What are the biggest VR games coming in 2021? We’ve got you covered with our list of 38 titles on the way this year.
2021 is set to be a huge year for this new medium with the Oculus Quest 2 now out and PC VR continuing on. With bigger companies like Ubisoft now making AAA titles for platforms, and Sony having sold over five million PSVRs, we’re hoping to see a lot more quality content on the way.
For now, here are 38 games to get you started. Stick with Upload throughout the year – we’ll have full coverage of each title on our site and YouTube channel.
VR Games 2021
After The Fall – PC VR, PSVR
After a year of silence, we finally got news that Vertigo Games’ next big VR title, After The Fall, was being pushed back to 2021 a few weeks ago. It remains a promising project, offering Left4Dead-style zombie combat with full cooperative support, but can we expect some big overhauls after a long absence?
Alvo – PSVR
It’s been a long time coming for this modern multiplayer shooter, built around PSVR’s Aim controller, but things are shaping up for 2021. We haven’t seen a great multiplayer PSVR game since Firewall, so we’re hoping Alvo fills in that gap.
Area Man Lives – PC VR, Quest
Numinous Games’ Area Man Lives resurrects the developer’s ill-fated Untethered series from Google Daydream over to headsets people actually use and aims to complete the unfinished story. We’ve always been intrigued by the high degree of interactivity in the environments, and can’t wait to see the title revamped.
Assassin’s Creed VR – Oculus
Not much is known about Ubisoft’s first full Assassin’s Creed game for VR headsets. Even the lone teaser image for the game manages to feature every protagonist from the series, making us question if we’ll be revisiting each hero for new adventures or perhaps establishing a brand new world. Whatever it ends up being, this is one of the biggest and most important VR games on the horizon.
A Wake Inn – PC VR
A Wake Inn is on our radar as a standalone, full VR adventure that seems to consider its platform deeply. We’re looking forward to digging into its atmosphere and trying out the wheelchair-based movement system.
Blunt Force – PC VR
We might’ve taken Blunt Force off of its now-regular spot in this list if it weren’t for the surprise launch of a demo during a Steam festival earlier this year. That has at least partially reinvigorated our interest in this polished-looking WW2-era first-person shooter, even if we still don’t know much about it.
The Climb 2 – Quest
A long-overdue sequel to one of the Oculus Rift’s early successes. The Climb already took us to amazing heights and convinced us we were really scaling cliffs. We’re hoping the sequel is a more ambitious take on that concept, now that we know its VR-driven mechanics work.
Cooking Simulator VR – PC VR
Simulator games usually work best in VR and we’re hoping Cooking Simulator will be no exception. If this port of the original PC game can manage that balance of genuinely skillful gameplay evened out with the ability to be as silly as you want, it’ll earn a Michelin Star. And if it’s just silly? Well, that’s okay too.
Cosmophobia – PC VR, Quest
The long-awaited follow-up to early VR horror hit, Dreadhalls, is right around the corner. Cosmophobia takes the randomized gameplay of the original and teleports it onto a dark deserted spaceship millions of miles away from Earth. If it can capture even half the tension of Dreadhalls, it’ll be a must.
DeMagnete VR – PC VR
An intriguing VR puzzle game that has players manipulating objects with magnetism to solve their way through a mysterious gauntlet. VR-native design and Portal vibes have us optimistic.
Demeo – Quest, PC VR
Resolution Games steps away from its usual party game affair for its latest title, trading in frantic cooking and fishing for a multiplayer tabletop RPG. Demeo is built upon the desire to bring those long game nights spent huddled around a kitchen table online, with cross-play support between the VR and a standard PC version.
Eye Of The Temple – PC VR
Another long-time coming project, the recent launch of Eye Of The Temple’s demo suggests 2021 might finally be the year we get our hands on the full thing. In this unique VR platformer, you physically step onto platforms that taxi you across an ancient temple. With a whip in hand, you’ll solve puzzles and avoid enemies. It’s as close as to Indiana Jones VR as we can get right now, and that alone makes it a must in our book.
Green Hell VR – PC VR, Quest
This survival game is getting a full VR port. After you crash land in the rainforest, you’ll be forced to scavenge for supplies, craft weapons and items and trace your steps back to exactly how you managed to get here. This promises to be a proper port with VR native mechanics for weapons like the bow and arrow.
Hitman 3 – PSVR
One of the first and biggest VR releases arriving next year, Hitman 3 brings the entire assassination sim into PSVR. For the first time you’ll walk in Agent 47’s shoes in first-person. As hopeful as we are, the DualShock 4 tracking control scheme gives us cause for concern. We’ll find out how it holds up in January.
Humanity – PSVR
A year of silence ended on a note of hope for Humanity (no pun intended) when developer Enhance Games confirmed it had been delayed to 2021. There’s still much to learn about the Lemmings-like game with hundreds of tiny humans at play at once, including how the optional PSVR support will factor in.
Ilysia – Quest, PC VR
VR MMOs haven’t quite taken hold in the way some were hoping they might have by now but Ilyisa is already showing promising signs with plenty of gameplay footage out in the wild. Promising hundreds of hours of questing with friends and different classes.
Jurassic World: Aftermath Part 2 – Quest
Jurassic World: Aftermath released just a few weeks ago and proved to be an enjoyable if short and simplistic experience. The second part, arriving sometime this year, will hopefully bring the game full circle.
Lone Echo 2 – Rift
It’s been around 18 months since we last had a solid update on Lone Echo 2, though Ready at Dawn insists it’s still very much in the works. Our anticipation for the zero gravity sequel hasn’t dampened though; we can’t wait to catch back up with Liv and Jack after that cliffhanger ending.
