ICYMI This Week: SXSW, Gorilla Tag, Gran Turismo 7, Avenged Sevenfold & More
Following a busy week for VR games and hardware news, here’s our latest roundup.
We’ve seen some big developments across VR hardware. Meta & LG officially confirmed its partnership involves ‘next-gen XR device development,’ which is rumored to be Quest Pro 2. The Quest 2 256GB unit is no longer available, Vi is looking to develop a fitness-focused VR Glove, while an Apple Vision Pro successor will reportedly enter mass production in roughly two years.
With VR gaming, Sony shut down Blood & Truth studio PlayStation London as layoffs hit Horizon Call of the Mountain’s two studios. Supermassive Games also plans layoffs, Zenith: Nexus relaunched, F1 24 was announced, Contractors Showdown began open beta tests, and Meta launched the Quest+ Games Catalog. We also had updates on Beat the Beats, Arcade Paradise VR, Guardians Frontline, Espire 1, Ghosts of Tabor and more.
You can find our full list of articles here. For everything else, here are the top five VR news stories we didn’t previously cover:
Avenged Sevenfold Launch ‘Looking Inside’ Concert With AmazeVR
Following on from its Zara Larsson and Megan Thee Stallion VR concerts, AmazeVR released ‘Avenged Sevenfold VR Concert: Looking Inside’ on Quest and Apple Vision Pro. Running for 26 minutes, this new concert features songs like Hail to the King and Nightmare, alongside new songs from the band’s 2023 album, ‘Life is But a Dream…’.
Gorilla Tag Is Being Delisted On Quest 1 But Existing Owners Can Continue Playing
Free-to-play VR multiplayer hit Gorilla Tag will be delisted for Quest 1 after the next major update. However, Another Axiom confirmed that it’s not “turning off” the game for existing Quest 1 players, so you can “play as usual” for now and specific details will be announced when things change. Elsewhere, Gorilla Tag also became the first Quest Store game to reach 100k user reviews.
Breachers Gets Second Team Deathmatch Map
Breachers, the 5v5 multiplayer team-based shooter, has a major new update following December’s Arctic map and PSVR 2 launch. Called Outpost, this marks the second Team Deathmatch map and takes place within a training facility designed to simulate outdoor environments. That’s out now as a free update.
Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.43 Adds New Cars, Events & Café Menu
The latest Gran Turismo 7 update has arrived and Patch 1.43 introduces three new cars – Audi TTS Coupé ’09, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR GSR ’06 and the Renault R4 GTL ’85. A new Extra Menu for Lamborghini is available in the Café, three new events are now live across the World Circuits, while the Pyrenees is now a featured choice in Scapes.
SXSW Hosts An XR Experience Exhibition Next Week
The South by Southwest festival kicks off next week and, between March 10-12, it features an XR Experience Exhibition. You can find the full exhibit list here, which includes projects we previously went hands-on with like Emperor, but these are the seven projects being highlighted:
- Astra
- Playing With Reality: Impulse
- Reimagined Volume III: Young Thang
- Shadowtime
- Soulpaint
- The Golden Key
- Tulpamancer
Other Updates
Looking for further VR news stories? Here’s everything else we’ve seen this across last week:
- Astro Chef is a new “cosmic culinary journey” that recently reached Quest App Lab. PSVR 2, SteamVR, and Pico ports are “coming soon.”
- Rec Room is collaborating with sports brand PUMA, providing three in-game avatar cosmetics for a limited time.
- Lightning Archer, Truck Parking Simulator VR, Archery Pro and CastleWars are now available on Quest App Lab.
- Undead Quest and ShadowStrikeVR reached Pico.
- Submissions for Venice Immersive are now open until May 15, 2024.
- Tiger Blade released the free ‘Challenges Update #1‘ patch with three new levels on Quest, though the PSVR 2 release date is unknown.
- VR meditation app Realms of Flow received the new ‘Home Within‘ experience on Quest and Steam.
- Gesture VR will move from App Lab onto the main Quest Store on March 21 with new content.
- Warner Bros. launched a Snapchat campaign for Dune: Part Two using AR.
- Apple TV+ is adapting William Gibson’s Neuromancer into a 10-episode TV drama.
- Multiplayer support has arrived in Track Craft.
If you’ve got an update for a VR game we should know about for this article or future updates, you can use our contact page or email [email protected] with details.
