Update: According to The Verge, the experience is being developed by DICE in partnership Criterion, the UK-based developer behind the Burnout franchise. The piece is apparently a “Star Wars Battlefront VR mission” and will be releasing later this year. DICE is of course the developer of the original Battlefront.
Original Story: Flying an X-Wing is arguably one of the most requested VR experiences right now, and it looks like EA is finally making that happen.
You’ll likely remember that Sony announced an exclusive Star Wars: Battlefront VR Experience at GDC 2016 a few months ago. The piece is set to be exclusive to the PlayStation VR system, though details are scarce right now. Today, however, we’ve been treated to the briefest of glimpses of the game, which looks like it will offer players the chance to fly one of the franchise’s iconic X-Wing spaceships.
That is according to a new video first showcased at Battlefront publisher EA’s E3 2016 press conference. The company debuted a reel that talked about the many, many Star Wars games its internal studios are making right now. Opening up the clip was a look at Battlefront itself and, a few seconds in, you’ll see someone wearing a PlayStation VR HMD. The screen then cuts to what looks like the cockpit of an X-Wing, suggesting that this is what players will get to experience when the piece finally launches.
It’s a very, very quick look, but it’s enough to get us excited. We still don’t know when it will launch, how long it will last, and how much it will cost, though. PlayStation VR, however, hits in October 2016.
Don’t expect to get the full Battlefront experience in VR; 2015’s release pushed the power of the current generation of consoles running on standard monitors and adding VR support into it simply doesn’t seem possible right now. Instead, EA looks to offer a slice of the experience, optimised for VR. Activision is also taking a similar approach with its iconic Call of Duty franchise, recently announcing a Call of Duty VR experience, also for PlayStation VR.
We’re still waiting on a full Star Wars VR game, then, but hopefully that’s not too far off.
