VR game
Mil-Sim Shooter ‘Onward’ to Drop Quest 1 Support Later This Year
‘Rec Room’ to Bring He-Man Avatars in ‘Masters of the Universe’ Event
Social VR platform Rec Room is getting another big brand collaboration with the limited-time release of avatar items based on the world of Masters of the Universe, which will let you transform into He-Man, Teela, or the dastardly Skeletor.
From December 15th to March 31st, Rec Room users will be able to don the armor inspired by the legendary heroes and boney villain from the Masters of the Universe franchise. To get a copy of the avatar items, just visit the stylized pop-up of Castle Grayskull which will be in the platform’s Rec Center hub.
Ok, so He-Man is clearly missing the massive, rippling muscles you’ll see in all of the franchise’s cartoons, which include the original ’80s show, 2002 reboot, and 2021 re-reboots, but the trailer is certainly on point with everything else:
The collaboration represents another big step for Rec Room, as content is based on the official Masters of the Universe IP owned by Mattel. In the past, Rec Room has run similar events too, such as its collaboration with the NBA to bring team jerseys and branded basketballs to the platform and an event featuring popular YouTuber Mr. Beast.
As a platform that tends to skew to the younger crowd thanks to it not only being free, but available cross-platform across essentially all flatscreen devices and VR headsets, the He-Man licensing agreement may prove as a valuable test case for similar brand engagement vehicles in the future. After all, Mattel owns a mountain of kid-friendly IP that may just as well fit in the growing platform, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket, Thomas & Friends, Monster High, Bob The Builder, and Pingu to name a few.
And all of that’s possible thanks to Rec Room’s $294 million lifetime financing and reported $3.5 billion valuation. Since the studio last reported Q1 2022 data, Rec Room has attracted over 75 million lifetime users across all platforms, with a reported 29 million active players worldwide.
‘Batman VR’ App Allegedly in the Works for Quest, FTC Filing Claims
Among documents released by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this week is a claim that Meta’s VR studio Camouflaj, the developers behind Marvel’s Ironman VR, have also planned a Batman VR app for release on Quest.
The apparent leak was found by Janko Roettgers, formerly of Protocol and Variety. The document in whole can be viewed here.
“In September 2022, Meta acquired Camouflaj, which currently developing Ironman and Batman VR apps for Quest.”
The information comes as a part of wider antitrust investigation into Meta’s acquisition of Within, the studio behind the VR fitness app. You can read more about that here.
Last we heard from Camouflaj before the acquisition by Meta, the studio said it had “exciting things on the horizon,” maintaining it was still “all-in on VR.”
As early as May 2022, the studio was hiring for a host of positions to work on its “next exciting AAA project.”
A few months later the studio then released Iron Man VR on Quest 2, releasing it from its two-year exclusivity on PSVR.
Camouflaj hasn’t announced any new projects at this point either. We’ve reached out to Meta for comment and will update when/if we hear back.
‘Beat Saber’ Adds 80 New One-saber Maps for New Challenges and More Accessibility
Beat Saber has a few maps that let you play with one-handed, but now the studio has released a bunch of new one-saber beatmaps across Normal, Expert, and Expert+ difficulty levels.
The update, which is now available for all supported headsets, includes 87 one-saber maps which are spread across 29 songs from previously released OSTs and paid Music Packs.
Previously, one-handed songs were notability very difficult, however now the included ‘Normal’ difficulty mode should not only help first-time users ease into the new playing style, but also give newcomers who only play one-handed a better starting point.
Here’s the full list of songs, all of which feature three difficulties with one-saber mode. Note: those in bold belong to paid music packs.
