Virtual Reality

Bigscreen says it sold more Beyond 2 headsets in the first 24 hours than it did Beyond 1 in its first 6 months.

It says this represents ten times as many Beyond 2 headsets as compared to Beyond 1's launch day two years ago.

The startup also said yesterday that it outsold Beyond 1's first day in just 25 minutes, and its first 2 months in just 4 hours.

New orders of Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e will now ship in June, compared to April and May for the first batches respectively.

Bigscreen Beyond 2 and Beyond 2e were announced and went on sale yesterday. Compared to the original, Beyond 2 adds clearer, wider lenses with independent IPD adjustment, all while actually weighing 20 grams less, and Beyond 2e also adds eye tracking via just 1.05 grams of tiny sensors.

The original Bigscreen Beyond is used by 0.45% of SteamVR users, around 1 in 200. We'll keep a close eye on the adoption of Beyond 2 in the coming months, with its initial sales velocity suggesting it might surpass the original by the end of the year.

The reason I made the trip is because the latest design includes a new feature absent in the original which made it exceptionally hard for me to fully review. Namely, the new Bigscreen Beyond 2 adds independent adjustment of lens placement directly in front of each eye.

"Independent monocular IPD was made for your eyes Ian," Shankar wrote over email. "It’s not a common need, but we remembered your desire for it."

After criss-crossing the United States to test the new hardware, and after talking to Shankar for a couple hours, I can write the following sentence about Bigscreen Beyond 2:

I've never seen anything like it.

Bigscreen's elegant solution to lens placement involves the use of what they call an IPD Tool for manually adjusting each lens position. Apple's $3500 headset automatically moves each lens into individualized placement in front of each pupil, but Bigscreen's solution is cheaper and lighter.

The lightweight solution in Beyond 2, meanwhile, also makes the headset shareable with others with a quick change that also ensures accidental adjustments don't occur when handling the device, because there's no button or wheel to hit as is present on some other headsets.

And really, this is just cool.

I saw fewer distracting internal reflections and, overall, the area of clarity is huge. Bigscreen claims "total edge-to-edge clarity", and the lenses did seem very clear to the edges. The biggest distraction for me was some kind of tracking jitter I usually associate with SteamVR base stations. This was a pre-production unit I wore, the base stations weren't in the best position and there were plenty of reflective surfaces in the area that could have caused issues. Still, it was a minor distraction during a short demo, and we'll need to see how a shipping headset holds up over many hours of wear to make a review recommendation.

The more important thing to convey is to those of you who are just learning about Bigscreen for the first time. This device is built by genuine VR enthusiasts building VR headsets for people who want to spend hours at incredible places. For those who haven't experienced VR yet, yes, there's a full theater-sized screen inside that tiny headset, and it could have just as easily been Half-Life: Alyx I was playing in there.

Bigscreen says it weighs just 107 grams, down from 127 grams in the first version. With Beyond 2, this company of less than 40 employees puts the critique that VR headsets are heavy in the past. You'd think it was an FPV viewer but, no, this really is a PC-powered VR headset you can share with family and friends.

Beyond 2 is slated to start shipping in April starting at $1019 with an eye-tracking model to follow for $1219. Bigscreen recommends an RTX 2070 or higher graphics card to drive the headset with a PC.

The XR landscape has changed significantly over the last five years with the flourishing of standalone headsets and new entrants like Apple and (soon) Google. Despite all of that, the PC VR platform has continued a slow but steady growth.

So much has happened in VR in last five years that if you had told me back in early 2020, I’m not sure I would have believed you.

After all, you’d have to say that Facebook is no longer called Facebook. And that the company went on to dissolve the ‘Oculus’ brand, which had long been the most recognizable name in the industry for enthusiasts and even outsiders. And you’d have to tell me that despite that, Facebook Meta still managed to turn its standalone Quest headset into the leading VR platform.

Not only that, you’d have to convince me that Apple would dive head-first into the market with its own headset… and it would cost $3,500! Oh and that Google would follow quickly behind with a complete Android XR operating system underpinning a flagship headset made by Samsung.

Not to mention Microsoft discontinuing its Windows MR platform and giving up on HoloLens (ok actually, that one I might have believed).

