You can jump into VRChat right now for a digital New Years celebration across the globe. The New Years Eve party is live right now in both the PC version and Quest version of VRChat complete with musical performances, a ball drop, and fireworks.
You can watch the party happening live on Twitch as well for a preview if you’d like courtesy of VirtualBass, or join in for free on PC, PC VR, or Quest.
Within the Virtual Times Square there are musical performances to enjoy, 16 different community storefronts you can actually enter, the Great Pug rooftop lounge is of course featured with an excellent view, and more.
Earlier this week we awarded VRChat with the ‘Most Improved Social VR Platform’ designation specifically for things like this. Granted, VRChat hosted a similar party last year too, but this is just a single point across a year-long trend of helping people adapt to and accept life under pandemic lockdown restrictions.
Virtual parties like this are never going to actually equate to the real thing, at least not in the near future, but it still does a great job of approximating social interaction within a shared physical space unlike anything else out there. It also helps that I can wear a Spongebob avatar if I want.
You can check out either the PC / PC VR version of the NYE Party world or the Quest version. Follow the VRChat NYE Twitter for up-to-date information on the festivities.
Download VRChat for PC here or Quest here.
Following on from the Christmas sale just over a week ago, Facebook are running a New Year’s Sale offering discounts on bundles of Oculus Quest and Quest 2 games.
The sale isn’t as comprehensive as the Christmas sale, nor does it feature any sales on individual titles. All of the discounts available are for bundles or collections of two or more games, unlike the previous sale which featured a large list of discounts on individual games.
There are three New Year’s Packs — the 2021 Starter, the Fitness Essentials and the Action Essentials pack.
The 2021 Starter bundle includes Walkabout Mini Golf, Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale, Real VR Fishing and Richie’s Plank Experience for $49.99, down 30% from $69.96.
The Fitness Essentials bundle includes Racket: Nx, Synth Riders, and Pro Putt by Topgolf for $44.99, down 30% from $64.97.
The Action Essentials bundle includes In Death: Unchained, Space Pirate Trainer, and Golf Club VR also for $44.99, down 30% from $64.97
There’s also a separate Chronos Duo Pack that includes Tokyo Chronos and Altdeus: Beyond Chronos for $59.99, down from $79.98.
There’s some great games in these packs, some of which were even featured in our 2020 VR Awards. Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale won our 2020 Best Co-Op Multiplayer award, with Real Fishing VR coming in close as a nomination in the same category. In Death: Unchained was one of my favorite VR games of 2020 and was also nominated for our Best Quest Game award.
If you’re a new Quest 2 owner who received a headset for Christmas, be sure to check out our list of the best 25 games available on Oculus Quest. Alternatively, we also have a list of the 11 best free games and experiences for Quest 2, if you’re looking to save a bit of money after the holiday period.
While 2020 may have been rubbish when it comes to almost everything, virtual reality (VR) developers have provided some awesome content to fill the time. So now it’s time to look ahead and see what the next 12 months will bring.
There’s no shortage of VR titles already slated for 2021, some have moved over from last year whilst others are looking to make their mark. Those such as Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell don’t make the main list as these aren’t expected anytime soon.
The main videogame a lot of PlayStation VR players are likely to be looking forward to, Hitman 3 arrives in a few weeks, the only title on this list with an actual launch date.
Putting you back into the shoes of the infamous assassin, Hitman 3 is fully VR compatible across its main campaign as well as its four other modes. Developer IO Interactive is making it possible to bring the two previous instalment’s maps – if you own Hitman 1 and 2 – into the third edition so you can play them in VR. Plus, the PlayStation 4 version will freely upgrade to the PlayStation 5 edition, whilst the PS5 version comes with a digital PS4 copy so there’s no need to worry which console you own.
Announced as an Oculus Rift exclusive back in 2018, originally Lone Echo II had been slated for 2019. Over the course of 2020, a couple of updates were released noting that work was still ongoing as the team adjusted to working remotely but it was clear from the last one the videogame wasn’t going to make it this year.
The single-player sci-fi adventure, Lone Echo II continues the story where you play a robot called Jack who needs to help Captain Olivia Rhodes survive the perils of space. Exclusive to the Oculus Store, it’s worth taking a look at the original even if titles like Half-Life: Alyx have now surpassed it.
As there’s no actual release date just yet, Lone Echo II could well arrive after Oculus Rift S is discontinued so there’s little doubt it’ll be Oculus Quest (via Oculus Link) compatible.
