Ghosts of Tabor is one of VR's recent success stories. With system overhauls, a PSVR 2 release, and Quest 3 upgrades planned, here's what's coming next for the extraction FPS.
It's been a busy year for Combat Waffle Studios. After Ghosts of Tabor launched in early access last year, the Escape from Tarkov-inspired game has hit considerable milestones, reaching 500k players and $10 million revenue. This year's already brought major updates like The Collector's Awakening, moving to the main Quest Store, and a Pico port, but there's still plenty more in store.
During a recent event hosted by Combat Waffle and Beyond Frames Entertainment - where I participated in a live-action Ghosts of Tabor experience, I interviewed Scott Albright, Combat Waffle Studios' CEO, Creative Director, and founder. Albright later conducted an additional fireside chat, taking questions from other VR content creators and journalists.
Explaining how development began, Albright revealed Ghosts of Tabor was initially supposed to be Ghosts of Kyiv but the studio changed direction after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Albright has always been a huge Tarkov and DayZ player, and he questioned why there wasn't anything similar in VR.
"I talked to several developers who were like, 'It's not possible,' and I said that it has to be possible... We kept hitting roadblocks, people saying the Quest can't handle it, and that's obviously not the case. I took the chance, gathered a team of eight and now we have [Ghosts of Tabor]."
Asked during the fireside chat when the studio decided to develop for Quest, Albright called it a "day one" decision.
"If we don't go to Quest, then we're dead. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. It's the biggest player base, and if you're a new studio or new developer thinking about making a VR game, you have to include Quest. Even if it's Quest 3 exclusive, you have to be on that platform, or you're not going to make it past a year."
Given how many VR shooters are on the market, did Ghosts of Tabor ever feel like a gamble? Albright believed it would "do okay" but never imagined how successful it would be.
"This is beyond our wildest dreams. We're a team of forty people now across three projects, and more are just sitting on paper. We knew VR wanted this kind of shooter; we didn't know it was going to be like this. We met resistance in publishing saying, 'No one will ever be interested,' but I can understand that hesitancy because VR is such a niche market."
While he expressed the importance of listening to community feedback, Albright informed the fireside chat there are several things that won't change anytime soon. Two things he ruled out include a system for reviving downed teammates and markers above teammates to identify them across the map.
"That's just not the kind of game we are," Albright explained.
"If you're not in constant communication like I was when I was serving [in the military], and your teammate comes around and you spray, you pay the consequences for that."
We can expect a few near-future changes, however. A new squad update was introduced in update 0.7.3, and that's been "completely rebuilt" by the wider team. A Golden Luty will be given as a wipe reward on July 31. An overhauled mission system will follow at a later date.
The upcoming Eastwood Weapon Pack, which will be available for $5 on the same day, includes a cowboy hat and four new weapons detailed below.
- 1872 Colt single action army "Peacemaker" that shoots .45 bullets
- 1883 sawed off double barrel "Rebel" 12 gauge shotgun with a full buttstock
- 1883 sawed off double barrel "El Dorado” 12 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip that fits in your pistol holster
- 1894 Marlin lever-action rifle "Rowdy" brought to modern standards with Picatinny rails and bandoliers on the barrel and stock of the firearm
Albright later revealed that a Quest 3 update will also launch on July 31 with "graphical enhancements," though Beyond Frames couldn't detail any specifics.
"It's been on our roadmap for a while. While we're a big team, we're doing major system overhauls to increase stability and new features. So, the next thing coming is a Quest 3 update."
For the upcoming PSVR 2 version, Combat Waffle is collaborating with VRMonkey, whose recent work includes assisting with recent ports like The Exorcist: Legion VR and Tarzan VR. Graphical enhancements and Sense Controller haptic feedback are promised, though Albright didn't outline every PSVR 2 feature.
While he wouldn't comment on a potential physical version, I'm told the digital PSVR 2 release date isn't far off.
"We’re confident that Ghosts of Tabor will be in the hands of PlayStation gamers in just a few more months."
Ghosts of Tabor is available on SteamVR, Rift, Quest and Pico for $24.99.
Update Notice
This article was updated on July 10, after Combat Waffle Studios clarified the mission system refactor won't be updated with the July 31 system wipe. The squad update was also accredited to the wider team.