Despite all of this, the OG VR platform—PC VR—is still kicking, and has in fact continued to grow.

This surely wouldn’t be the case if Valve hadn’t set up SteamVR from the outset as an open platform which any headset maker can opt into. There’s at least 24 different headsets in use on the platform each month, making SteamVR by far the largest and most diverse PC VR ecosystem.

PC VR no doubt also has Meta to thank for its continued growth after all these years and changes to the landscape. The wide availability and low cost of Quest headsets has brought many new people into the VR fold, and some of them wind up using the headset for PC VR too. Meta headsets account for a whopping 70% of monthly-connected headsets on Steam today.

Developed by solo dev ‘KommanderKen’, BattleGroupVR2 is coming to Quest and SteamVR headsets soon, promising to be a “bigger, better sequel” to the single player real-time space strategy game.

Space Owl says BattleGroupVR2 adds a heap of new features, including open-world exploration, missions, mining, trading, and fleet-building.

BattleGroupVR2 is said to include a fully 3D space battlefield, letting you direct your forces, coordinate fleet formations, and execute precise attacks against increasingly difficult AI enemies.

There’s no release window yet, although you can now wishlist the game on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and on Steam for PC VR headsets.

The Meta-owned developer describes the coming update as "the biggest update we have ever done since the game’s release in 2016". It will see all weapons and equipment upgraded, new weapons introduced, the ability to choose and customize your character model, a remaster of a key map, and the introduction of a new one.

Every single weapon and piece of equipment, will take a "huge visual leap", Downpour says, from guns to drones and even smoke grenades. 13 new weapons will also be added in total, including a pump-action shotgun and revolver with unique hand interactions. And whereas previously everyone on each team looked the same, Onward Update 2.0 will add 20 "operators", including some female options, for players to choose between. Operators can be further customized, so that each player can have a unique look.

The update is also set to bring dozens of quality-of-life and realism improvements, including more realistic bullet drop and scope zeroing.

Onward Update 2.0 is set to launch next Tuesday, March 25, on the Meta Horizon Store for Quest headsets, Meta PC Store for Link & Rift, and Steam for any VR headset supported by SteamVR.

On Meta's Horizon Store you can currently get the Quest versions of major games like Skydance’s Behemoth, Arizona Sunshine Remake, Arizona Sunshine 2, Dungeons of Eternity, Into The Radius, and Red Matter for up to 50% off, as well as the exclusive Assassin's Creed Nexus.

Meanwhile, Valve's Steam is offering significant discounts on major titles only playable in VR on PC, including Half-Life: Alyx 70% off, 60% off Fallout 4 VR, 80% off DiRT Rally 2.0, and 70% off Elite Dangerous, as well as notable savings on the PC VR versions of games like Skyrim VR, Arizona Sunshine 2, and No Man’s Sky.

Meta's sale ends on the midnight between March 23 and March 24, just over one week from now. Valve's sale generally ends at 10am PT on March 23, though the discounts on some specific titles end sooner.

VR enthusiast Brad Lynch and his team of dataminers have found new evidence of a Valve-branded USB wireless dongle in the code of the latest SteamVR update. The Wi-Fi dongle would plug into a USB port on the PC and allow for smooth PC VR streaming without the need for a router or network configuration.

The device is even said to have been given its own vendor and product ID. Lynch sees this as an indication that the product is being finalized internally.

"Wouldn't be surprised if Deckard launched with this bundled in the box instead of a cable," writes Lynch.

It is not known whether it will be possible to use a cable for uncompressed image transmission on the headset as an alternative to the dongle.

Other standalone headsets will likely also work with Valve's USB dongle. Lynch and his team found evidence in the SteamVR code that Valve is working on Steam Link support for Pico headsets, HTC Vive Focus 3, and Vive Focus Vision. Currently, only Quest headsets are supported.

Steam Link is a VR app that was released in 2023, allowing for an easy connection between Meta Quest and SteamVR for PC VR streaming. Valve's USB wireless dongle and Steam Link are expected to be optimized for each other.

This would not be the first time that a VR headset manufacturer has offered a USB dongle for wireless PC VR streaming. In 2022, Meta released the VR Air Bridge wireless dongle for Meta Quest 2 in partnership with D-Link.