A horror title with a twist, Fast Travel Games’ Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife looks to be quite an intriguing experience. Set within the World of Darkness universe, you play as a wraith stuck in the mysterious Barclay mansion with the ability to walk through walls and pick items up remotely.
This being a horror videogame, just because you’re a wraith doesn’t mean to say there aren’t nasty beings lurking in the darkness. In fact, they’re called Spectres and they stalk your every footstep. Suspense is key here, there doesn’t look to be any combat just exploration, puzzle-solving and hiding when appropriate.
From the team that brought you A Fisherman’s Tale, InnerspaceVR is working on a puzzle adventure called Maskmaker. Set in a realm ruled by the titular character, you’re his apprentice, learning his secret, magical ways of making masks. These are no ordinary masks, allowing you to freely explore 8 levels ‘biomes’ and discover their secrets.
As an apprentice, you’ll have to learn to build various masks from blueprints using materials you find. Eventually, you’ll be given free rein to make your own designs, although the studio hasn’t revealed what will happen when you do. Grander in scope than InnerspaceVR’s previous projects, Maskmaker is expected early next year.
Iris VR Inc. – the team behind Technolust – held a successful Kickstarter back in 2019 for its ambitious cyberpunk project Low-Fi, which supports both VR and non-VR gameplay. An epic sci-fi adventure where you play a cop patrolling the dark crime-ridden streets of city-block 303, you’re able to choose between keeping law and order or exploiting its seedy underbelly.
While the Kickstarter offered backers access to the development build depending on which tier they purchased, that early access was then made available to everyone. Low-Fi is available on itch.io for $35 USD, once the videogame is ready to launch you’ll get a Steam key.
Warhammer fans on Oculus Quest have just been treated to Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister from Pixel Toys. Next year it’s the turn of Carbon Studio’s Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall to take you into the wartorn universe.
Only a few teasing details of the gameplay have been revealed so far such as the image below and that the action will be a mix of melee combat and powerful, motion-based spellcasting. One aspect Carbon Studio has been detailing is the storyline through a selection of dev blog’s over on Steam. If the team’s recent The Wizards – Dark Times game is anything to go by Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall is in good hands.
Another videogame falling foul of remote working in 2020, Vertigo Games’ After the Fall is its next big blockbuster shooter. Originally unveiled during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2019, the studio has released few updates over the past year, the main one being the delay.
A promising action-packed FPS from what’s been shown so far, the studio behind Arizona Sunshine is heading for chillier climes for this adventure. Not to some northern outpost, rather Los Angeles set in a desolate future consumed by climate change and where most of the population have turned into monsters because of a designer drug. Survival will require scavenging for parts to build deadly weapons and other tools.
Revealed during Facebook Connect in September, Crytek’s free-climbing sequel was slated for an Oculus Quest launch by the end of 2020. Nothing has been heard of The Climb 2 since then including a reason for the delay.
Just like before you’ll need a head for heights, assailing cliff faces whilst looking for the best route up. This time around, however, it won’t just be scenic views of the ocean and countryside you’ll be able to enjoy, it’ll take you into cities to scale massive skyscrapers like you’re Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible movie. Hopefully, more news will come available in early 2021.
Bringing its popular sniping franchise into VR, Rebellion has teamed up with Coatsink and Just Add Water on the production of Sniper Elite VR. A single-player, story-driven campaign takes you to Italy during World War 2, helping the Italian resistance to rid Sicily of the Nazi’s.
You’ll be exploring scenic locations, finding the best spots to snipe enemies or when necessary employing sub-machine guns, pistols and other weapons at close range. And let’s not forget about the infamous X-ray kill camera to really make those long-range shots standout. While no official release date has been mentioned, having demoed Sniper Elite VR in 2019 VRFocus has its fingers crossed this might appear in 2021.
Rhythm-action videogames can be awesome fun and Unplugged from Anotherway and Vertigo Games looks like it could be a blast. It’s also the only title here which uses Oculus Quest’s hand tracking feature for some air guitar rock and roll.
So far a couple of teasing videos featuring Searching for the Truth by The Electric Alley and Roadie by Tenacious D have showcased the gameplay no guitar controllers needed. You’ll score points and build combos when playing well or booed and beer hurled at you when you mess up.
Hitman 3’s VR support was built up by a surprisingly small number of developers – just 10 to 12 people worked on the integration.
