Last week we reported on a Steam listing that suggested Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine might soon be releasing for the HTC Vive. Today, that’s been confirmed.
As announced during a panel for the experience at this weekend’s Star Wars Celebration event in London, UK, the short virtual reality game will be released this Monday, July 18th, completely free of charge. This marks the first official Star Wars videogame to be released on any VR platform, following years of fan mods and other such creations. People at the Star Wars-themed event this weekend can get an early taste of the experience, however, as it’s available to play there.
Trials on Tatooine is created by the Industrial Light and Magic Experience Lab (ILMxLAB), and is the studio’s debut release after being announced just over a year ago now.
The brief piece casts players as a Jedi apprentice of iconic Star Wars character, Luke Skywalker. Set before the events of last year’s franchise resurrection, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you find yourself on the sandy titular planet and are soon greeted by Han Solo in his legendary spaceship, the Millennium Falcon. After helping to fix the craft you’ll also get to interact with R2-D2 before taking up a lightsaber and fighting back an incoming squad of Stormtroopers, deflecting their laser fire right back at them.
ILMxLAB is working on plenty of other exciting experiences that utilize virtual, augmented and mixed reality within the Star Wars brand. Recently the studio even confirmed that it was making content for the Magic Leap MR headset, showcasing an experience with R2-D2 and his droid companion C-3PO.
Elsewhere, EA, DICE and Criterion have also partnered with Sony to produce the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing Mission for PlayStation VR. Consider Trials on Tatooine to be a simple first step; there’s plenty more Star Wars VR in the works.