It is currently unclear whether Valve Deckard will only work in conjunction with a PC, or if it will also work as a standalone device. According to the latest rumors, the device will be released by the end of 2025 and will cost around $1,200.

Based on the top-down strategy game Surviving Mars, Surviving Mars: Pioneer tests your grit as you attempt to establish a new civilization among the stars. In the original game, players would control a Martian landscape from a top-down perspective, constructing futuristic domes and guiding eager citizens. Developed by Bolverk Games (Genotype), the VR adaptation gives you a more central and personal role, mining for materials and placing solar panels on the red planet's surface in first person.

Surviving Mars was originally launched in 2018. Here, players took on the role of an overseer tasked with building up a Martian colony from the dust. With a rocket full of resources and sponsorship from an earthly organization, surviving the vastness of space requires balancing human needs like water and air with the fiscal needs of society and your sponsor. This port looks to pull from those basic principles, allowing players to feel like even more of an active participant in their burgeoning cityscape. Surviving Mars: Pioneer is entering early access on PC VR and Quest later this year, and a PlayStation VR2 version will arrive “at a later date.”

Forefront features two gameplay modes for 16v16 matches, dividing each team into squads of four. The factions in the game are said to be a country's military pitted against a private military group called Orpiment Renewable Energy (O.R.E.), hired to protect different mining sites against takeover.

One mode is 'Rush', where you attack two sites and move onto the next two if you successfully destroy them. Dessaux describes this as “very linear and less vehicle focused,” while 'Conquest' goes heavier on vehicles with less focus on walking around and shooting. With gunplay, Dessaux describes Breachers as being “more arcade-like” for better focus on the action by comparison. Forefront features more realistic reloading while also offering an option for automatic reloading, though the latter is “a bit slower than somebody who's really trained into realistically reloading their gun.” The aim is to equal out any potential competitive advantages.

The studio can't commit to PlayStation VR2 release yet, but they are looking at the idea. Dessaux explained that the Breachers PS VR2 port was “quite time-consuming” and faced delays before launching in December 2023. If such a port does happen for Forefront, it'll be post-launch.

Forefront arrives in early access “at the end of 2025” on the Meta Quest platform, SteamVR, and Pico, while a full release window is unconfirmed. Playtest sessions will begin this summer, and more details will be shared nearer then via the studio's official Discord server.

It's stupidly large and takes about a minute to load, but it was worth it.

According to Korean publication The Elec, Samsung plans to equip its first mixed reality headset, codenamed "Project Moohan," with 1.35-inch micro OLED displays. These panels will feature an impressive 3,800 pixels per inch (PPI) and a resolution of 3,552 x 3,840. The displays use OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon) technology, where micro OLED elements are applied directly to a silicon substrate.

Sony, which also manufactures the displays for Apple's Vision Pro, will produce these panels for Samsung. The pixel density significantly exceeds that of Vision Pro's 1.4-inch OLEDoS displays, which offer 3,391 PPI at 3,660 x 3,200 resolution. Industry sources suggest Samsung is banking on this higher pixel density as a key selling point against Apple's headset, despite launching later.

Samsung's suppliers are scheduled to begin mass-producing components for Project Moohan next month. The Elec anticipates a market launch in the second half of 2025, with initial production targets around 100,000 units.

Previously targeting a March 30, 2025 launch to coincide with the second anniversary of Vertigo 2, developer Zach Tsiakalis-Brown confirmed the delay to UploadVR, and the upcoming DLC now lists 'April 2025' on Steam. Beyond the wider April release window, a specific release date for Into the Aether is currently unconfirmed.

Revealed during the UploadVR Winter Showcase last December, Vertigo 2: Into the Aether is a DLC expansion for our 2023 VR Game of the Year, where Brian fights back against the Void Delegation. This gives you “The Void Grappler” grappling hook that's attachable to most surfaces for free swinging, alongside “The Void Deflector” for deflecting attacks and accumulating energy for counterattacks.

Vertigo 2: Into the Aether arrives this April on SteamVR, and the base game is out now. While Vertigo 2 is also on PlayStation VR2, there's currently no plans for this DLC to reach Sony's headset.

