So you've got an Oculus Go VR headset and you assumed you'd have support from Oculus for the foreseeable future. So you thought the Oculus Go platform was just another part of the overarching Oculus ecosystem, one that'd have no reason to go away in the future. That's just not true, as Oculus confirmed today in a blog, saying "a fond farewell to Oculus Go."
In an announcement through Oculus today, Facebook revealed that it has acquired Ready at Dawn, the developer behind the hit virtual reality game Lone Echo, as well as lesser-known titles Echo Arena and Echo Combat. Facebook praised the studio, calling Ready at Dawn a 'veteran' in the game industry. Development continues on the sequel game Lone Echo II.
This week the Facebook for Android app updated the way they show their brand - with all sorts of icons. You'll see Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. This is just the tip of the iceberg, really, as Facebook's ramped up acquisitions of companies over the last several years. Do you know if your favorite app and/or service is owned by Facebook? Let's take a look at the list of names that are actually owned and/or run by Facebook, from top to bottom.
Last year, Disney launched its Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park at both Disneyland and Disney World, and now it seems we're going to get a VR game based on it. Today, ILMxLAB announced Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, a new VR game it's making alongside Oculus Studios. Not a whole lot is known about the game at this point, but it sounds like it'll be releasing sometime this year.
A "one year anniversary" announcement was made this morning by Oculus for the headsets Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S. In their excitement for a full year of sales and functionality, Oculus representatives noted that "people have spent more than $100M on Quest content." They also noted that more than 20 titles on the platform have "surpassed the $1M revenue mark on Quest alone," and that 10 of these have now surpassed $2M in revenue over the past year.
The latest major acquisition made by iPhone company Apple was that of NextVR, a company that deals primarily in the broadcast of sports events in virtual reality. Users of NextVR's platform in the past have had access to NBA games for basketball, boxing, NHRA racing, WWE (wrestling events), ICC soccer, and other events. This system is still active (for the moment) on the VR platform Oculus GO.
Oculus Quest is back in stock in the US, though you probably shouldn't hang around if you want one of the untethered virtual reality headsets. The Facebook-owned company has struggled to keep up with demand for Quest over the past few months, even with the VR wearable being a year old at this point - and with rumors suggesting a new, updated version is close at hand.
Facebook is readying a new Oculus Quest standalone VR headset, potentially trimming weight and bulk of the head-worn display, though COVID-19 may have pulled the rug out from under the release roadmap. Launched last year, Quest promised to be as comfortable and liberating as untethered virtual reality headsets, but with graphics quality closer to traditional wired headsets like Oculus Rift S.
A new at-home workout system that exists entirely within virtual reality is now available for the Oculus Quest headset. Called 'Supernatural,' this fitness game works alongside a companion mobile app to track workouts and keep players active. The experience is similar to that of Beat Saber, only with vast environments and different types of obstacles.
It's no secret that many VR headset owners play the audio game Beat Saber as a form of at-home exercise, something Oculus has embraced with the release of a new song called 'FitBeat.' The newly added track is designed to help players burn calories; it utilizes the game's 90-degree and 360-degree modes for extra movements and includes workout-like voice instructions.
Today we're looking at what's likely an internal testing device made by Apple for the near-future release of AR/VR experiences aplenty. This isn't the first we've seen of this sort of hardware - it's not particularly unlike hardware used by HTC and Oculus/Facebook for their own VR headsets. This new leaked look at Apple hardware is almost certainly meant for internal testing only, as it has a certain... unrefined sort of look.
Google started the idea of using a smartphone as the heart and soul of a VR headset and others immediately jumped on the prospect of an affordable VR system for the masses. That included Samsung who worked with the makers of the Oculus Rift to launch the Gear VR for is high-end flagships. That phase of the VR market, however, was rather short-lived and Samsung slowly "forgot" to update its headsets to be compatible with its latest phones. Now Oculus itself is putting some nails in the Gear VR coffin by pulling out active support for the apps that make it barely usable.