Virtual Reality

The group, which calls itself XR Research Institute, claims that the launch is set for this year, and estimates a production run of 400,000 to 600,000 units per year.

The modern era of virtual reality really kicked off in earnest just over a decade ago, when the Oculus Rift promised 3D worlds beyond your wildest dreams. Since then, nobody’s been able to come up with a killer app to convince even a mild fraction of consumers to engage with the technology. Still, if you’re keen to tinker, you might like to make your own headset like [CNCDan] has done.

Sometimes I forget just how far talented modders can take older games in VR until something like the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade project comes along and jolts that memory back into focus. That’s exactly what happened this week when I got the mod up and running with my Quest 3 and Yaw 3 motion simulator.

Unveiled back in January, Resolution Games and Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast have teamed up to release Demeo x DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Battlemarked.

According to previous rumors, Apple was developing a Vision Pro follow-up more squarely aimed at consumers—often referred to as ‘Vision Air’ (codenamed ‘N100’). Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported in September that Vision Air was expected to be “over 40% lighter and more than 50% cheaper” than the current Vision Pro, putting the device at less than 400g and less than $1,750.

Test results for a new Apple Vision Pro headset are now listed on the FCC’s official website.

I had a chance to go hands-on with the latest build of Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow on PSVR 2 at the first VR Games Showcase live event, which took place in London in September. It’s also coming to Quest 2 and above and SteamVR headsets at release, which is expected sometime later this year.

We’ve known for some time that developer XREAL Games is remastering FPS sequel Zero Caliber 2 on PC VR following last year’s Quest launch. Featuring a campaign that supports both single-player and four-player co-op, PvP modes, and more, this upcoming remaster promises reworked combat scenarios and overhauled graphics. Having initially targeted a Q3 2025 launch, it’s now launching on October 30.

The VR version of Steam Link first launched on Meta Quest headsets just under two years ago. As an Android OpenXR app, it actually already ran on Pico headsets if you extracted the APK from a Quest, with some quirks.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is set to launch on the PS5 platform on December 8th, bringing with it up to 125 aircraft in the ‘Aviator Edition’, including aviation history’s most iconic: from ultralights, fighter jets, helicopters to commercial airliners.

An action adventure where you take down massive robots in solo play or through four-player co-op with cross-platform multiplayer. Platforms: Quest, PC VR, PS VR2 (Reviewed on Quest 3) Release Date: Out Now (Quest, Steam), 2026 (PS VR2) Developer/Publisher: Psytec Games Price: $29.99

Citing industry sources, ETNews maintains that Samsung’s Mobile Experience division will unveil Moohan (Korean for ‘Infinite’) online on October 21st—likely in the morning of October 22nd in Korea, which will include specs, price and the ability to purchase the headset.

Announced last week, VR studio and publishing label Creature (Thrasher, The Light Brigade) has teamed up with Future Friends Games to launch a new awards show and festival celebrating SteamVR titles. The event includes game announcements and demos, as well as discounts for best-selling titles like Tetris Effect: Connected, Synth Riders, Walkabout Mini Golf, and more.

Reach is the debut title from nDreams Elevation, coming to all major VR headsets next month. I got a chance to go hands-on with the PSVR 2 version during the first in-person VR Games Showcase event in London earlier this month, where Reach proved to be an immersive and surprisingly cinematic adventure I truly can’t wait to get my hands on.

Like many VR enthusiasts, the team behind the Quest spatial computing app Fluid wished that they had a PC headset with the pancake optics, micro-OLED displays, and comfort of Bigscreen’s Beyond headsets but with the speakers of Valve Index. So they built a kit to make that happen, which they call Project Beyondex.

You don’t have to look far to find reports of people who have used VR headsets and then felt ‘off’ after removing them. While motion sickness is surely the most well-known post-VR symptom, a subset of people say they have experienced feelings of being ‘stuck in VR’ after taking off their headsets. It’s tempting to brush off such reports as someone having seen The Matrix (1999) one too many times, but it turns out there is a clear scientific basis for the sensation.

