 2022.
Back then we only had a brief teaser to go on (seen below), however the game’s more recent Steam page shows off a bit more of what to expect, including a few new images.
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Image courtesy XREAL Games
Image courtesy XREAL Games
Image courtesy XREAL Games
Image courtesy XREAL Games
Image courtesy XREAL Games
XREAL says Gambit! will feature “20+ hours” of gameplay, that span nine levels across three chapters.
The four-player co-op missions are also said to include “dozens of guns, a myriad of attachments, skins, masks, deathmatch, tournament ladders, minigames, leaderboards, climbing, graffiti, hidden rewards, the GNOP, bossfights, free updates, dedicated customer support, and so on.”
We’re still waiting for the big gameplay reveal, although with the start of Q2 coming on April 1st, we may be getting a peek sometime soon. In the meantime we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled on the game’s Twitter for more info as it arrives.
18 months ago XREAL Games (Zero Caliber) teased a new virtual reality (VR) title it was working on, a co-op shooter called Gambit! The premise sounded good but then it all went quiet. Until today that is, with a new Steam page appearing, screenshots, gameplay details, launch window and supported headsets.
Set to offer both single-player and multiplayer modes, Gambit! is described as a “buddy adventure” where you and three mates work together to unleash some carnage across a 20+ hour campaign (9 levels over 3 chapters). There’s no gameplay footage just yet but the screenshots highlight an abundance of enemies, an assortment of weapons and some awesome looking visuals.
Players will have the option to select from four different characters, each with their own unique special weapon and style. We’ll have access to chainsaws, pistols, SMGs, and more, all of which can be customised with attachments, skins, and charms.
Gambit! might be built around cooperative gameplay but it won’t purely rely on it. There will be competitive leaderboards, tournament ladders and a PvP mode to keep you busy. And when you’re not fighting enemies or trying to beat a boss, there are mini-games to play, hidden areas to find, and graffiti boards with adjustable spray cans to get creative with.
Gambit! has got some serious competition in the co-op arena with Vertigo Games’ After the Fall released just before Christmas. It did very well at launch, managing to achieve $1.4 million in revenue during its first 24 hours. Also due for release in 2022 are SINand Green Hell VR sporting co-op features.
Being developed by a subsidiary team within XREAL Games, Gambit! is currently slated for a Q2 2022 release – May at the moment – for PC VR and Meta Quest 2 headsets. It’ll also support cross-play. As for Zero Caliber, the studio will still support the videogame through 2022 with further updates to come. As gmw3 learns more about Gambit! we’ll keep you updated.
Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.
Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hubto check as well.
If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).
We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.
Back in May XREAL Games brought its military shooter Zero Caliber to Oculus Quest in the form of Zero Caliber: Reloaded, rebuilding the experience for the standalone headset. Today, the studio has released its sixth update for the videogame, adding a new gameplay mode, more maps, guns and a few additional cosmetic extras.
The main focus of the update is the new Survival mode which supports both solo and four-player co-op. As you might expect, the mode is all about surviving for as long as possible, made a little bit easier if you are teamed up. Everyone starts with a basic pistol and as you clear waves gain access to better weapons and attachments via supply drops. Whilst you can slug it out for as long as possible, at a certain point between the waves you can leave by calling for extraction, although it’s not clear why you might do this.
XREAL Games has created two specific maps for the Survival mode, Critical Mass and The VIP, each with its own challenges. Critical Mass is a CQB map, players have to defend a stationary nuclear bomb while waves ofTlalokii soldiers try to sabotage the objective. The VIP changes the objective up by tasking players with keeping ‘Bob’ alive, who’ll be fighting alongside them.
In addition to all of this, Zero Caliber: Reloaded will see the M249 light machine gun make its debut, a HAMR Scope and 3 new weapon skins. Two of these skins can only be obtained by playing through the Survival mode.
Whilst it might be the sixth update XREAL Games has released for Zero Caliber: Reloaded, the team says the launch marks the first in series of bigger updates for the title without specifying what could be next. However, there was a tease regarding the PlayStation VR and SteamVR versions in the series. Zero Caliber VR is currently available as a Steam Early Access videogame whilst a PlayStation VR version has long been talked about. Hopefully, details should be dropping this week about both, most likely official launch dates for both.
When those details do arrive VRFocus will let you know.
Ever-busy VR developers, XREAL Games, will have new content for modern military VR shooter, Zero Caliber Reloaded on Oculus Quest this week. Oh, and there’s news about other editions of the game to come too.
XREAL took to Twitter to confirm that new maps, a new game mode and the M249 light machine gun will hit the Quest version of the cooperative shooter this Thursday in a free update. No word yet on exactly what the maps and mode will entail, but given that Reloaded is a retooled version of the original Zero Caliber on PC, it’s possible we see more content from that version of the game come over to the standalone headset. Or it could be something brand new.
New Zero Caliber Updates
It’s just one of a number of updates XREAL has released for the game since launch back in May. The developer has also updated the visuals and overhauled the AI.
