- XR Gamer Digest
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- Meta Bets Big: $100B XR Investment
Meta Bets Big: $100B XR Investment
Crysis has a full VR mod, there is an app for baseball VR training, Ray-Ban Smart Glasses surpassed 1 million
XR = eXtended Reality (everything VR, AR, MR)
📣 If you only read one thing today 📣
🤑 Meta is investing $100 billion into XR, doubling down on AR smart glasses, mixed reality headsets, and the metaverse.
😟 However, this huge investment faces a critical test as CTO Andrew Bosworth declares 2025 the make-or-break year for the metaverse: 2025 will decide if Horizon Worlds “will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure”
🥳 But there’s more:
🚜 Farming Simulator VR launches on Quest on February 28
📱 Spatial Phone lets Meta Quest 3 users mirror and control their Android devices in VR
🎮 The VR Games Showcase returns in March,
eXtend your gaming:
Welcome to XR Gamer Digest #50
Discounts and Tips
🤩 Don’t forget you can get up to 25% discounts when you buy a game from the Meta Quest store. Go here and look for your game (we’re not affiliated with the website, but it’s a great tool).
🛸 Project Aeroes, a mixed reality spaceship-guiding game, is free on Quest 3 until March 5, with future multiplayer support and optional DLC available.
XR Games
🔫 Vendetta Forever adds a SUPERHOT-style time mechanic, a new level, and bHaptics support in its latest update for Quest and PSVR2.
🚜 Farming Simulator VR launches on Quest on February 28, offering hands-on farming, greenhouse cultivation, and machine maintenance with motion controls.
👨🎨 The House of Da Vinci VR is coming soon to PlayStation VR2, bringing its Renaissance-era puzzle adventure with optimized haptics and motion tracking.
🦇 Batman: Arkham Shadow will receive a Game of the Year update in February, adding new Predator maps, an Extreme difficulty mode, and the mysterious I Am the Knight mode.
🦿Crysis now has a full VR mod, bringing immersive gameplay, 6DoF controls, and Nano Suit mechanics to virtual reality.
🔫 The VR rail shooter Aim Assault is launching a free Steam demo on February 13, offering PC VR players a taste of its arcade-inspired, high-speed gunplay.
🧙🏻♂️ A new UEVR mod allows Hogwarts Legacy to be played in VR with a first-person view, motion-controlled wand casting, and full 6DoF head tracking.
🦍 Gorilla Tag marks its 4th anniversary with a limited-time Birthday Bash event, running from February 7–8, featuring exclusive cosmetics and in-game celebrations.
XR Entertainment
🚗 Daisy Ridley narrates Trailblazer, a VR experience on Meta Quest launching March 7, 2025, that follows Bertha Benz’s groundbreaking 1888 road trip that shaped modern transportation.
⚾️ WIN Reality’s VR baseball training on Meta Quest helps players refine vision, timing, and power, offering a season’s worth of swings from home.
📱 Spatial Phone lets Meta Quest 3 users mirror and control their Android devices in VR, enabling app access without removing the headset.
🎶 Ahoy! From Picardy is a heartfelt spatial storytelling experience on Apple Vision Pro, blending music, hand-crafted visuals, and subtle interactivity to create an emotionally resonant short film.
XR News
🛠️ HTC VIVE and Virtualware have launched an Enterprise Simulation Lab to showcase immersive XR training and simulation solutions, marking the start of a broader push to drive enterprise adoption of XR technology.
🕶 Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses surpassed 1 million sales in 2024, with Zuckerberg aiming for even higher numbers as competition in the smart glasses market intensifies.
🥺 And, following on this, Meta’s shifting XR priorities is felt deeply by the developers for the Meta Quest.
💸 Vertigo Games has sold off SpringboardVR to SynthesisVR, shifting its focus from VR arcade distribution to content creation, while maintaining a partnership to support location-based VR.
🎮 The VR Games Showcase returns in March, promising its biggest lineup yet of XR games across Quest, PSVR 2, and PC VR.
🧑💻 Mindshow unveils an enterprise virtual production suite for XR animation, enabling industry partners to streamline animation using headsets like Apple Vision Pro and Quest, while appointing former Hulu executive David Baron as COO.
👓 Apple reportedly cancels its Mac-connected AR glasses project, citing poor internal reception and technical limitations, leaving the future of true AR glasses uncertain beyond Vision Pro.
ᯅ Developers can no longer support Quest 1 in store updates, marking the final phase of Meta's gradual deprecation of the six-year-old headset, which no longer receives security updates or new features.
🤑 Meta is investing $100 billion into XR, doubling down on AR smart glasses, mixed reality headsets, and the metaverse as Zuckerberg envisions AI-powered smart glasses as the next major computing platform.
😟 However, this huge investment faces a critical test as CTO Andrew Bosworth declares 2025 the make-or-break year for the metaverse, with Horizon Worlds’ success determining whether Reality Labs' efforts are visionary or a failed experiment.
⌚ In other news, Meta plans to launch six more AI-powered wearable devices in 2025, potentially including Oakley smart glasses, HUD glasses, a neural wristband, AI earbuds, and a smartwatch.
⚕️Filipino experts develop AXEL Virtual Care, a VR-based rehabilitation system with interactive games designed to aid children with cerebral palsy and adults with dementia.
🦇 Batman: Arkham Shadow surpasses 1 million Quest players, driven by its bundle with Quest 3 and its strong adaptation of the Arkham series for VR.
🎮 Apple and Sony are reportedly still developing PS VR2 Sense controller support for Vision Pro, with a visionOS update expected later this year.
💲XR revenue is projected to grow to $41.8 billion by 2028, driven by VR, mobile AR, and headworn AR, with consumer AR smart glasses and AI integration playing a key role in long-term market expansion.
Until next time, enjoy your other reality gaming!
Bobby Voicu
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