PlayStation VR2

$399.99 / €449.99 / £399.99 / ¥66,980 recommended retail price (includes tax for EUR, GBP, and JPY)

PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle

$399.99 / €449.99 / £399.99 / ¥66,980 recommended retail price (includes tax for EUR, GBP, and JPY)

With recently released hits like Alien: Rogue Incursion, Skydance’s Behemoth, and Metro Awakening VR, and exciting new game launches on the way including Aces of Thunder, Dreams of Another, Hitman World of Assassination, and The Midnight Walk, it’s never been a better time to jump into the action with PS VR2. Using the PS VR2 PC Adapter, players will also have access to browse, buy and play thousands of virtual reality games on Steam. Title release dates and regional availability may vary.

In addition, with a recent update to PS VR2, it now supports low-latency hand tracking is now supported, which allows developers to create games that tracks a player’s hand position and movement through the cameras embedded on the PS VR2 headset. Through this new feature, players will be able to experience intuitive controls in supported games such as Waltz of the Wizard.

In an exciting development for virtual reality enthusiasts, Valve is reportedly gearing up to release its new standalone, wireless VR headset, codenamed Deckard, by the end of 2025.

Priced at $1,200 for the full bundle, the Valve Deckard VR headset promises to deliver an unparalleled VR experience, even if it means selling at a loss. The news comes from reputable sources, including Gabe Follower, a well-known Valve insider, who shared detailed insights on the upcoming product.

Valve’s commitment to quality is evident in the Deckard VR headset’s design and features. The device will include in-house games or demos that are already completed, ensuring users have content to explore right out of the box. The company aims to provide the best possible experience without cutting any corners, which is reflected in the premium price point.

One of the standout features of the Valve Deckard VR headset is its ability to play flat-screen games from the Steam Deck in VR mode on a large virtual screen, without needing a PC. This feature is expected to bridge the gap between traditional gaming and virtual reality, offering a versatile experience for gamers.

The Deckard will run on a modified version of SteamOS, specifically optimized for virtual reality. This integration suggests a seamless experience for users already familiar with Valve’s ecosystem.

The information about the Deckard VR headset’s release and features comes from multiple confirmed sources, including Gabe Follower, who has a track record of accurate Valve-related leaks.

In a recent post, Gabe Follower detailed the expected release timeline, price, and key features of the Deckard. Additionally, leaked models of the controllers were discovered in a SteamVR update, further corroborating the development of this new VR headset.

2025 is likely to be a quieter year for VR hardware. Samsung and Google's mixed reality headset, currently the only major device confirmed for this year, is likely to make the biggest splash. The arrival of Android XR will transform the Meta-Apple rivalry into a three-way contest, promising to captivate us for years to come.

In 2025, the trend will be toward premium headsets, as well as ultra-lightweight experimental devices with high-resolution OLED microdisplays, which will be out of reach for most consumers due to their high price.

Maybe there will be one or two surprises later this year, for example from Valve, while the next generation of Quest headsets are not expected until late next year.

Developed by Combat Waffle Studios (Ghosts of Tabor, GRIM) and published by Beyond Frames Entertainment, Silent North is a new PvPvE VR shooter set in the Alps. Tasked with fending off the harsh winter environment and zombies alike, you'll need to survive against the infected hordes and other survivors as you fight for the scarce supply of resources.

Survival in this harsh environment involves managing basic needs like sustenance and warmth, all while looting different villages for supplies. You can form alliances with other players if you wish, and the developer states the day and night cycle provides strategic opportunities like offering the cover of darkness for stealth or spotting enemies from afar in daylight.

Next month's launch follows the recent early access alpha for GRIM, a Rust-inspired VR survival multiplayer sandbox game. Co-developed by Spoonfed Interactive and Combat Waffle Studios, this PvPvE game sees you trying to survive while fighting for resources after efforts to colonize Mars failed. Silent North arrives in early access on March 20 on Quest and Steam, and pre-orders are live now on the Horizon Store with a 15% discount. The Steam version will also receive a 15% discount at launch.