In a follow-up Tweet, XREAL also confirmed that news for the PSVR and PC VR versions of the game would arrive on Friday. Zero Caliber is still in Early Access on PC and has been promised on PSVR for a while, so hopefully we could be getting news on the full release dates for both editions. The PC VR version itself hasn’t seen an update since Quest launch.
What are you hoping to see out of this week’s news? Let us know in the comments below!
All these online, multiplayer-focused military shooters are all well and good but sometimes you just want a nice single-player campaign to delve into. XREAL Games has provided PC VR players with this outlet for several years now thanks to Zero Caliber, a realistic first-person shooter (FPS) with obsessive attention to weapon detail. Now it’s Oculus Quest’s turn with Zero Caliber: Reloaded, rebuilt from the ground up for the standalone platform.
Now we say single-player but Zero Caliber: Reloaded does in fact offer a co-op multiplayer experience for up to four people, so you can bring some mates along. You’ll still be playing the same 20+ mission campaign but at least you can have a laugh with friends, appreciating some of the videogames’ finer and rougher moments.
XREAL Games presents a fairly run-of-the-mill story-driven campaign where you’re dropped into a war-torn, dystopian America fighting a bunch of bad guys. While the narrative won’t exactly keep you gripped until the end – there didn’t seem to be much point in paying attention to it – Zero Caliber: Reloaded’s main draw is its gun handling, loadout customisation options and almost fetishistic attention to detail when it comes to the armaments.
Whether you’re playing solo or with friends completing missions quickly and with high accuracy will award you cash to spend on your kit whilst advancing your character level to unlock new goodies. And there’s an absolutely huge selection of kit to play with, maybe too much. You can head into missions with two weapons, with the usual array of rifles, SMG’s, shotguns, and pistols to play with. Then there’s are the bewildering array of attachments; stocks, extended mags, sights, and grips, you name it it’s probably there.
Such is the amount that you’ll want to come back to the main hub every couple of missions to examine what you’ve got to further improve your chances on the next level. The attention to weapon detail isn’t purely visual either – although that’s definitely where a lot of time has been spent – as every gun excels when it comes to handling. Choose to fire one-handed and you’ll notice the recoil, so the mechanics do lean towards a more measured approach rather than running and gunning. It’s helpful stepping into the firing range after unlocking a new gun, learning where the mags/shells go and how to cock the damn thing, as each one is accurately modelled on its real-life counterpart.
The same goes for the grenades. In fact, unlike some VR titles where grenade throwing feels like an element of luck is involved, in Zero Caliber: Reloaded each throw always landed fairly on point. Plus, being able to pull a pin with your teeth is always fun and immersive.
Another great feature is the ability to hot-swap attachments in the field. Levels will contain the occasional weapon cache, usually containing a gun or two or maybe the odd extra. Find a new (better) gun for the situation and you can quickly and easily take any of the attachments off your previous weapon rather than losing them. If you die then you’ll reset back to your original loadout of course.
Big plus points where the guns are concerned, so it’s a shame that that attention to detail doesn’t come across in every other aspect. Zero Caliber: Reloaded isn’t exactly the best looking VR title when it comes to environments and NPC’s even considering the hardware it’s running on. Outside suffers the most, with some dodgy-looking foliage popping up, while inside buildings or more urban locations do fair a bit better.
And then there are the enemies. Variety and brains seem to be missing here as a bunch of shirtless dudes suddenly react in baffling ways. The AI veers widely from reasonably smart to idiotic. Some will start behind or head to cover taking pot shots then suddenly charge like they’re in a Serious Sam game. Others just stand there in the middle of the road. Get up close and they’ll do a roll for no advantage whatsoever, these are the ‘shotgun morons’ as once they stand up you can have a shotty already in their face.
Zero Caliber: Reloaded also presents other issues. There are definitely still glitches to iron out, enemies get stuck or clip through cover or a padlock on a door appears 5x the size, almost comedic in its dimensions. And then there’s the weapon belt, body inventory. In these types of VR videogames, it’s always nice when there’s no HUD, everything is on you and easy to grab. Yet in Zero Caliber: Reloaded it all felt a foot too far forward, with seemingly no way of adjusting the distance. This meant that when a gun had the grip attachment on, the handle would be in among the floating grenades. Or worse, if a gun has a cocking arm at the front then the grenades were in the way again. At the same time, the ‘weapon belt’ isn’t on your hips which gave a less than realistic feel to grabbing a new mag.
That’s not to say there weren’t enjoyable moments in Zero Caliber: Reloaded. Once you got a nicely tailored setup then dropping into a mission, kneeling behind over and taking some well-aimed headshots was very satisfying. Solo, the missions can get a bit simple and repetitive, clearing your way through an area or defending it, so having a few teammates can liven things up. Missions can last anywhere between 5-15 minutes and there are a few which have you backtracking to extend their duration.
Zero Caliber: Reloaded for Oculus Quest is a very mixed experience. On the one hand, the weapons are great and you could easily spend hours in the shooting range mixing and matching components. The 4-5 hour campaign is ok until you get further in and notice some of the glaring issues and glitches like the AI or the rather bland design choices. Best played on the hardest difficulty setting for any real challenge, Zero Caliber: Reloaded gets enough right to be worth a look, but only just.
