Welcome to 2026 in XR! I wish this will be a wonderful year for you all!
My health is still recovering, and this is why you did not see a news roundup last week, and this week, you’ll have a version with very limited text commentary. This is also why I’m not in Vegas for CES as I promised you. But things are getting better, so hopefully, you’ll have your favorite blogger writing walls of text again soon 🙂
This is the roundup of news of the past holiday days… I guess you’ve already started reading some news from CES, and I’ll include them in my next newsletter.
Top news of the week
It’s time for the “Best VR games” awards
Road To VR and Upload VR have shortlisted their favorite games of 2025. There are not many surprises in these lists, and they gave the deserved recognition to some great XR games we have seen this year. Check out the awards in the links below.
More info (Best VR games of 2025 — Road To VR)
More info (Best VR games on all platforms of 2025 — Upload VR)
More info (Best Mixed Reality games of 2025 — Upload VR)
More info (Best of VR of 2025 — Upload VR)
Other relevant news
An ambitious opensource VR headset
A research team is working on a standalone headset focused on modularity, repairability, and, in general, being a fully open ecosystem. The project is pretty ambitious, and aims also at having in-house open algorithms for eye/mouth tracking, inside-out tracking, controller/glove-based tracking, and inside-out full body tracking. The specs are also not bad, with a 2160×2160 @ 90Hz main display and 1920×1200 @ 120FPS cameras for passthrough. I really hope this team can deliver…
A preview of Puffin?
The usual Luna has published an alleged leak of how the lightweight Puffin/Loma/Phoenix (that is slated for 2027) may look. It seems incredibly sleek… I really hope that XR headsets can become this small. Of course, don’t forget that these glasses need an external computational unit…
News worth a mention
VRChat sets a new record for New Year’s Eve
The popular “metaverse” platform VRChat has had a record number of concurrent users across all platforms for its New Year’s Eve party: 148,886. This is, for sure, good news for virtual worlds in general!
Magic Leap partners with Pegatron
Magic Leap has started a strategic partnership with manufacturer Pegatron to be able to build at scale components for AR glasses. Magic Leap has definitely abandoned the idea of building its own glasses, and it will act as a provider of components for other manufacturers: with its design capabilities, and Pegatron manufacturing power, the company is so able to provide components for AR glasses also to big companies in big volumes.
Panasonic abandons VR
Panasonic has definitely abandoned the VR headsets manufacturing business, and has transferred all the MeganeX business to its once-subsidiary company Shiftall.
Cloudhead Games lays off 70% of its staff
Times are really harsh in VR. Cloudhead Games, one of the most talented studios in the VR industry, the creators behind Pistol Whip, has just announced that it had to lay off 70% of its staff. I wish the best of luck to both the studio and the laid-off people.
Apple slashes production of Vision Pro
The new Vision Pro powered by the M5 chipset is for sure an interesting device, but still a niche one. So Apple has just slashed its production and even reduced the marketing budget on AVP by 95%.
Some news about content
- Capcom Has “No Plans” for a VR Mode in ‘Resident Evil Requiem’
- ‘Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ is Getting an Unofficial VR Mod with Full Motion Controller Support
- Asymmetric PC vs. VR Game ‘Panoptic’ is Getting a Sequel with 1v4 Multiplayer and Quest Support
- MR Clean Could Be PowerWash Simulator For Mixed Reality
Other news
Spectacles Community Challenges award money to Snap creators
Some people are using AVP Dual Knit Band with Quest 3
A crazy DIY FOV enhancement tip for your VR headset
News from partners (and friends)
JOOLA Enters VR with the “JOOLA XP Challenge” in Pickleball One on Meta Quest
JOOLA announces the launch of the JOOLA XP Challenge, a limited-time event inside Pickleball One, the #1 pickleball game in VR. This new partnership brings JOOLA’s latest paddle innovation into virtual reality — giving players an exciting new way to play, compete, and win exclusive JOOLA content.
Learn more
Sponsored Area
Discover FM DUO camera!
Meet the FM DUO, a VR camera that is capable of filming up to 12K @30fps, and 8K @60fps. With built-in RTMP live streaming and 5G connectivity, the FM·DUO will immerse your viewers in real time! The FM·DUO features 2 full-frame CMOS sensors, with 6000 x 6000 pixels each. This allows for high-resolution zooming capabilities. Not only can you narrow in on one subject, but you can also focus on singular details of the subject’s facial expressions, clothing textures, and a multitude of other small details, enabling a much more immersive experience of VR video.
Visit Product Website
Some XR fun
SuperHot, but in real life
Funny link
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate to my blog, but to the poor people who are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
- DeoVR
- GenVR
- Eduardo Siman
- Jonn Fredericks
- Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
- Reynaldo T Zabala
- Richard Penny
- Terry xR. Schussler
- Ilias Kapouranis
- Paolo Leoncini
- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
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- Chris Koomen
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- Wisear (Yacine Achiakh)
- Masterpiece X
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- Keith Bradner
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- Jan Schroeder
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- Ramin Assadollahi
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- Andrew Sheldon
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- Andrew Deutsch
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- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
- Jeremy Dalton
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- Alex P
- Lynn Eades
- Donald P
- Casie Lane
- Catherine Henry
- Qcreator
- Ristband (Anne McKinnon & Roman Rappak)
- Stephen Robnett
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- Mark Frederiksen
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- Ixn91
- Sb
- Boule Petanque
- Pieter Siekerman
- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
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- Wil Stevens
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- Alan Smithson
- Steve R
- Brentwahn
- Michael Gaebler
- Tiago Silva
- Matt Cool
- Mark G
- Simplex
- Gregory F Gorsuch
- Paul Shay
- Matias Nassi
And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header Image by /r/Walker-Dev)