VRC Volleyball (website listing here) is the latest attempt in a decades-long quest to create a seemingly simple thing: A physics-enabled game involving a ball that people can play together from around the world in a 3D virtual world in real time. Most attempts end up being comically, unplayably laggy. This new version in VRChat, however, has been playable enough to generate not only a large returning audience -- over 300,000 visits since launching last November -- but also player leagues... and even live sport casters on YouTube. (Watch above.) The world's creator, mamemoyasys (on Twitter/X here), had never actually played volleyball in real life when they started building it, but was inspired after reading the volleyball-themed manga Haikyuu!! They also saw a need for such games on the platform: "Many game worlds in VRChat are similar to FPS games," they explain, "where even if people are playing together, they often feel like they are acting separately. I wanted to create a game world where everyone interacts with a single target, leading to natural communication."

Made this looping video on a whim this morning because you'd think they would've fixed this problem by now (after ~5 years and multiple headsets).

Wasn't sure where to share it so here you go, lemmy.world/Virtual Reality 😁

Orion Drift will open early access next Tuesday, February 25.

Orion Drift is the next game from Another Axiom, the studio behind Gorilla Tag, one of VR gaming's biggest hits of all time. It's a zero-gravity sci-fi sports game reminiscent of Echo VR, which Meta shut down last year.

"I think were going to get to a point where things like TV you’ll no longer need a physical TV, you'll get $1 app that you can watch a screen on and it will just interesting exercise to see how many of the things that we have that are physical things don't actually need to be physical in that world."

This quote is from Mark Zuckerberg. He said it on an earnings call with shareholders on May 3, 2017.

As you can see, the vision that VR headsets and AR glasses will make physical screens obsolete is anything but new. Almost eight years have passed since that pitch was made to shareholders, and such devices are still a niche market, even though the technology has come a long way since then. The best example of this is the Apple Vision Pro, which is already being used as a viable monitor replacement by a small group of early adopters thanks to its high-resolution displays.

For virtual screens to become more widely accepted, the technology will have to overcome many more technical hurdles than just the display resolution. VR headsets and AR glasses need to be able to communicate with each other, regardless of manufacturer, so that we can see the same virtual screens in the same place in the room. And the technology itself needs to be miniaturized to the point where it fades into the background and looks good when worn. The biggest problem with VR headsets and AR glasses will always be that they are headsets and glasses. You have to wear them on your face. This sounds obvious, but it is something that the enthusiasts tend to ignore.

MIXED founder Matthias Bastian posed an interesting thought experiment in this context: What if VR headsets and AR glasses had been invented first and had been around for decades, and we were currently experiencing the advent of physical screens? We would probably celebrate it as a technological revolution. After all, you don't have to wear anything on your face, and you can share the same content without any fuss.

Physical screens have their purpose and use cases, as do VR headsets and AR glasses, and I don't think one category will completely replace the other anytime soon. The latter class of devices has the advantage that you can carry one or more large screens in your pocket and place them anywhere in the room, and that the content is private, which can be very useful. Whether these advantages can outweigh wearing a heavy headset or ugly glasses in public is another question.

I expect that as technology advances, we will increasingly look at virtual screens rather than physical ones. But I think this evolution will take a long time, as Zuckerberg's 2017 quote shows.

Following its debut last year, the VR Games Showcase is back with “major reveals and updates on anticipated games.” Initially announced last month, it's now been confirmed that the upcoming spring 2025 edition will be headlined by Hitman: World of Assassination on PlayStation VR2, while Flat2VR Studios will provide updates on Roboquest VR, Wrath: Aeon of Ruin, and more.

Embracer Group, the media conglomerate behind a host of game studios, announced in a recent financial report that Metro Awakening (2024) “underperformed” financial expectations.

Developed by Embracer Group’s Vertigo Games, Metro Awakening brought the storied post-apocalyptic shooter franchise to VR for the first time, serving as the latest ‘AAA’ quality VR game to target all major headsets, including Quest 2 and above, SteamVR headsets, and PSVR 2.

Now, in an October – December 2024 financial report, the company detailed revenue generated by its various properties, which included Let’s Sing 2025, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered, Goat Simulator Remastered, and Metro Awakening.

“Metro Awakening had a positive reception from critics, winning the Steam VR Game of the Year award, but underperformed management financial expectations,” the Embracer Group report states.

The company says revenue for Q3 2024 was led by those releases mentioned above, amounting to SEK 235 million (~$22 million USD), marking a decrease of -50% year-over-year for the same period in the year prior.