If you thought Budget Cuts took a long time to come out then spare a thought for Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel. Many would say that this HTC Vive launch title still has some of the best combat in VR, but we haven’t seen much from it of late.
Rest assured, though, Vanishing Realms is still in development, just very slowly. Developer Indimo Labs recently confirmed as much on the game’s Steam Community hub, telling one fan that “additional content for the game is still in the works, albeit ridiculously slowly.” For now, the game remains in Early Access.
Vanishing Realms was one of the first games to deliver on the fantasy of engaging sword combat in VR. You travel through a mythical world, doing battle with orcs and more by making sure to block incoming attacks with a shield then swiping back in response. The game also features great ranged archery combat and magical powers. It made great use of VR’s positional tracking in combat. In fact, we’d still recommend you play it even today.
Sadly, there’s not much of it right now, with just two playable chapters in the Early Access build. Some challenge modes do pad out how long you can spend with the game but, overall, it’s in need of more content.
The last major update for the game was in September 2017 where a host of new features were added (though a smaller patch did tweak some aspects last January). Chapter 3 is expected to arrive as DLC, though Indimo isn’t ready to provide any estimations of when it will arrive just yet. Keep those fingers crossed for now.