Lonn – PC VR
Lonn caught our attention roughly this time last year, and we’re hoping 2021 will be the year we get to play it for ourselves. The promise of physics-driven melee combat has us hoping this will build off of the foundations laid by games like Boneworks and Saints & Sinners.
Low-Fi – PC VR
2020 saw incremental updates to one of our most anticipated cyberpunk adventures. The game sets you up in a highly interactive world then hands the keys over to you to decide what to do in it. We’re still drawn to the promise of a sprawling future setting that we can get truly lost in.
Mare – Quest
This gorgeous ICO-like adventure has been a long time coming, but its developer says it should finally be with us very soon inside. Exactly how we’ll handle the flying mechanics and if the Quest can deliver on the trailer’s stunning artistic direction remains to be seen.
Maskmaker – PC VR, PSVR
The developer of A Fisherman’s Tale returns with another VR puzzle game, though this time with bigger ambitions to deliver vast, varied levels to explore on-foot. We can wait to see what new ideas the team at Innerspace has cooked up.
Panzer Dragoon VR Remake
An entire remake of the beloved trilogy is currently in the works and it’s certainly drummed up some excitement. We’re yet to see any gameplay but the original on-rails action certainly seems well-suited to a VR remake.
Stress Level Zero’s Project 4 – Quest, PC VR
Boneworks developer Stress Level Zero recently teased new information on upcoming projects this year, but so far we know of just one – a new game set in the Boneworks universe. The thought of combining that physics powerhouse with the Quest is truly exciting, but we’ll have to wait and see how it shapes up.
Rhythm of the Universe: Ionia – PC VR, Quest
A musical adventure that sees you discovering a fantastic new world filled with incredible creatures, all connected by rhythm. Exploring this truly unique world is one of the things we’re looking forward to most this year.
Ryte: The Eye Of Atlantis – PC VR
After a short delay pushed it into 2021, it’s nearly time to visit Atlantis in this upcoming puzzle game. An imaginative take on the legend and a promising approach to puzzles has us interested in this one.
Sam & Max: This Time It’s Virtual
The iconic duo is delivering its first every VR adventure later this year and we can’t wait to see what’s in store. Developer Happy Giant revealed new gameplay footage in December that seemed to suggest the team will deliver a properly whacky adventure. We’d expect nothing less.
Sniper Elite VR – Quest, PC VR, PSVR
First announced a few years back, the most recent trailer for Sniper Elite VR blew us away with its scope and ambition. After the slight disappointment of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, we’re hoping this delivers a proper VR fix for WW2-era combat.
Splinter Cell VR
The first new Splinter Cell game in a very, very long time will be exclusive to VR and that has us very excited. Sam Fisher’s stealthy antics seem perfectly suited for the platform and, although there’s still a lot to learn about the title, this is easily one of our most anticipated VR games for 2021.
Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge Part 2 – Quest
This Quest exclusive ended on an abrupt note, but developer ILMxLAB is set to deliver more in 2021. We don’t know what further tales await us on the other side of the galaxy, but hopefully they’re just as polished as the first half, and hopefully a touch more engaging too.
Traffic Jams – Quest, PSVR, PC VR
At its heart, Traffic Jams’ core idea of controlling the flow of traffic using VR hand gestures seems like a fantastic idea. And from what we’ve played it could certainly develop into the frantic fun developer Little Chicken envisioned, we’re just hoping to see a bit more challenge in later stages.
Trial By Teng: A Twilight Path Adventure – PC VR
Charm Games continues to explore the potential of VR puzzling with this very promising new entry in the Twilight Path series. Hugely imaginative set design and thoughtful puzzles that put VR right at the center have us hopeful.
Unplugged
What first seemed like a novel tech demo is evolving into a full game now that Unplugged is being published by Vertigo Games. Guitar Hero meets air-guitaring in this hand-tracking game that holds a lot of promise… if the experimental technology can be tamed in time for release.
Vertigo 2 – PC VR
This year’s release of Vertigo Remastered may have pushed the real sequel into 2021, but it also proved that there’s plenty of reasons to be excited for the follow-up. Taking just as much inspiration from Half-Life as it does parody it, Vertigo 2 promises satisfying VR weapons and strange enemy encounters.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar – Tempestfall – Quest, PC VR
Carbon Studios, best known for The Wizards series, brings its gesture-based combat to Warhammer’s Age of Sigmar universe. Do war with supernatural forces, summoning weapons and casting spells with the wave of a hand. We’re hoping this is a more polished experience than the last Warhammer VR game.
Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife – Quest, PC VR, PSVR
Fast Travel Games tries its hand at VR horror with the first VR game set in the World of Darkness universe. Embody a wraith and stalk the halls of a creepy mansion, using supernatural powers to get to the bottom of a mystery. Oh and make sure to avoid much more beastly creatures that are out to get you. The studio is promising the scariest VR game ever. Let’s hope it delivers.
Yuki – Quest, PC VR, PSVR
Pixel Ripped developer Arvore brings one of its past VR arcade projects to future headsets. Yuki is a sort of VR bullet hell game in which players pick up an action figure and then bring playtime to life. One for classic arcade fans for sure.
Zenith MMO – PC VR
Zenith has continued to look promising after smashing its 2019 Kickstarter campaign. This VR MMO promises engaging fantasy combat with friends. An alpha arrives early next year, but here’s hoping the full launch isn’t too far behind.
What do you make of the list of upcoming VR games 2021? Let us know in the comments below!