That is according to a recent Game Informer article talking about the assassin sim’s new VR support. This team makes up only a small percentage of the entire IO staff – a 2016 MCV article put the studio’s headcount at around 170 developers. This week’s article also notes that, obviously, Q&A staff worked on the VR support too.
It’s undoubtedly impressive based on what Hitman 3 is set to offer in VR. The entire game can be played inside the PSVR headset and you can even import old levels from Hitman 1 and 2 to see them with fresh eyes too. Plus IO has integrated motion control support in the DualShock 4 for an entirely new way to play.
“Everyone gets super excited,” lead game designer Sidsel Hermansen said of the PSVR support. “The coders also got super excited, like, ‘We could do this!’ and ‘Actually, we usually wouldn’t go there, but aw, f— we have to do it,’ right? So that excitement has really driven us and we’ve done much more than should be possible on a relatively small team because of the excitement. I don’t know if that was surprising, but it’s been a beautiful thing.”
Hitman 3 lands on January 20th. You’ll need the PS4 version to play with PSVR, even if you own a PS5, but both versions of the game are included if you pick it up on PlayStation. No word yet on possible PC VR support.
When it comes to virtual reality (VR) boxing titles one of VRFocus’ favourites is Thrill of the Fight. Created by indie developer Ian Fitz, work has begun on a sequel addressing one sorely absent feature, a multiplayer component. Recently, it was revealed plans are underway for this to be a launch day feature.
Development on Thrill of the Fight 2 was announced earlier in 2020 with Fitz taking to Reddit to outline his plans. Responding to Twitter comments this month, Sealost Interactive – Fitz’s new studio – confirmed: “We are planning on having PVP be a day 1 feature for TotF2 as of right now.”
Few other details have been revealed by the team so far, noting: “We are still in the very early stages of development.” However, there was one final tease: “We currently plan on having some character customization features in the second game,” so at least you’ll be able to create your own boxer to take into the ring.
It’s worth noting that while multiplayer will definitely be part of Thrill of the Fight 2, the original won’t be getting the feature. While Sealost Interactive is concentrating on the sequel its not forgotten about the original. Hitting Oculus Quest last year, Thrill of the Fight recently rolled out updates for both Quest headsets, improving visuals whilst adding support for Oculus Quest 2’s 90hz mode.
Currently, there’s no window for Thrill of the Fight 2’s release so for the time being you’ll have to continue training against Thrill of the Fight’s AI. The videogame offers a virtual gym where you can train those skills on Speed Bags, Focus Balls and other equipment before stepping into the ring. With no arcade-style gimmicks the gameplay provides a real workout, keeping you on your toes as you try to deliver knockout blows.
In its review of Thrill of the Fight VRFocus said: “Fitz has managed to take the core essence of what makes boxing so compelling and distilled it down into Thrill of the Fight. Immersive and a great use of roomscale, Thrill of the Fight has all the hallmarks of an indie gaming gem, especially being so cheap.” So expectations are high for the sequel.
As Sealost Interactive reveal more details on Thrill of the Fight 2, VRFocus will let you know.
It’s been a hard year for Humanity. No, not that Humanity (forgive the pun but it really can’t be helped). I mean the upcoming PSVR game from Rez Infinite and Tetris Effect developer, Enhance Games and THA. The title is now coming in 2021.
A tweet from the game’s official Twitter account confirmed as much just ahead of Christmas. “2020 took an unexpected turn for Humanity,” the message reads. “But 2021 is our year.” A short video seen below shows the game’s crowds of tiny people shifting from a 2020 message to 2021.
2020 took an unexpected turn for Humanity. But 2021 is our year.
Happy holidays, stay safe, and we’ll see you next year.
https://t.co/veeQP2Ks0A#humanitygame pic.twitter.com/LLbQR2cTlo
— HUMANITY (@HumanityGame) December 17, 2020
We haven’t heard much from Humanity throughout 2020 after the game was first announced in 2019. Back then an ambiguous trailer showed us scores of people colliding with each other as they navigated levels, occasionally fighting other crowds, occasionally overcoming obstacles. What you actually do and how you play, though, remains pretty much anyone’s guess. Check out the trailer below for some hints.
Still, we’re excited. The game has optional PSVR support and looks like a technical achievement. The developer didn’t give any word on a possible PS5 release but, even if that’s happening, we all know we’d need to play the PS4 version to access the VR support.
