The Ghost Howls’s VR Week Peek (2019.12.02): Facebook acquires Beat Games, Valve gets the Index sold-out and is maybe working on Left4Dead VR, and much more!
Welcome back to The VR Week Peek, the place where you can find the most interesting AR/VR news of the week!
This has been the week of Thanksgiving, and I want to make my best wishes to all my American friends for it. This week has been pretty epic for me because us of NTW have finally launched our passthrough-MR game HitMotion:Reloaded, and it has even been featured on VR Scout!!
Apart from that, there’s nothing much to say, these days have been mostly dominated by the ongoing debate on HalfLife: Alyx, Black Friday and the Beat Saber acquisition. Let’s see all of this in detail…
Top news of the week
Facebook acquires Beat Games
With a surprise move, Facebook has acquired Beat Games, the studio behind the hit game Beat Saber. The details of the deal are undisclosed, but Facebook guarantees that the studio will continue working as an independent studio based in Prague (Czech Republic), and that Beat Saber will continue being distributed and updated on all platforms it is currently available on.
This acquisition signs a new course for Facebook strategy in XR: after having just partnered with external studios for the development of its top-notch exclusive titles (e.g. Ready At Dawn, Sanzaru Games, etc…), Facebook has actually started incorporating game studios. Director of Content Michael Verdu has said that the acquisition of Beat Games is “just the beginning”, so many others will come in the future.
This will let Facebook absorb the expertise of the highest-talented game developers, and so secure the development of high-quality VR exclusive titles for the future. It is also a defensive, move that makes it avoid the loss of its partners, as it has happened with Insomniac Studio that has just been acquired by Sony.
Upload’s Ian Hamilton has written a very interesting editorial on this acquisition, forecasting the possible use of Beat Saber as a way to make Facebook distribute its APIs in a more efficient way. Everyone loves Beat Saber, and if the game offered a free multiplayer mode just requiring a Facebook login, many people would use that, and so Facebook could gather the data of all these players. If these Facebook features proved to be popular, more developers would use them, and finally, Facebook could have more power on the VR development tools, after the failed acquisition of Unity.
I don’t know if it is the plan, but for sure it is a possibility. And for sure, Facebook will add some Facebook-exclusive features inside Beat Saber: if not multiplayer, at least automatic sharing of scores on Facebook, or streaming of BS matches and so on. Facebook says that Beat Games will remain independent and the game will remain the same, but these are the same words that I’ve heard when in 2014 it acquired Oculus, and we all know how the story ended (and in fact, the popular Damo9000 ironized about it). The gameplay will remain similar, but the game will be more connected with Facebook, some features will be exclusive to Oculus, and most probably, the current founders will leave the company in 1–2 years, after the transition. Who knows if Jaroslav Beck stepping down from the role of CEO of the company some months ago is related to this acquisition.
My gut says that this news is no good, but I hope to be wrong.
More info (Facebook buys Beat Games)
More info (Oculus post announcing the news, with some FAQs)
More info (Ian Hamilton’s editorial)
More info (Damo9000’s irony on the announcement)
Other relevant news
Valve Index is sold out in the US after Half-Life:Alyx announcement
It seems that Valve’s idea of releasing Half-Life: Alyx as a means to give more popularity to the Valve Index and to VR, in general, is working. Not only all mainstream media are talking about VR, but it seems that the sales of VR headsets are going better, especially the ones of the Valve Index. The headset is now sold-out in US and in other regions of the world (while in others, it is still normally available). Some people on Reddit highlight also how the number of reviews of VR games has increased in the latest times.
It seems that HL is really helping VR, in the end, exactly as Valve was hoping. But don’t think about mainstream adoption, yet.
(And if you look below in this newsletter, you may find a new rumor about a Valve VR game, that shows that this company is really committed to VR gaming…)
IDC publishes new forecasts for 2020
A new forecast by IDC shows how 2020 will still be a transition year for AR and VR. The report shows good news, like the fact that the growth rate of VR in 2020 will be 77% more than 2019, and that the growth should continue in the next 4 years. But it also shows that VR is not exploding next year and that the consumer use of the technology will only represent 37% of the whole market.
This means that in 2020, AR and VR will still be used mostly in the enterprise sector, and mostly for training and maintenance. The consumer spending will increase and the dominant form of media consumed will be games, of course. The report also highlights that one of the regions where VR may grow more in 2019–2023 is Western Europe.