Released in 1995, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy was the first standalone home stereoscopic 3D gaming system, providing a 384×224 red-only monochrome image to each eye via the two lenses. While often described as a “VR headset”, Virtual Boy lacked any kind of head tracking, not even rotational, and had a narrow field of view. That’s not to say it wasn’t an interesting 3D console - it just wasn’t really VR.

A group of six whistleblowers have come forward with allegations of a cover-up of harm to children on Meta’s virtual reality devices and apps. They say the social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and offers a line of VR headsets and games, deleted or doctored internal safety research that showed children being exposed to grooming, sexual harassment and violence in its 3D realms.

Announced today, VR studio and publishing label Creature (Thrasher, The Light Brigade) has teamed up with Future Friends Games to launch a new awards show and festival celebrating SteamVR titles. The event takes place later this month and includes game announcements and demos, as well as discounts for best-selling titles like Tetris Effect: Connected, Synth Riders, Walkabout Mini Golf, and more.

Nervous Systems and Fast Travel Games announced that VEX MAGE is coming to Quest and PC VR headsets next month, bringing spellcasting abilities to Quake-style arenas.

The Oasis driver arrives just under one year after Microsoft started rolling out Windows 11 24H2, which completely removed support for Windows MR. This meant Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung PC VR headset owners could no longer use their headset at all, not even on Steam, since Windows MR had its own runtime and only supported SteamVR through a shim.

Titan Isles is slated to arrive on Quest and SteamVR headsets on September 25th. Psytec Games says a PSVR 2 version is also still in development and set to launch sometime in 2026.

Last week in Beijing, I had the great opportunity to try the Vivo Vision Discovery Edition, the new mixed reality headset launched by Vivo, one of the leading smartphone manufacturers.

After developer Othergate previously teased the PC VR version several months ago, the studio confirmed earlier today that fantasy action RPG Dungeons of Eternity is officially launching on SteamVR on September 11. This comes alongside its “biggest content update yet” that promises new characters, more weapons, and other surprises.

Social VR platform Rec Room announced it’s laying off around half of its staff, citing low-level content which has flooded the platform from users on mobile and console.

Into Black is an ominous title. It prefaces a darkness that reveals nothing more of what it truly is. Outer space is pitch black, but then again, so are caves and black holes. Luckily, all three of these elements convey what Into Black is about rather succinctly. Stranded on an alien planet, your goal is to repair your ship by going on expeditions to gather resources. This straightforward premise is a vehicle for a fully formed FPS campaign and gameplay mechanics that tempt players to come back for one more session.

Resonite is an immersive platform with building capabilities which promise “everything you see in the world can be edited and customized with the game tools”. The performance improvement should mean faster loading times for maps and avatars, and more users should be able to enjoy an instance together without suffering frame drops.

Originally announced during the VR Game Spotlight at AWE USA, Ilysia has switched from a paid game to a free-to-play structure across both platforms with a live launch of up to level 16 content. Developer Team 21 Studio confirmed new players will be able to access the game’s first full region, Lavea, for free, and existing owners can continue playing uninterrupted.

I have always been a fan of mixed reality, and over the years I have always tried to push the boundaries with this technology: in 2019 I launched with my team a mixed reality fitness game before MR was cool, I’ve published many experiments about blending the physical with the virtual, and I have advocated for months about giving camera access to developers. I think MR is cool, but still, after all these years, I have to admit that the technology didn’t have the success I hoped for. There are very few XR applications that are truly “mixed reality” and do not use MR passthrough only as their background, and there is no “killer application” of MR. No Mixed Reality application reached the success of Beat Saber or Gorilla Tag. I tried to ask myself why, and to foster a debate in the community, I thought about some reasons why this is happening.

