After this week's biggest VR news? Here's our latest roundup with a few stories you may have missed.
Hardware news was dominated by AWE 2024 this week. We went hands-on with Sony's standalone enterprise headset, Ultraleap demoed Meta's Ray-Ban Glasses with an all-day hand tracking sensor and we checked out WowMouse, a WearOS app that attempts to turn any Android watch into a mouse. That's before getting into announcements for the Xreal Beam Pro, Varjo Teleport and Palmer Luckey's currently unnamed military-focused headset.
Elsewhere, Meta began selling refurbished Quest 3 headsets. Somnium VR1 goes on sale next month, Pico 4S was registered by a South Korean regulator, and the ALVR app is now officially available on Apple Vision Pro. Quest Pro 2 reportedly entered development in November, while Apple reportedly suspended its Vision Pro successor to prioritize a cheaper model. Further news emerged with Gracia, Logitech MX Ink, Unity 6 and Quest 3 augments.
With VR gaming, the UploadVR Summer Showcase goes live next week on June 26. Gorilla Tag hit 1 million daily and three million monthly users. Death Game Hotel reaches Quest next month, coinciding with the PowerWash Simulator VR - Alice's Adventures Special Pack, and Mannequin launched on Steam. We also covered Slap Fighter VR, Infinite Inside, MiRacle Pool, and Hellsweeper VR.
Ian Hamilton
As for this week's reviews, we checked out the early access launch for Downtown Club, a new racing game designed for standalone VR. It joins our Neon Squad Tactics and Taskmaster VR reviews, and we're currently working on our full impressions for Blade & Sorcery's full release. Elsewhere, we also offered brief thoughts on the Escape Simulator VR - PowerWash DLC.
Our full coverage can be found here. For everything else, here are our top five VR news stories that we initially missed:
Grokit: Twilight Echoes Adds Two New Micro Games & Left-Handed Controls
Grokit, the mixed reality hand tracking multiplayer game from 3lb Games, just released its fourth major update on Quest App Lab. Titled Twilight Echoes, it introduces two new micro games - Void Feeder and Golem Smash. There's also support for left-handed controls, a new environment, expanded customizations, and more.
Gazzlers Gets Permanent Price Drop On All Platforms
Developed by Bolt Blaster Games, Gazzlers is an on-rails arcade VR shooter that initially launched last year. Following various post-launch patches, the studio confirmed it's now permanently reducing the price from $14.99 on Quest, Pico, and Steam ($19.99 on PSVR 2) to $9.99.
Beat The Beats Gets PSVR 2 Demo With Four Levels
Beat the Beats, a game we previously stated "could become one of VR's best new rhythm games" in our review, now has a PSVR 2 demo. Featuring the tutorial and four levels, the full game has been available on PSVR 2 since February. The demo's also on SteamVR and Quest, though a full release date remains unconfirmed for those platforms.
Noun Town: VR Language Learning Now Lets You Track Your New Vocabulary
Noun Town: VR Language Learning, an educational program for Quest and Steam that supports learning 13 foreign languages, received a major update this week. The update allows you to track your new vocabulary, access a complete list of words and phrases, and review nouns, verbs, adjectives, and phrases.
Warped Kart Racers & Cityscapes: Sim Builder Bring New Spatial Games To Apple Vision Pro
Apple Arcade is introducing two new spatial games for Apple Vision Pro. Warped Kart Racers is still largely a flatscreen experience but with UI elements appearing across your living space and that update's available now, while Cityscapes: Sim Builder gives you a new view of the city on July 3.
Other Updates
Looking for further stories? Here's everything else we've spotted this week.
- Soul Covenant, Thirdverse's recent VR action RPG, just received a new update with multiplayer changes.
- Meta kicked off a new June Sale with up to 75% off for select Quest games.
- StellarPlans confirmed it's currently planning to release the upcoming VR game in the following platform order - PC VR, Quest, PSVR 2.
- DumbLab is a new VR puzzle game with physics-based mechanics on Quest.
- PICO Connect 10.1.5 added new features like Ultra HD, higher bitrate and more.
- The Light Brigade received Update 3.2 with various improvements and fixes.
- VRChat release 2024.2.3 is now live.
- Private lobbies are now live in Sky Climb.
- SPGP Super Polygon Grand Prix enters early access on July 18, and VR support will follow later on.
- Killer Frequency, Zosu Zoo, Fit Immersion, City Bus Simulator, KargaVR, cadaVR anatomy, and mozaik3D all launched on Pico.
- Hamster Inc, a Truck Simulator VR demo, Hold The World, and RunFitFantasy arrived on Quest App Lab.
If you've got an update for a VR game we should know about for this article or future updates; you can use our contact page or email tips@uploadvr.com with details.