A version of Zero Caliber VR (2018), the military shooter from A-Tech Cybernetic (2020) developers XREAL Games, is coming to Oculus Quest on May 13th, 2021.
Zero Caliber VR first came to PC VR back in 2018, launching its story-based campaign to ‘very positive’ reviews via Steam Early Access and the Oculus Store for Rift.
Although it shares a lot in common, including its single-player and four-player online coop campaign, the new version for Quest is said to be “basically a totally different game compared to the original PC version.”
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Image courtesy Xreal Games
Image courtesy Xreal Games
Image courtesy Xreal Games
Called Zero Caliber: Reloaded, the Quest-only version is launching on both Quest and Quest 2; since it’s not the same game as the PC version, it won’t feature cross-buy. The game will be priced $25 when it arrives on the Oculus Store May 13th.
Hungary-based indie Xreal says Quest 2 enhancements will include physically based rendering (PBR) textures on the weapons and hands at launch, with more enhancements coming in post-release updates. The studio says it’s also planning “quite a few post-release updates with new content/game mode and improvements.”
Here’s how Xreal describes Zero Caliber: Reloaded:
You’ll find yourself in a war-ridden, dystopian United States as a newly enlisted OSA soldier. What does OSA stand for? Outer States of America, the last bastion of hope. War over water destroyed the world as we know it. A fearsome organization worshipping Tlaloc, the Aztec God of rain emerged from the chaos. What is even worse, they know something that can change the fate of humanity…
Back in February XREAL Games revealed that its PC VR shooter Zero Caliber was being reworked for the Oculus Quest platform, arriving in the form of Zero Caliber: Reloaded this year. Today, the studio has dropped a new trailer alongside a launch date and price for the title.
While XREAL Games has rebuilt its original FPS for Oculus Quest the core fundamentals remain the same, there’s a story-driven, single-player campaign with realistic guns and scenarios. Plus, there’s a 4-player co-op mode if you want to bring some friends along to help with any of the levels. The studio has mentioned that the co-op will run on dedicated servers – NA, EU and SEA regions – with an invite friend feature making that process easier. “Players will be able to invite their friends after launching a Co-op session directly to said session (as long as their friends have the game running or they’re idling in the Oculus Quest Home),” the team notes in an email to VRFocus.
It’s all designed with realism in mind, from the weapon handling to the environment. So guns need to be manually reloaded and attachments added to improve their functionality. You can practice with each one in the gun range and when out in the field almost all the surfaces are climbable, enabling you to change strategies and flank enemies when required.
Zero Caliber: Reloaded will support both Oculus Quest and Quest 2, with the latter headset getting visual improvements. This will include PBR textures on the weapons and hand so Quest players will see nice and shiny reflective surfaces. Further enhancements are slated to arrive post-launch alongside new content and a game mode.
As for the original Zero Caliber for PC VR headsets that’s still in Early Access at the moment on Steam and Oculus Store. XREAL Games has been beta testing a PvP mode with expectations that it’ll drop later this year.
Zero Caliber: Reloaded will be hitting Oculus Quest on 13th May 2021 priced at $24.99 USD. As XREAL Games has stated previously, Zero Caliber: Reloaded will not support crossbuy with Oculus Rift’s Zero Caliber because the reworking has meant its an entirely different videogame underneath. Check out the new trailer below and for further updates keep reading VRFocus.
Zero Caliber VR has proven to be quite popular with PC gamers, offering both single-player and co-op multiplayer modes. Today, XREAL Games, the team behind the military shooter has announced plans to bring a reworked version to Oculus Quest this year.
Zero Caliber VR
In essence Zero Caliber: Reloaded will be similar to its PC counterpart, with the features fans love. But the studio notes it has been rebuilt entirely for the Quest platform, therefore it won’t be capable of cross-play with the PC version.
Even so, Zero Caliber: Reloaded is set to offer an action-packed campaign taking place in the not too distant future. Supporting both single-player or up to four-player co-op, players will be dropped into the middle of a war-torn, dystopian United States. There will be brand new missions, combat design, interactions and other new features.
“We are very proud of what our team has accomplished from a technical standpoint to port Zero Caliber over to the Oculus Quest platform,” says XREAL Games Marketing Director Daniel Nyirfa in a statement. “We’re extremely excited to bring Zero Caliber’s fan-favourite features to a new audience. Our on-the-fly swappable attachment system, weapon variety and physics, melee combat and climbing mechanics packed into an action-filled story will guarantee hours and hours of explosive fun. What’s even better is that the whole campaign can be played with friends!”
Zero Caliber VR
Currently, XREAL Games hasn’t released any screenshots or video for Zero Caliber: Reloaded, they should be arriving soon. The videogame will support both Oculus Quest and Quest 2, with the newer headset getting a visually improved experience – like many others offering enhanced versions.
When it comes to Zero Caliber VR, the studio is still working on new features having recently conducted a closed beta for a PvP mode. It’s been in Early Access for just over two years so the main focus is to further optimise the entire videogame for an official launch at some point.
Slated for a Q2 2021 launch, as further details are released for Zero Caliber: Reloaded, VRFocus will keep you updated.