A reason for the delay wasn’t given, although Enhance has also been working on ports of Tetris Effect in 2020 and, you know, had to contend with the pandemic like the rest of us.
Bigscreen released a holiday update just before Christmas bringing new environments and features. Plus, the developers are seeing strong statistics and retention on Quest 2.
The biggest part of the update is the new drive-in theater environment, which the developers said was the #1 most requested feature from users.
In addition to the drive-in, the app has also been redesigned over the last few months and now features a brand new user interface. The developers say that the new UI should make it easier to discover new rooms and content, which is convenient as there’s also 60 new TV channels being added into Bigscreen in this update. The channels “including major crime-drama series such as Narcos and hilarious game shows like Wipeout.”
A new TV category called “To Infinity and Beyond” is also being added to Bigscreen for livestreams and re-runs of rocket launches. According to the developers, SpaceX launches are some of the largest social events in Bigscreen and VR in general, with thousands of people all watching at once.
The developers also noted that the Quest 2 launch has been massive for Bigscreen and has meant that the team had to upgrade their servers. According to the developers, “core metrics are up 3-5x since October” and people are spending more time in the app than ever. “The average session is nearly an hour, and power users spend 20-30 hours every week in Bigscreen. Quest has become the most popular headset in Bigscreen’s userbase, followed by the Oculus Rift S, Valve Index, and HTC Vive.”
Thanks to the server upgrade, lobbies now support 12 people (up from 8) and the plan is for room size limits to increase up to 25 or even 50 people sometime next year.
With this update, Bigscreen is no longer supported on Oculus Go, as Facebook stopped accepting app updates for that headset as of December 4. The Oculus Go Bigscreen servers will be shut down “in the coming weeks.”
Next year, Bigscreen plans to ship several features, including “a friends system, new avatars, new environment, major improvements to our video streaming, a new ultra-low latency Remote Desktop feature and more.” PlayStation VR and Mac app support are both also “on the roadmap” but without a strict timeline.
In recent weeks the developers of Eleven Table Tennis have been dealing with something that’s not exactly common for a virtual reality title. So many people were playing at the same time that the servers crashed. While frustrating for those affected, the temporary setback puts a spotlight on what might become a new trend for VR.
Is VR keeping alive sports that can’t be safely or affordably played in the physical world? Is it even introducing new players to those games? And is it possible more people seek out the physical version of their pandemic pastimes once it is safe to do so?
While we’ll have to wait to see what the answers to some of these questions are, there is some anecdotal evidence already of an answer to the first question.
Yes, some people are keeping their love of ping pong alive during a pandemic through VR.
There are tens of thousands of people who purchased Eleven Table Tennis in 2020 for around $20 on the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 standalone headsets. It is also available on PC VR headsets as well with cross-play available between the different VR systems.
For that one-time price, players get unlimited access to a kind of table tennis club of sorts. Ping pong clubs exist in lots of major cities around the world with players paying a membership fee to meet up once a week or so in community or recreation centers to play a more serious version of the game most people only know from the garage or backyard.
The key difference is that Eleven is 100% pandemic-safe, unlike every other ping pong club in the world where people toss a physical ball in the air before hitting it to an opponent in the same room. The biggest risk to your body playing Eleven from the safety of your own home is that you might try leaning on a table that isn’t physically there. And that’s a legitimate concern — just check the reviews for the game where people mention the risk — because of just how completely the software makes you believe the table is actually there.
And all those people buying the game and stuck inside throughout 2020 means that right now, in the middle of a pandemic, at any given moment hundreds of people around the world are playing ping pong in Eleven Table Tennis. Arguably, that makes Eleven Table Tennis one of the largest and most active table tennis clubs in the world. During a recent sale which temporarily discounted Eleven’s price, the game’s lead developer says there were 820 concurrent players online in the game.
77 percent of the reviews for Eleven Table Tennis on the Oculus Quest store are five star reviews. If you wade into them and read past the reviews praising the game despite the threat of actual physical injury due to leaning on the virtual table — you’ll see the reviews from people praising the game for getting them through the pandemic.
“The short story is this app…turned the Quest 2 from something I was considering returning, to something I play for multiple hours a day. It’s that good,” wrote user AlexSowT in a review. “I was an avid table tennis player in real life, and since lockdown, have been bumbed I could not play…its like being back at the office playing table tennis until the late evening.”