From these data, it is clearly readable that 2020 won’t be the “year of VR”, but will be a year in which VR will improve and grow, following the trends of 2019 (enterprise first). VR is just at the beginning, remember that we are still in the early days.
(Thanks Eloi Gerard for pointing me to this piece of news!)
Upload has published a shopping guide for your Oculus Link
Oculus Link has just been released, and everyone is looking for the best cable to transform his Oculus Quest into an Oculus Rift. Thanks to Upload, this job is easier: the online magazine has compiled a list of suitable USB cables and extension cables so that to guarantee an optimal image quality on your Quest. Available compatible cables are at a maximum of 3 meters long (to have a 5m one we have to wait for the official cable provided by Oculus), that’s why it may be interesting to also look at extension cables.
I hope this guide may be useful to buy the cable for your Quest.
More info (USB C cable for your Quest)
More info (Extension Cables for your Quest)
It’s the Black Friday Weekend!
This Friday was the Black Friday, and Monday will be the Cyber Monday. This weekend, you may find a lot of interesting discounts on various VR products:
- Oculus Rift S costs only $350;
- Oculus Quest comes with bundled all the Vader Immortal trilogy;
- Many HTC headsets (like Vive Pro and Vive Cosmos) are discounted $100 each;
- Samsung Odyssey costs only $230;
- Pimax 5K+ is discounted 20% on Amazon;
- Oculus offers various bundles and discounts on games
- …and much more!
If you were always unsure if buying a headset or not, the time is now!
More info (Best Black Friday deals)
More info (Cyber Monday VR deals)
More info (Sales on Oculus Quest games)
More info (Other sales on Oculus Quest games)
More info (Rift S discounted on Amazon — affiliate link)
More info (Quest on Amazon — affiliate link)
More info (Pimax 5K+ on Amazon — affiliate link)
Are cows really using VR headsets?
Last week I left you with one funny link about cows using VR headsets in Russia. I couldn’t expect that the news, thanks to social media, in the meantime could become so viral that it has even been featured in many mainstream media.
The article talks about a Russian experiment to improve the mood of cows. Happier cows make better milk, and so the Russian Ministry of Agriculture could be experimenting with VR headsets explicitly designed to accommodate cows’ vision that should make cows see themselves in sunny grass fields, for their happiness. This would improve the wellbeing of the cattle, and also guarantee more milk.
Personally, I call this bullsh*t (pun intended). The headset in the photo is too similar to a headset for humans, while cows would need something completely different. The pictures only show one cow, while for a similar study many would be required. Furthermore, there is no university behind this research and no related scientific paper on this study. Not to mention the fact that creating a headset made for cows would require a lot of time and money to perform the research so that to guarantee the wellness of the animal and its correct virtual vision. The Mootrix is not real.
Take it as a news to make you smile, not as something scientific or serious: many friends have already sent me the article believing it was true. Just smile and enjoy the related memes.
More info (The news reported on The Verge)
More info (Beat Games & VR Dizzy making fun of it)
News worth a mention
Is Valve thinking about Left4Dead in VR?
Valve News Network is at it again: after having teased for months a Half-Life VR game, that in the end has actually been released, it is now speculating on a Left 4 Dead game in Virtual Reality, also produced by Valve.
This game would be internally called Left 4 Dead 3, but it would come out with another name. Tyler, the man behind VNN, has found some code related to it in the latest software released by Valve, and this would make us think that Valve is going to release other cool VR games for Steam to make Index buyers happy after they have played with Half-Life.
This really looks like a strategy to push the VR gaming ecosystem to the next level. I really hope so…
Someone has disassembled the Index Controllers
If you like to see teardown of hardware products, then you will love this teardown of the Index Controllers that my friend Rob Cole has found on Reddt!
More info (Teardown of Knuckles)
More info (X-ray vision of the Index Controllers)
Red 6 brings AR to the USAF
Militaries have always been interested in the applications of augmented reality, and now a new interesting project aims at offering new training possibilities via AR to USAF pilots. The pilot uses a custom-built augmented reality headset to see a virtual opponent with which he can dogfight. Considering that the system should work on a plane moving at insane speeds, kudos to Red 6 for having made something that works well.
