Several VR and mixed reality games were shown during the Meta Connect 2023 keynote. Check out the key announcements here.
This year’s Meta Connect 2023 keynote had various highlights. Among other things, Mark Zuckerberg and his team presented several possible applications for Meta Quest 3.
They also showed a number of mixed reality and VR games. Some of them were already known, others were presented for the first time. Here is an overview of all the new announcements.
All Virtual Reality announcements
Developer studios Vertical Robot and Skydance Interactive showed improved versions of their previously released VR games Red Matter 2 and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners at Meta Connect. The graphical comparison between Quest 2 and Quest 3 shows huge improvements. You can see videos of the optimized Quest 3 versions in the linked article.
Roblox VR is now available as a full version on the Quest Store, after being available as an open beta on App Lab since July, where it quickly surpassed the one million mark.
LEGO Bricktales by ClockStone and Thunderful is getting a VR version for Quest VR headsets and will be released on December 7th. Players will be sent on a journey through five themed biomes to solve various challenges.
The mindfulness and meditation subscription service “headspace” is coming to Meta Quest. It is not yet clear under which conditions the app will be offered in VR.
Meta’s own VR fitness app, Supernatural, will be significantly cheaper, with monthly subscription costs reduced by 50 percent. In addition, the virtual environments will receive a graphical update in Quest 3. Supernatural is currently only available in North America.
The big competitor FitXR, on the other hand, announced new content. Zumba classes will soon be offered in the VR fitness app and two new trainers will join the FitXR team.
The YouTube knowledge channel “Kurzgesagt” is getting its own VR game. It is being developed by Schell Games, the studio behind I Expect You To Die 3 and Among Us VR.
All Mixed Reality Announcements
The massive VR role-playing game Asgard’s Wrath 2 is getting a special mixed reality mode on Quest 3 and Quest Pro. In it, Loki’s minions are said to appear from virtual anomalies that open up in the walls and ceilings of your own room. Asgard’s Wrath 2 will be released on December 15, 2023.
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord will be released on October 26th for PSVR 2 and Meta Quest. There is said to be an exclusive mixed reality mode for Meta Quest 3, which you can see very briefly in the video above starting at minute 2:04:48.
LEGO Bricktales VR will also support a mixed reality mode on the Quest 3 and Quest Pro, allowing you to place LEGO dioramas on real tables.
The third major VR fitness app to join Supernatural and FitXR, Les Mills Bodycombat, announced a mixed reality mode and showed a short video. Quest 3’s color pass-through allows you to see your real-world surroundings while hitting virtual punching bags. FitXR has only announced a similar mode, details are not available yet.
Publisher I-Illusions showed BAM, a fast-paced mixed reality multiplayer game. You place a colorful arena somewhere in your physical environment and fight against each other with small game characters. The multiplayer game is said to work over a local network with friends in the same room or online. BAM will be released at the same time as Quest 3 on October 10, 2023.
Stranger Things VR by Tender Claws was originally announced last year for all Quest VR headsets. During the Connect 2023 keynote, it was announced that the VR adaptation of the Netflix series will also support mixed reality – exclusively on the Meta Quest 3.
In Quest 3’s passthrough mode, you can turn your own living room into a portal to the Upside Down. In the game, you take control of Vecna, the main antagonist from the fourth season. Stranger Things VR will be released on November 30, 2023.
First Encounters serves as a mixed reality tutorial for Quest 3 and is not a standalone game. It is meant to teach you how to use new technologies like color passthrough and Meta Augments in a playful way.
You’ll discover small space creatures in your real-world environment and have to get the friendly creatures safely to a rescue ship.
Also unveiled was the new mixed reality game “Jamtastic,” which is being developed in collaboration between Atlas V and Aardman for Meta Quest 3. Players can immerse themselves in the world of Wallace & Gromit and try their hand at a complex “jam-to-toast delivery system” (see video from minute 2:01:40).
Jamtastic will be available for the Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro headsets and will be included with the purchase of the VR game Wallace & Grommit: The Grand Getaway, due out later this year.
Newly formed VR label Creature is bringing Laser Dance to Quest 3, a mixed reality game that turns your living room into a laser obstacle course. You’ll have to dance, dodge, and crawl to succeed in this party game.
All other mentions and content announcements
Also mentioned were the following games:
Source: Mixed News