“I’m writing this review to thank the developer because Eleven has seriously been an important element in my piece of mind mid-pandemic whilst working from home. At the office I would play table tennis every lunch time and I lost that joy when we were all forced indoors,” wrote TenaciousThumbs.
“I’m glad this game exists, especially since I own an outdoor ping pong table which I don’t use in the winter, so this game serves as a great replacement,” wrote sparklezfan1000.
”I am currently rated ~2300 in the game. After two months of practice, I can now loop the ball pretty well on both my forehand and backhand. The trick is to slow down my stroke. And focus more on improving hand eye coordination in the VR world, which actually took me a while to calibrate. I know that will affect my real game, but it is still better than not practicing at all during the lockdown,” wrote VRGoldenL.
”As someone who likes to play table tennis in real life, this is amazingly like the real thing….multiplayer is great too…comes into its own in lockdown,” wrote Dom321.
”Forget about your dream of buying a real ping pong table. This is the real thing,” wrote Maldororr.
The developers of Eleven Table Tennis as well as the players of the game are working together to make it even more realistic.
Fans of Eleven have already made a number of adapters for the Oculus Quest controllers. The adapters hold an Oculus Touch controller for you, freeing your grip to instead hold the accessory that’s 3D printed to feel more like a physical paddle. You could print them at home on your own 3D printer, or purchase one from a site like Sanlaki. The latest $24.99 adapter comes in right-handed or left-handed versions with a reusable fastener to lock the controller in place.
While Oculus Touch controllers take AA batteries, it is even possible to get AAA lightweight rechargeable batteries and place them in a plastic adapter to lower the overall weight of the controller. The end result is an experience in VR which even more closely matches the overall feel of a physical ping pong paddle in terms of weight, grip and the overall center of gravity.
In addition, an update currently being tested for the game takes advantage of Facebook’s “phase sync” technology which should shave milliseconds off the perceptible latency in the game. The update should enable players to make tiny corrections to their fastest swings and see those actions matched up in game more accurately.
We should hear more about the new projects from Boneworks developer Stress Level Zero sometime in 2021.
Last week on Twitter the studio’s Brandon J Laatsch revealed that there will be more info to share on the team’s “upcoming games” next year. Asked if Boneworks could add female characters in the future, Laatsch replied: “Boneworks is Arthur Ford’s story, so not for Boneworks. But the story isn’t all about Arthur, we’ll have info about upcoming games next year!”
There are two interesting tidbits to take from this tweet. First and most obvious is that this means we should know more about the new game set in the Boneworks universe that’s due to release at least on Oculus Quest. The game was first announced in late 2019 just ahead of the launch of Boneworks itself, but we haven’t heard anything about it throughout 2020.
But note that Laatsch also says projects, plural. That confirms that the team is working on at least one other title beyond the next installment in the Boneworks universe. Could this be another title set in that same world, something entirely new, or perhaps even something that ties back into the developer’s first two VR games, Hover Junkers and Duck Season? A Boneworks update out today already revisits the former of those two worlds.
We also know that the team’s next game will be coming to Quest and Steam, though it’s not clear if that could be the already announced Boneworks title or whatever other projects the team has in development.
What do you think Stress Level Zero’s next projects could be? Let us know in the comments below!
Cybershoes for Oculus Quest give you the means to move convincingly in VR using your actual legs without ever needing to physical stand up from your chair. And, believe it or not, it actually does a pretty good job. Here are our first impressions of the Cybershoes for Oculus Quest. The Kickstarter campaign for Cybershoes on Quest is fully-funded at over twice their goal with an end date of December 31.
Over two years ago I wrote about my experience using the original iteration of the Cybershoes, which were designed to be used with a PC VR headset tethered to a PC. This newest model supports both Quest and PC VR.
The most intrusive part of the previous setup is that you had to dangle the HMD wire above your head with a little fishing rod-style contraption that was a pain to setup and took up lots of space. That’s no longer the case with the wireless, standalone Oculus Quest headset.
While it might seem redundant to use a device that lets you move around in VR with your legs since you could just, you know, stand up and move around in VR with your legs using a Quest already, but there are some unique advantages with Cybershoes. Not only does it mean you don’t need to worry about your Guardian boundaries and room size constraints, but it also should help tremendously for those with motion sickness concerns.
