Q.
What are you most looking forward to in terms of announced VR experiences or expected functionality in the months ahead?
Patrick O’Luanaigh: Personally, I’m looking forward to buying a Vision Pro in the UK (I didn’t want to buy one myself from the US, as I want it to work with my UK Apple account!). I’m really excited by some of the big VR games launching this Christmas – I have no idea whether Alien, Batman or Behemoth will be good, but I really hope so! We have quite a few exciting VR games at nDreams that we haven’t announced yet, so I’m also looking forward to getting those out in the open! In terms of hardware, I can’t wait to see what Meta announces in the future – their hardware gets better and better, and they are doing such a brilliant job driving the market.
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Jörg Tittel: I look forward to players experiencing this hybrid future with C-Smash VRS New Dimension coming to PS5 in late summer. Our Golden Joystick and MCV/Develop nominated game - also Digital Foundry’s VR Game of the Year - will get a free update for all existing PS VR2 players and make the game playable in 3rd person. With our friends at Wolf & Wood, we’ve had to essentially develop a whole new game, but we have a lot of surprises in store and hope that our game will lead the charge in a future where players from all dimensions can enjoy the same games - and play them the way they choose to.
Bobby Thandi: Well from a personal perspective I can’t wait to get Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded into the hands of players, but I’m also excited to keep playing these social experience games that are on the rise.
For example, the rise in appeal of games like
“I can’t wait to see what Meta announces in the future – their hardware gets better and better, and they are doing such a brilliant job driving
the market” Patrick O’Luanaigh, nDreams
Gorilla Tag and Yeeps: Hide and Seek among demographic shift where VR is becoming a natural and integral part of their gaming environment. Unlike previous attempts at VR in the past decades, this generation seems poised to embrace VR without reservations, seeking immersive social interactions and enjoyable gameplay above all else. For developers and enthusiasts like ourselves,
this trend represents not just a technological advancement, but a cultural shift towards new forms of digital socialisation and entertainment. It’s an exciting time indeed, where the focus is on creating compelling, interactive experiences that resonate deeply with this burgeoning VR-native audience.
As we eagerly anticipate the release of our upcoming titles such as Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded and Zombie Army VR, we’re also exploring new social VR frontiers. Meaning we’re part of a movement that is reshaping how we think about gaming and social new functionalities in the coming months and more about tapping into the enthusiasm and creativity of
this fresh w honouring older VR
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this fresh wave of VR enthusiasts, while honouring and respecting the tastes of older VR players.
Apple’s Vision Pro is coming to the UK
Paul Brady: I’m looking forward to a couple of things - One is the use cases for mixed reality becoming more apparent, with not just passthrough and using your own space to open up a whole new way to look at games development, but also how features like
Paul Br to a cou use case mo
hand-tracking are becoming more widely adopted and possibly making games controls even more accessible. I’ve always felt hands are a much more natural way to play games than with controllers for the most part, and hand-tracking has really gotten to the point where it is so intuitive to just pick up a game piece or roll a die like we do in Demeo. I think there are a lot of other fun use cases yet to explore with this. Second, is seeing what new novel gameplay mechanics and ideas come from indie developers who keep entering the space. There are still so many concepts and options to innovate in by some super creative implementations.
Henry Stockdale: I’m particularly excited for Batman: Arkham Shadow, MR game Laser Dance and Skydance’s Behemoth, I cannot wait to see what each developer comes up with. For functionality, I’m keen to see what Meta do with their promised Augments system, if that ever releases.
Ben Clements: I’m a simple man, I love any VR experience that lets me explore universes and worlds that are already near and dear to my heart, so Alien: Rogue Incursion, Batman Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening are all very high up on my list of things I need right now! However I expect there will be plenty of surprises and experiences that blow me away over the next few months and into 2025. Afterall the talent in the VR/XR space is immense and the devs we have, both small and large, always knock it out of the park. They’re the heart of this entire industry and I’m excited to get my hands on everything they make.
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson: At CCP, we’re always looking to push the boundaries of virtual worlds and emergent gameplay. While our current focus is on evolving the EVE Universe on screens-over- a-foot-from-your-face, we’re excited about the long-term potential of XR, especially for experiences that emphasise social interaction and physicality. We learned a lot from our early forays into VR with games like Gunjack, EVE Valkyrie and Sparc, and we’re eager to apply those lessons when the time is right. In the broader XR space, I’m excited to see more experiences that leverage the medium’s unique strengths - its ability to connect people in meaningful ways and enable new forms of self- expression. That’s the future we’re building towards.
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