Trimble stress-tests its AR helmet
During the presentation of HoloLens 2, Microsoft called on stage Trimble to present its safety solution to use the latest Microsoft AR headset safely in industrial environments. It is a safety helmet with integrated the HoloLens 2, that should let workers use AR in a safe way even in hostile conditions.
To show how this product can really help workers, Trimble has made a video where a poor worker (dubbed “a volunteer”, even if his face says something else) wears the helmet and gets hit in the head with a hammer or a stone… just to show that the system doesn’t break. That’s actually impressive.
What is an experience?
In his latest post on Venture Beat, the journalist Jeremy Horwitz talks about Vader Immortal, and how mediocre it is in his opinion. Since Oculus doesn’t want to define it as “a game”; but only as “an experience”, Jeremy ironizes on the fact that “an experience is just an underdeveloped game”.
Personally I love the irony, but I don’t agree on the concept: I think that “an experience” is a virtual program that lets you live an adventure as in real life. It has not a purpose, it is something that you live.
When I met John Gaeta he told me that in his opinion the future of storytelling is having no plot, and you just enter an XR environment and live your experience, without script, like in real life. This is, in my opinion, the future of “experiences”.
But it is true that we use the word “experience” too much lightly, just to define an XR app. So, in the end, what is “an experience”? I would love to have a debate with you on this…
An AR filter emulates the famous Thanos’s snap of fingers
Do you remember the famous moment of Avengers: Infinity War when (SPOILER ALERT) Thanos snaps his fingers and all people start dissolving? Well, someone has re-created that (the dissolving of all people) on the AR effects app Meisai (that exploits ARKit 3) and it is just awesome. Have it a look.
Watch the future of social VR interactions on Neos
Neos VR is an amazing social VR ecosystem developed by Frooxius, that never ceases to amaze me. In a recent video, it is possible to see an avatar that represents a person wearing an eye-tracked headset (Vive Pro Eye), many Vive Trackers and Valve Knuckles controllers. The result is a virtual avatar that looks incredibly realistic in his movements, since it has the eyes, the fingers and the whole body tracked. It is amazing, I can’t wait for a future like this.
SkyWatcher VR releases Instrument Studio VR
If you like music, you may be interested in discovering Instrument Studio VR, that lets you play all the instruments that you want and record the songs that you create, all while being in virtual reality. It is like having a virtual recording studio in your home!
Microsoft now sees VR as a high priority for Flight Simulator
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 will let people embody some airplane pilots and pilot various planes, while seeing the world below them with stunning realism. Thanks to special algorithms applied to Bing Maps, Microsoft has managed to obtain visuals of the world that are very realistic: some people have been even able to recognize their house in the world below them while playing the game.
That’s why many people have required the game to implement VR: this would be amazing to experience in virtual reality. And since many people have requested it, Microsoft now has made VR a high priority feature for it. You know, Microsoft only adds VR when people ask for it…
Some news on VR content
This has been the week of Upload’s Holiday VR Showcase, so we have had lots of news on the upcoming VR games!
Here you are some of them:
- Espire 1 review: it is a nice stealth game, but it has also some drawbacks;
- New gameplay of Boneworks show cool interactions, including bullet time. There’s a cool new way to reload weapons by throwing them in the air as well;
- New trailer for Budget Cuts 2 reveals new features;
- Shooter Solaris from the creators of Firewall Zero Hour looks interesting;
- VCoder is a new game that can help kids in learning how to code in VR;
- Down the Rabbit Hole is an adventure inspired by Alice in Wonderland that has a very nice graphics;
- Review of Last Labyrinth highlight how the game has a very interesting concept (you are bound to a wheelchair, and so you must ask for the help of a girl that is there with you to solve the enigmas), but it has also a frustrating UX;
- Latest Low-Fi video shows how the game looks very interesting, and has some great Blade Runner vibes.
More info (Upload’s Holiday VR Showcase)
More info (Espire 1)
More info (Boneworks)
More info (Budget Cuts 2)
More info (Solaris)
More info (VCoder)
More info (Down The Rabbit Hole)
More info (Last Labyrinth)
More info (Low-Fi)
Some XR fun
Boneworks vs Half-Life:Alyx
Most of the times the Chaperone is not enough
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(Header Image by Beat Games)
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