The act of swinging your feet and twisting around in a chair adds that physical element most VR is missing that can, for many people, alleviate the VR sickness woes. Personally, I don’t get motion sick or VR sick so I cannot confirm nor deny the effectiveness, but many users have reported results after using these and the previous PC VR version.
The concept here is very simple. You strap on these open-style shoes that slide on the ground and simulate actual movement. The bottoms of the shoes have sensors that tell your VR headset which direction you’re moving.
If the game has analog stick / gamepad movement support at all, then it should work with no problems. For Oculus Quest many of the top games, like Arizona Sunshine, Myst, and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners all work great right out of the box.
Thankfully setup is dead simple. All you have to do is strap the Cybershoes onto your feet, attach the little box to the front of your headset, which is incredibly light, and plug that in the side. There are no wires to worry about at all.
At first it takes some getting used to. Rubbing your feet across the floor to move isn’t exactly a natural movement nor is it super intuitive, but it starts to click after a while. The concept is the same as you see in other movement solutions, such as the treadmill-style options from Omni, but you’re seated instead.
Admittedly I don’t think I see myself using Cybershoes for Quest very often even though they absolutely do work as advertised. To me, the physicality of standing up and moving around a room is far more immersive and important than rubbing my feet on the ground. However, I can see some use cases for this.
If you get motion sick easily and traditional artificial locomotion in games like The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners always makes you uncomfortable, then you could totally try using Cybershoes as a way to circumvent that side effect. Alternatively, if you have a disability that prevents you from standing for long periods of time but you can still move your legs, then this is an excellent middle ground.
So to be perfectly clear: yes, Cybershoes works as intended and removing the wire from PC VR makes it far more user-friendly and compelling, but, just like the 3DRudder, I fail to see a compelling reason to use this instead of just moving around a room. Even if you don’t have enough space for roomscale and would just be standing in one spot and leaning around I’d still rather do that than be restricted to sitting in a chair while in VR — especially when using a standalone, wireless, roomscale headset like the Oculus Quest or Quest 2.
Maybe that will change once more developers add support, but as it stands it’s hard to imagine a world where sitting down with sensor shoes is the ideal way of enjoying otherwise roomscale VR.
We’ve made our picks for the best virtual reality games, experiences and hardware of 2020!
2020 was an enormous year for VR with huge games, apps and hardware that are completely changing the world’s understanding of what it means to put on a headset. First, we whittled down to 16 categories with strong entries in each leaving us with some hard decisions to make. After some hearty internal debate, we made our selections and picked out a winner in every category.
Without further delay, read on to find out who won in every category or watch the video with David Jagneaux, Jamie Feltham and myself explaining our decisions and how hard it was to make a choice in some of the categories.
Ghost-hunting game Phasmophobia is our 2020 winner for the most promising early access game!
Also nominated were Blade & Sorcery, STRIDE, Contagion VR: Outbreak, and Zero Caliber.
Tender Claws surprised us this year with an incredible imagining of The Tempest in The Under Presents that brings players into the performance. It was an absolute delight and we hope to see more experiences like it in the future.
Also nominated: VTOL VR 1.0, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners’ Physics System, Waltz of the Wizard’s Hand-Tracking Update, Hand Space’s Hand-Tracking Experiments, Half-Life: Alyx ‘s Russel Gloves, and The Room VR: A Dark Matter.
Social VR applications evolved quite a bit this year — in some cases becoming the connective tissue to communities that couldn’t meet any longer in the real world. We continue to be impressed with the changes we’re seeing to VRChat, which launched a new avatar system and visual scripting features that helped make it our selection as the most improved social platform of 2020.
Also nominated: Rec Room, AltSpaceVR, and BigScreen.
This was a very tough category to decide due to the level of competition and innovation we saw in VR workouts this year. But we thought the range of movement and fun you can have in OhShape warranted recognizing it as the Best VR for Fitness of 2020.
Also nominated: Supernatural, Beat Saber DLC, VRWorkout, Until You Fall, and FitXR.
We don’t know anything about it yet other than the names of the franchises themselves, but the eventual release of Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell in VR is going to end up being an enormous draw for the medium and that’s why we picked them as the most anticipated VR games.
Also nominated: Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife. Maskmaker, Low-Fi. Ilysia, Sniper Elite VR.
You’re unlikely to find another development studio in VR that updates and expands its game as regularly as RUST LTD. — and that’s been true since Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades debuted for PC VR back in 2016. For example, for Christmas this year the developers issued an update every day through the holiday. What’s more, we think future VR developers are probably watching Anton Hand’s regular developer logs and learning about what it takes to make truly complex simulations feel great — and that’s something we wanted to recognize with this award.
