The Biggest VR Games Are Some of the Oldest
Valve released a list of the top selling virtual reality (VR) games of 2018 (so far), and the results may surprise you. Despite the constant advancements in VR development, most of the titles that round out the top of the list are older games that have been around for a while. Many of them came out last year, and a handful of top sellers launched alongside the Vive headset in 2016.
Arizona Sunshine
Valve pegged Arizona Sunshine as one of the 12 top selling VR games on the Steam platform in the first half of 2018, and it’s not hard to see why. Vertigo Games continues to add new content and features to the game. Also, who doesn’t want to shoot zombies in the face?
Vertigo Games released Arizona Sunshinein late 2016. The game got off to a controversial start because the developer cut a deal with Intel that enabled exclusive content on high-end, i7-based PCs. However, the bad PR didn’t slow the game’s sales. Arizona Sunshine has consistently remained one of the best selling VR titles, and it was one of the first VR games to break $1 million in sales. We suspect that the recent Dead Man DLC update, which adds missions that tell the story leading up to the events of the base game, also helped keep the sales numbers high in recent weeks.
If you’re looking for a zombie shooter game with an hours-long campaign in VR, Arizona Sunshine is really your only option.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows MR. Also available on PSVR.
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Vertigo Games
- Developer: Vertigo Games, Jaywalkers Interactive
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Beat Saber
Beat Saber from Beat Games is one of the few titles on Valve’s best sellers list that came out in 2018, and it’s selling in tremendous numbers. The developer released the game on May 1, and on May 28 it announced that it had already sold 100,000 copies of the game. The developer hasn’t released an update about its sales numbers, but we suspect it sold many more units in June.
Beat Saber is a rhythm game like Audioshield (also on this list), but instead of using shields to bash the beats, you wield a pair of light sabers to hack and slash to the beat of high-energy songs. Beat Saber doesn’t yet support custom song lists (a song editor is in the works), but its filled with a custom track list that is sure to get you moving.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows MR
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Beat Games
- Developer: Beat Games
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Budget Cuts
Budget Cuts is another recent release that resonates well with fans. Neat Corporation released a demo for the game alongside the HTC Vive in 2016, and after more than a year of development delays, the company released the full game in mid-June. Despite being available for just two weeks of the first half of 2018, the game has already achieved Valve’s Platinum sales status.
Budget Cuts is a room-scale VR stealth game that incorporates a teleportation mechanic to move around. You must be cautious not to draw the attention of the guards because they will kill you on sight, and your only means of defense is a pocket full of throwing knives.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Neat Corporation
- Developer: Neat Corporation
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Fallout 4 VR
One of the biggest complaints that people had about VR gaming is the lack of AAA titles for the medium. When the Rift and Vive hit the market, that criticism was valid, but these days it doesn’t hold water. Bethesda made sure of it when it converted a handful of its most popular game franchises into large-scale VR titles.
Fallout 4 VR is a complete rebuild of the PC version of Fallout 4, which incorporates room-scale tracking, motion control input and a handful of locomotion options so you can tailor the experience to suit your preferences. If you’re a fan of Fallout 4, you should do yourself a favor and try it in VR. Exploring the wasteland never felt so real.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
- Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Gorn
Choose your weapon and get ready to fight for your life. This is going to get messy! Gorn is a “ludicrously violent” room-scale gladiator battle game that features a goofy cartoon art style. Arm yourself with a variety of melee weapons, including battle axes, swords and a variety of bludgeoning tools.
If you don’t like blood, stay away from Gorn. But if smashing a cartoon skull into pieces with a morning star sounds like a laugh, this game is right up your alley.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Developer: Free Lives
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades (also known as H3VR) is one of the oldest VR titles on Steam, but it’s also one of the most popular. The developer released the game alongside the HTC Vive in April 2016, and it continues to release new content on a regular basis.
Rust Ltd. describes H3VR as a “heaping pile of mad obsessive VR experiments,” but mostly, this is a game for gun aficionados. H3VR features a wide variety of highly detailed guns with true-to-life mechanical operation. With this game, you can test your favorite guns at the range without the danger of live ammunition. The game also features ranges for explosive ordinance. Oh, and don’t forget about the hot dogs.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Rust LTD.
- Developer: Rust LTD.
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Job Simulator
Owlchemy Labs was one of the first developers to embrace room-scale VR, and it was the first developer to show content for the HTC Vive. The company’s Job Simulator title brilliantly demonstrates what you could do in room-scale VR, and it remains one of the most popular VR games to this day.
Job Simulator is a basic game with one input: grab. But it provides the player a tremendous amount of freedom to do whatever they want. There are no rules within Job Simulator, and everything is interactive. Kids absolutely love Job Simulator, so it’s no surprise that it continues to sell well more than two years after its initial release.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows MR
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Owlchemy Labs
- Developer: Owlchemy Labs
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Onward
Onward is another older VR title that continues to sell in high volumes. The one-man development team at Downpour Interactive put together an excellent multiplayer military simulation game, which we first tried in September 2016. Nearly two years later, the game is still selling well and has garnered a dedicated community. ESL even hosted an Onward Invitational tournament in June, which offered a $10,000 prize pool.
Onward is a competitive game that requires coordinated teamwork. You and four other players must communicate and work together to outwit the opposing team. The game offers a variety of weapons to suit different play styles, including pistols, automatic rifles and sniper rifles.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Downpour Interactive
- Developer: Downpour Interactive
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Orbus VR
Orbus VR is the first massively multiplayer online role playing game built exclusively for VR. The game features over 20 hours of story-based gameplay, a huge open world spanning more than 10 square kilometers and 5-player and 10-player dungeons to raid. Like any role-playing game, Orbus VR offers a handful of classes to choose from, including Ranger, Musketeer, Warrior and Runemage. Each class has 20 levels to master, with new skills and abilities to unlock as you progress.
Orbus VR is still in early access, but the development team is dedicated to making Orbus VR into something special. The developersecured its initial funding through Kickstarter and built a solid foundation for the game before releasing the early access beta.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: Orbus Online, LLC
- Developer: Orbus Online, LLC
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
Pavlov VR
The description box on Pavlov VR’s Steam page doesn’t paint a detailed picture of the game. The developer described the game as “a multiplayer shooter for the HTC Vive” and it offered a vague list of features, such as “dedicated servers,” “casual, fast-paced game modes” and “matchmaking.” You wouldn’t expect a game with no explanation about what it is to sell well. However, the limited description hasn't stopped people from buying Pavlov. Somehow, it is one of the 12 platinum sellers
Pavlov VR offers a wide range of weapons, including pistols, shotguns and automatic rifles, and features 5-on-5 matches (like Onward). The developer hasn’t included many maps yet, but Pavlov VR is compatible with Valve’s Steam Workshop, and the community has already released remakes of popular maps from other shooter games, includingDust 2 from Counter-Strike and Facility from Goldeneye 007.
- HMD Support: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift
- Input: Motion controllers
- Publisher: davevillz
- Developer: davevillz
- Store Page: Steam
- Sales Rating: Platinum
