All The E3 VR Games
Every year during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (more commonly known as E3), the biggest names in the video game industry congregate in Los Angeles to reveal the hottest new titles in development and announce release dates for the games we know are coming. Now that virtual reality hardware is part of the video game industry, we expected to be bombarded with news of exciting new concepts and perhaps a few triple-A titles.
Our expectations of a mass influx of VR games proved to be somewhat over-optimistic, but the few games that are coming look excellent, nevertheless.
Here’s a list of all the VR games that developers talked about at E3 2017.
Lone Echo / Echo Arena
Lone Echo is a story-based single player game with cutting-edge graphics fidelity. In it, you play as Jack, a cybernetic AI android stationed at a mining facility on the surface of Saturn. The game is set in zero gravity, and the developers provide two forms of locomotion: You get wrist-mounted rocket boosters as though you’re wearing an Iron Man suit, and you can also use the environment to get around. For example, you can grab onto nearby objects to pull yourself toward them and push yourself away.
When Jason Rubin, Oculus’s VP of Content, revealed Lone Echo during the Oculus Touch Game Showcase at Oculus Connect 3, he called it “one of the single largest VR productions to date.” Rubin didn’t talk about the release date at OC3, but we have the answer now. Ready At Dawn revealed that Lone Echo would hit the Oculus Store on July 20.
Ready At Dawn also revealed that it split the game into two separate entities. Lone Echo’s multiplayer component is now a separate game called Echo Arena, which the developer plans to release alongside the Lone Echo single player campaign on July 20. Echo Arena will initially be free for everyone with an Oculus Rift thanks to Intel’s desire to jumpstart an eSports following for the game; Intel paid Ready At Dawn to waive the price of the game for a limited time.
Fallout 4 VR
Last year during the Bethesda E3 press presentation, the company revealed that it had a team of developers toiling over Fallout 4 to adapt it to virtual reality. Bethesda didn’t show anything about the title last year, but the company said it had figured out a locomotion system that didn’t involve teleportation.
During this year’s presentation, Bethesda confirmed that the game is called Fallout 4 VR, and it revealed the first footage of the game in action.
Fallout 4 VR is a rebuild of the complete Fallout 4 game, and as such the game carries a triple-A price tag: Bethesda said it would launch in Q4 for $59. The Vireio Perception development team better start looking for a new game to add room-scale support to.
Doom VFR
Fallout 4 isn’t the only triple-A property that Bethesda announced at E3 last year. The company had a VR version of the lauded Doom series on hand for journalists and industry insiders to try. The Doom VR game featured a fast-paced teleportation action that struck a balance between not making people sick, and not killing the vibe of the gameplay.
At this year’s E3 presentation, Bethesda revealed a gameplay trailer that gives the public a glimpse of the excitement that can expect from Doom in virtual reality. Bethesda also updated title of the game. Doom VR is now know as Doom VFR. The company is leaving it up to you to figure out what the "F" stands for.
Doom VFR is a standalone game in the Doom series, not a remake of the recent Doom game. Bethesda plans to release the game in Q4 this year. You can pre-order it on Steam for $29.
Skyrim VR
Skyrim is one of the most desired and requested games for VR. Ever since the days of Oculus developer kits, people have tried to hack Skyrim to work in VR using tools like Vireio Perception and Vorp X. Soon, you’ll have an official channel to explore the vast world of Skyrim in virtual reality.
Bethesda revealed that it’s bringing Skyrim to PlayStation VR later this year. To be clear, this isn't a limited VR experience; the developer is porting the entire game over to virtual reality, so you can enjoy complete immersion into the Elder Scrolls universe.
Bethesda said Skyrim VR will hit the PSVR in November. The company didn’t say if the game would eventually make its way to Steam VR for Vive owners to enjoy, though, the company said it plans to support "as many platforms as [it] can."
Space Junkies
Ubisoft announced that it’s developing a new IP called Space Junkies. The game will be a VR-only title for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and it will feature 1v1 and 2v2 air-based combat. Space Junkies players get jetpacks that let them bring the battlefield into the air.
Ubisoft said it built a new VR game engine, which it called Bridgitte, to help create VR environments.
Ubisoft didn’t say much else about the title other than that it plans to release the game in the spring of 2018.
Transference
Ubisoft partnered with SpectreVision to bring emotional storytelling techniques from cinema to the virtual reality medium. SpecterVision (co-founded by Elijia Wood) and Ubisoft’s FunHouse division are building a psychological thriller that could make you question reality.
Imagine living through someone else’s memory. Then imagine not being able to decipher the difference between your reality and someone else's. SpectreVision and FunHouse seek to explore that idea with Transference.
We don’t know much about the game yet, and Ubisoft said it doesn't plan to launch it until the spring of 2018, so it may be a while before we do.
Star Child
When most people think about virtual reality games, they imagine a first-person experience that transports you to a new place. VR games don’t have to be first-person experiences, though, and no company knows that as well as Playful. Playful developed a third-person platformer game called Lucky’s Tale, which ended up bundled with every Rift HMD back when the hardware launched.
Now Playful is back again with another third-person VR game called Star Child. Whereas Lucky's Tale was an Oculus Rift exclusive, this new game is exclusive to the PSVR. It's slated for release in 2018.
The Inpatient
Supermassive Games announced The Inpatient, a psychological thriller set in the Until Dawn universe.
The story of The Inpatient unravels 60 years before the events of Until Dawn, in the Blackwood Sanitarium—the same setting as the first Until Dawn game. When The Inpatient begins, you wake up in Blackwood Sanitarium with no recollection of how you got there. Jefferson Bragg, the owner of the sanitorium, greets you and assures you that he’s there to help. But how can you be sure?
Supermassive Games didn’t announce a release window for The Inpatient, Sony said the game is a PSVR exclusive.
Bravo Team
Supermassive Games is a developer that likes to keeps its employees busy. The company made three announcements during the PlayStation E3 press conference: a non-VR game called Hidden Agenda, the Until Dawn prequel (The Inpatient), and a first-person cover shooter called Bravo Team.
Bravo Team puts an emphasis on teamwork. The game features a single-player mode where you work with AI teammates as well as an online co-op component that lets you and a friend work together to stay alive. Bravo Team features intense firefight action that demands that you use the environment for cover.
Supermassive Games said Bravo Team is in development for PSVR, but the company didn’t say when it would be available.
Monsters of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV
SquareEnix is building a VR game for fans of fishing games and the Final Fantasy series. (We're not sure how much overlap there is in that Venn diagram is exactly, but hey, who are we to judge.) Monsters of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is a first-person virtual reality fishing simulator set in the universe of Final Fantasy XV.
Join the characters from Final Fantasy XV on a fishing trip and catch your quarry in the serene environments found in the FFXV game. Just be sure to watch your back, because there's more than bass and walleye in those waters.
SquareEnix said Monsters of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV would makes its way to PSVR in September.