Also nominated: EA Motive, Skydance Interactive, MirageSoft, and ARVORE.
Resolution Games is figuring out how to make exciting and fun multiplayer games and Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale is proof the developers are zeroing in on a winning formula.
Also nominated: Spaceteam VR, Star Wars: Squadrons, Real VR Fishing, Path of the Warrior
Multiplayer VR was a competitive category this year but Population: One edges out the competition with its expansive map and exhilarating gameplay.
Also nominated: Star Wars: Squadrons, Eleven: Table Tennis VR, Beat Saber, and Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners shines on Oculus Quest 2 and we think it represents a preview of the types of games we’re likely to see more frequently in VR over the next few years.
Also nominated: Population: One, Echo VR, Ghost Giant, Onward, Until You Fall, In Death. Five Nights At Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted
Half-Life: Alyx gave PC gamers a reason to buy a headset this year and, if they did, they’d have an amazing experience visiting one of the most iconic environments in video game history. Of course it is the best PC VR game of 2020.
Also nominated: The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Star Wars: Squadrons, Population: One, Thief Simulator
Just like on Quest, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners shines on PlayStation VR hardware as our best PSVR game of 2020.
Also nominated: Dreams, Iron Man VR, Star Wars: Squadrons, Star Wars: Vader Immortal, and Pixel Ripped 1995.
The feeling of actually being in the cockpit of the iconic ships we’ve seen on the big screen for so many years couldn’t be matched in 2020 — and that’s why we picked Star Wars: Squadrons’ cockpit experience as the most immersive moment of the year.
Also nominated: Half-Life: Alyx – Jeff, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Your first zombie kill, Phasmophobia – Your first ghost encounter, Eleven: Table Tennis VR – Quest multiplayer, Pixel Ripped 1995 – Avoiding mom, and Phantom: Covert Ops – Learning to paddle.
A kind of digital alien zoo, mysterious and beautiful, unfolds in front of you in Paper Beast and it is an astonishing experience to behold.
Also nominated: Gloomy Eyes, The Line, The Key, Paper Birds, and The Under Presents: The Tempest.
Oculus Quest 2 lowered the barrier to entry for a great VR experience down to $299 this year. That’s a remarkable moment for the VR industry and, without it, we’re not sure where VR would be right now.
Also nominated: HP Reverb G2, Pico Neo 2 Eye, and PlayStation 5.
This was actually harder to decide than you might imagine but Half-Life: Alyx is our selection for game of the year. Its world is an incredible experience from the very first moment and it will be a place we expect to revisit for decades to come.
Also nominated: The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Population: One, Star Wars: Squadrons, Until You Fall, The Room VR: A Dark Matter
So there you have it, our full list of best VR of 2020 awards!
After four years the PlayStation VR is still going which is an accomplishment considering the lifespan of most virtual reality (VR) headsets. Even with PlayStation 5 now available, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has ensured continued compatibility whether you’re new to VR or not. For PlayStation VR owners there’s been plenty of content to choose from in 2020, so here’s 10 of the best.
Unlike previous years, PlayStation VR’s dominance has wained and with it, all the exclusives the platform was known for. There are still a couple on the list below, but most of the titles now tend to be multi-platform. That’s no bad thing as there are some great videogames on offer.
Let’s start with an exclusive though, in fact, PlayStation VR’s biggest exclusive of the year, Marvel’s Iron Man VR. After a series of delays developer Camouflaj released the highly anticipated title during the summer, providing players with the first proper chance to don the famous suit.
With a pair of PlayStation Move controllers you can take to the skies to battle new enemies, learning how to use the Repulsor Jets to dodge enemy attacks as well as shoot them. As the campaign progresses you can customise the suit with various offensive and defensive capabilities to suit the missions. This is the closest to being Iron Man you’ll ever get.
One of the more unusual VR experience to arrive this year, Pixel Reef’s Paper Beast is a surreal puzzle adventure inside a world created from big data. In this simulated ecosystem, bizarre creatures have come to life, exhibiting similar characteristics to real-world animals.
The main campaign revolves around interacting with the creatures and environment to solve the various challenges, providing some awe-inspiring visuals along the way. In addition to the campaign, there’s a sandbox mode where you can build your own worlds. One of those videogames which showcase how unique VR can be.