I’ve been exploring VR music-making for the last eighteen months, and I want to share what I’ve learned - this is my purely personal take. But before embarking on their journey into virtual reality, there’s something every user has to contend with. VR is one of the most cutting-edge ways to make music, but it’s a little controversial, partly because of its reliance on big corporations to provide the hardware, but mostly because of resistance to the frankly bizarre look of VR headsets: they take some getting used to. If you want to get involved, you’ll have to overcome these obstacles, but believe me, it’s worth it. It may be a little impractical, disorienting and even slightly dystopian - but making music in VR is like nothing I’ve tried before.

Reach is one of the biggest single-player VR games to launch in 2025, and now we know exactly when: October 16th, 2025, priced at $40. Reach is confirmed to be headed to Quest 3 & 3S, PC VR, and PSVR 2.

If you’re unfamiliar, Vivo is a Chinese smartphone company with around 10% global market share. It was originally owned by giant BBK Electronics, which also owned OnePlus, Oppo, and Realme, but Vivo became a fully independent company in 2023, when BBK ceased operations.

It’s being developed by Played With Fire (Stargaze, Mixture) and published by Broken Mirror Games, a “co-development horror label” under Bloober Team (Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, Silent Hill remakes).

If you’re unaware, while PS VR2 officially supports PC VR through Sony’s official SteamVR driver, the headset currently lacks its standout features on PC, including eye tracking, HDR, headset rumble, and adaptive triggers. Now, a team of programmers have released an open-source mod of Sony’s driver, called PlayStation VR2 Toolkit (PSVR2Toolkit), and it includes eye tracking, adaptive triggers for the Sense controllers, and 10-bit color depth support.

Smart glasses aren’t just a new trend anymore, they’re very much here. And so far, AI glasses have been dominated by Meta — I, for one, love the company’s Ray-Ban smart specs. But HTC has just come from out of nowhere and launched a pair of its own that seriously challenge the sleek stylings and technological smarts of Zuck’s glasses.

Vivo’s headset, which bears a striking resemblance to Apple Vision Pro, will be demoed in Chinese stores from next week, but won’t be shipping this year.

Forefront comes from Triangle Factory—the studio behind competitive VR shooter Breachers—so we expect the gunplay and gadgets are going to be solid. But compared to many multiplayer VR shooters which top out at 4 vs. 4 or maybe 8 vs. 8 players, Forefront is trying to tap into large-scale battles with teams up to 16 vs. 16, along with an array of vehicles like tanks, helicopters, and jeeps.

Created by ByOwls Inc, you may recall Whispers of the Void released a Steam Next Fest demo last year. Described as a story-driven narrative sci-fi adventure, this upcoming adventure game promises a mix of exploration, puzzle solving, combat, alien technology, and more as you find yourself dealing with a galaxy-wide conspiracy. Here’s the latest trailer.

Exoshock is an upcoming co-op shooter for up to four players, and it’s headed to Quest & PC VR this Fall. We’ve had our eyes on this one for some time now thanks to its intense looking firefights, gritty sci-fi aesthetic, and great sound design.

A 1v1 PvP spin-off set in the Moss universe by developer Polyarc, Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss first appeared in 2023 with an open beta. Selecting a team of three Champions with unique abilities, you’re tasked with breaking through to an enemy’s ‘Glass Stronghold’ and destroying it to win. Following the open beta’s end in January 2024, it’s now heading back to Steam and Quest this holiday.

Originally launched on Quest last year, Into Black by The Binary Mill is reminiscent of flatscreen action/exploration hit Deep Rock Galactic with four-player co-op. After previously confirming a PlayStation VR2 port with a “full visual overhaul,” the studio advised it’s now arriving this month alongside a newly announced SteamVR edition.

Microsoft stopped supporting its WMR platform on Windows 11 last year, essentially putting an end to its first foray into PC VR headsets. However, an unofficial SteamVR driver called ‘Oasis’ aims to bridge the gap when it releases later this month.