XR = eXtended Reality (everything VR, AR, MR)

🥳 But there’s more:

There’s a big Ghost of Tabor update.

More discounts on the Meta Store.

Pico might launch another headset.

eXtend your gaming:

Welcome to XR Gamer Digest #30

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).

🔫 Get 50% off SUPERHOT VR with a Meta Quest+ subscription, available for a limited time.

🙌 Meta offers a final "Free Weekend" to try Ironstrike and Smash Drums for free for one hour, with a 20% discount available afterward.

XR Games

💰 Niorun Studios launches a Kickstarter campaign for its new VR tactical shooter, Tier One: Direct Action, aiming for a €40,000 funding goal.

👻 The latest Ghosts of Tabor update adds Quest 3 enhancements and introduces the Wild West-themed Eastwood DLC with new weapons and features.

⚔️ Guardian of Realms, a new MR combat game from the Swordsman VR studio, launches in early access on Quest 3 this month.

🤩 Zero Caliber 2 is now available on Meta Quest headsets for $29.99 after a last-minute delay, featuring co-op, multiplayer, and a single-player campaign.

💣 Bomber Drone transforms your living room into a mixed reality warzone on Quest 3, offering intense drone piloting action with immersive interactions.

👹 Underworld Overseer brings Dungeon Keeper-style gameplay to VR, launching on Quest and PC-VR on October 31, 2024.

🗺️ Tomb Explorer VR, a PC VR game inspired by Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, launches in Early Access, offering exploration of ancient ruins and combat challenges.

🔫 The Burst, a fast-paced VR action game set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, is now available on Meta Quest.

🙌 A list of some of the most anticipated VR games of 2024, here. 

🐧 Pavel's Gulag Getout, a penguin-themed VR climbing game, is set to release on Meta Quest and Steam in late 2024.

XR Entertainment

💃 The New Salsa Academy, a VR dance course for learning salsa with an AI-powered virtual partner, is now available on Quest for $20.

🚁 A VR-based flight simulator rig by Loft Dynamics for the Airbus H125 helicopter has been FAA qualified for the first time, enabling US pilots to use it for official training.

🥽 Valve is developing hand tracking support for Steam Link on Quest, with SteamVR also being prepared for this input method.

🧹 CleaXR is a new Quest 3 mixed reality app that makes vacuuming more engaging by tracking and visualizing cleaned surfaces in real time.

🌋 Disney+ has launched a new immersive National Geographic environment for Apple Vision Pro, set in Iceland's Thingvellir National Park.

XR News

🥳 MixRift raises $1.6M to develop casual mixed reality games, aiming to create casual games and native mechanics for mixed reality games, the same way games like "Angry Birds" were to mobile. The investment will support rapid prototyping and the launch of new titles later in 2024.

📢 Trivver and Niantic 8th Wall partner to enhance AR ad measurement by integrating 3D Smart Objects for more precise user interaction analytics in immersive environments.

📈 Quest 3 sales are exceeding expectations, but Meta's VR and AR division remains unprofitable, with significant losses expected to continue.

🔒 Meta is shutting down Ready at Dawn, the studio behind Echo VR, as part of budget cuts within its Reality Labs division.

✈️ Jeh Aerospace and GridRaster have partnered to integrate Spatial AI and XR technology into aerospace manufacturing for enhanced training, inspection, and work assistance.

🧑‍🚒 Kopin receives a $1.5M follow-on order to supply thermal imaging vision systems for firefighter masks, enhancing hands-free situational awareness in smoke-filled environments.

🕶️ Pico will unveil a new XR product, likely an upgraded headset, on August 20th.

Until next time, enjoy your other reality gaming!

Bobby Voicu