Originally released last year for PC VR headsets, after much work Phaser Lock Interactive managed to bring WWII strategy game Final Assault to PlayStation VR.
With a single-player campaign as well as cross-platform multiplayer, Final Assault is fully featured when it comes to content. You command ground and aerial troops like a table-top boardgame, dropping them in to lead an attack or setup defensive positions before pushing forward. The aim being to destroy your opponents base. Lots of fun if you like real-time strategy (RTS) titles.
When it comes to retro nostalgia in VR ARVORE’s Pixel Ripped series has got you covered. The latest is Pixel Ripped 1995, taking you back 25 years to a time where sprites were transitioning into 3D graphics.
Considered a golden era for videogames, Pixel Ripped 1995 features six levels containing nods to titles such as Streets of Rage, Mortal Kombat, Road Rash, Star Fox, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania and many more. You play as Dot who needs to vanquish her arch enemy the evil Cyblin Lord, aided by a 9-year-old videogame fan called David. Gameplay jumps between 2D and 3D, where you have to deal with challenges both onscreen and off. Certain to put a smile on any players face.
Not one for younger players unless you go straight into the settings to switch the gore off, Gorn is pure over-the-top violence in a comedic, cartoon style. You’re a gladiator and the aim here is to survive brutal arena fights using whatever weapons come to hand (or just use your hands).
No crimson paint is spared as you break bones and dismember opponents with knives, axes, maces, bows and even environmental obstacles. Everything has a bouncy, ragdoll effect, so enemies can be flung around whilst the weapons wobble around like giant sponges. Addictive in its simplicity, Gorn is also quite the workout due to the physical exertion of beating cartoon gladiators senseless.
One for those who love to be creative as well as play videogames, Dreams was a major launch for PlayStation 4 early in the year, with VR support added a few months later.
Developer Media Molecule has created a title where you can play its own single-player experience as well as those from the rest of the Dreams community. If you want to delve deeper then there’s a massive selection of tools to build whatever you want, from a simple art piece to a videogame which can be shared with the world. A videogame with limitless possibilities.
Another 2019 title which finally made it to PlayStation VR, Cloudhead Games’ Pistol Whip is a rhythm-action videogame like no other. Evoking films like John Wick you can become an action-movie badass, shooting enemies and dodging to a thumping soundtrack.
With 15 on-rail ‘Scenes’, the gameplay is intense and physical, encouraging you to move out the way of bullets whilst firing off as many of your own. The visuals are just as dramatic, creating an all-encompassing experience which will make you sweat. Plus there are plenty of modifiers to make things harder whilst upping that score for top leaderboard positions. Then early next year PlayStation VR owners will be treated to free DLC Pistol Whip 2089.
It was on VRFocus’ ‘Best Oculus Quest Games of 2020‘ list and now Schell Games’ Until You Fall has made it here as well. This is a hack-n-slash roguelite where death is cruel and the gameplay even more so.
It’s all about melee combat, fighting through the procedural world of Rokar where each run-through isn’t quite the same but you can become stronger in the process. Attack, block and parry relentless foes. Should you fail then returning to the hub means you can upgrade weapons or select new ones to change your strategy. Energetic like Gorn, however, Until You Fall requires far more precision.
This videogame needs little introduction as it was the major release in October, strapping pilots into either Rebel or Imperial ships to battle in that far off galaxy. While you don’t necessarily need to be a fan of the franchise, it certainly helps when playing Star Wars Squadrons.
With single-player and multiplayer modes, in the story-driven campaign, you swap between the two opposing faction’s narratives, jumping into a selection of craft like the X-Wing or Tie Fighter. Over in multiplayer you have those same options, teaming up in a crew to take down Capital ships or engage in online dogfights. Great if you’re after a more comfortable, sat down VR experience.
As the chaos of 2020 has managed to avoid a zombie apocalypse why not put yourself into one voluntarily with The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. A survival game set within a partially flooded New Orleans, make new friends, enemies and take down a few walkers along the way.
As a drifter you encounter warring factions vying for the few resources which remain whilst trying to scavenge your own in the derelict buildings and streets. Craft useful items and new weapons, blades are silent but will tire you out where guns have great stopping power as well as attracting attention. Outside of the main campaign, there’s The Trial horde mode if you just want some arcade action, killing waves of walkers. Plenty to keep you entertained and for practising those survival skills.
