Virtual Skate aims to bring a modding-friendly, physics-based skating simulator to SteamVR and Meta Quest in just a few short weeks.
Few extreme sports have had quite the gaming resurgence skateboarding games are enjoying. Now stepping up to the VR rink (the VRink, if you will) this August 21st is Flip Axis Studios' Virtual Skate. We covered the initial gameplay teaser back in April, when Flip Axis Studios unveiled its debut title. In a press release, the studio believes its control scheme “where your hands control your feet” offers “next level board control not found in other skating games.” It explained this further on the game's Steam page, saying:
Virtual Skate let's you control the board in all new dimensions. Each hand controls a foot directly, like hand boarding. Instead of having a 2D axis to control each foot, you now have full 3D control over your feet. Not only does this open up a whole new world of board control, it also let's you style your tricks in ways that aren't possible with canned animations.
Another feature, harkening back to the days of handheld camcorders, is Virtual Skate's Filmer Mode. You can wield virtual cameras to record yourselves or your friends, with the ability to rewind time. There are obstacle courses for those seeking more of a challenge, but what's heavily emphasized is the social aspect. Multiplayer supports up to four players in a lobby, with the aim to include lip-syncing and hand gesture support, as well as avatar and board customization.
In addition to these features, the studio hopes to foster a modding community and proudly touts the community's addition of “dozens of maps." The demo is on Steam already. It's not clear at this time if there will be any support for user-made maps on Quest systems. However, Virtual Skate will support all current-generation Quest headsets, including Quest 2 and Pro. The title supports roomscale gameplay as well as playing in standing mode.
Virtual Skate is up for wishlisting on Steam (with a free demo) and the Quest store now, launching in early access on August 21.