- Jaroslav Beck – “Into The Dream (feat. Jakub Tirco)” (Original Soundtrack Vol. IV)
- Jaroslav Beck – “LUDICROUS+” (Original Soundtrack Vol. IV)
- Tanger – “Firestarter” (Original Soundtrack Vol. V)
- Jaroslav Beck feat. Meredith Bull – “Magic” (Original Soundtrack Vol. V)
- Camellia – “GHOST” (Camellia Music Pack)
- Kasai Harcores (DJ Genki, C-Show and Camellia) – “Cycle Hit” (Camellia Music Pack)
- RIOT – “Overkill” (Monstercat Vol. 1)
- Aero Chord – “Boundless” (Monstercat Vol. 1)
- Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes” (Imagine Dragons Music Pack)
- Panic! At The Disco – “The Greatest Show” (Panic! At The Disco Music Pack)
- Slushii – “LUV U NEED U” (Rocket League x Monstercat Music Pack)
- Green Day – “Holiday” (Green Day Music Pack)
- Kaydence, Timbaland – “Dumb Thingz” (Timbaland Music Pack)
- Linkin Park – “What I’ve Done” (Linkin Park Music Pack)
- Linkin Park – “Numb” (Linkin Park Music Pack)
- BTS – “Dynamite” (TinyTAN | Beat Saber: BTS Music Pack)
- BTS – “MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix)” (TinyTAN | Beat Saber: BTS Music Pack)
- Maroon 5 – “Sugar” (Interscope Mixtape)
- Kendrick Lamar – DNA. (Interscope Mixtape)
- Skrillex – “Bangarang (feat. Sirah)” (Skrillex Music Pack)
- Skrillex – “First of the Year (Equinox)” (Skrillex Music Pack)
- Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever” (Billie Eilish Music Pack)
- Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” (Billie Eilish Music Pack)
- Lady Gaga – “Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande)” (Lady Gaga Music Pack)
- Lady Gaga – “Poker Face” (Lady Gaga Music Pack)
- Fall Out Boy – “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)” (Fall Out Boy Music Pack)
- Fall Out Boy – “I Don’t Care” (Fall Out Boy Music Pack)
deadmau5 – “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff (feat. Rob Swire)” (Electronic Mixtape) - Madeon – “Icarus” (Electronic Mixtape)
JRPG ‘Ruinsmagus’ to Release on Quest 2 & SteamVR July 7th
Meta to Merge ‘Venues’ Event Space into ‘Horizon Worlds’ Social VR Platform
Wallace & Gromit is Coming to Quest 2 in ‘Grand Getaway’ Interactive VR Experience
Wallace & Gromit, Britain’s iconic stop-motion duo, are getting their own interactive VR experience on Meta Quest 2 next year, developed by series creator Aardman, Meta, and VR pioneers Atlas V.
Called Wallace & Gromit: The Grand Getaway, the interactive, single player VR experience promises to take fans along with Wallace and Gromit on a summer holiday for what rightfully should be a relaxing beach trip and the chance to test out Wallace’s latest contraption, Auto-Caddy.
The rub: Wallace has his dates mixed up and the two (plus Auto-Caddy) have to rocket off to the other side of the country in just half an hour. And you guessed it: in patented Wallace & Gromit fashion, things probably won’t go to plan.
Launching on Quest 2 in 2023, The Grand Getaway is a co-production between Aardman and the team behind Spheres and Gloomy Eyes at Atlas V in association with No Ghost in London, England and Albyon in Lyon, France.
Finbar Hawkins and Bram Ttwheam are co-directing with the support of Nick Park, creator of Wallace & Gromit, and Merlin Crossingham, creative director of Wallace & Gromit. Ben Whitehead will reprise the voice Wallace following in the footsteps of the late Peter Sallis.
“The entire studio is so excited about this project, which provides us with a perfect opportunity to do what we love – combining memorable characters and engaging storytelling with emerging technologies to offer fans a totally immersive experience,” saod Sean Clarke, Managing Director of Aardman. “For loyal fans of Wallace & Gromit, this will be real wish-fulfilment territory – after watching the characters on screen for decades, they will now have an opportunity to step into their world and play an active role in this new story as it unfolds. For those new to the characters, it’s the ultimate way to get to know them, the humour, and the hijinks that have made them so popular.”
Wallace & Gromit: The Grand Getaway isn’t the duo’s first foray into immersive tech. Aardman launched The Big Fix Up in 2020 for AR-capable smartphones which lets you take part in a real-time story over several weeks.