Xiaomi makes everything, from phones and vacuum cleaners to massage guns and even electric cars. Now, according to a report from Chinese media 36kr, Xiaomi may be developing a device that goes toe-to-toe with Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses.

The report maintains Xiaomi is planning to launch a new generation of AI-assisted smartglasses, which will be built in collaboration with Goertek, the China-based ODM behind a bevy of XR parts, reference designs, and finished white-label hardware.

The rumored Xiaomi smartglasses are said to “fully benchmark” against Ray-Ban Meta, which includes AI functions, integrated speakers, and camera modules. Notably, Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses aren’t officially available in China.

Citing insider sources, the report maintains the device is slated to arrive in Q2 2025, with 36kr noting it may launch in time for the Mi Fan Festival, which is typically held in April to mark Xiaomi’s founding anniversary.

The report further maintains, Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun expects to ship more than 300,000 units.

Xiaomi has dabbled in XR hardware in the past, although it really hasn’t entered full force. The Chinese tech giant hyped a widely reported AR glasses prototype at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in 2023. A year prior, the company launched a pair of smartglasses, called Mijia Glasses Camera. Much like the now defunct Google Glass, the device featured a single heads-up display.

All of that is changing though, it seems. Next year is shaping up to be a big year for smartglasses in China, as the country’s largest brands may be hoping to replicate Meta’s success with Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

Baidu announced at its Baidu World Conference on November 12th its own co-product with Xiaodu, the Xiaodu AI glasses, which is launching in China in the first half of 2025.

The 36kr report also notes that Chinese heavy-hitters OPPO, vivo, Huawei, Tencent, and ByteDance are also currently evaluating their own smartglasses projects.

Clone Drone in the Danger Zone (2021), the hit arena battler from indie studio Doborog, is bringing the game’s voxel slice-em-up action in a new VR-exclusive sequel next month, coming to Quest and PC VR headsets.

Called Clone Drone in the Hyperdome, the new single-player VR experience includes a thick slice of the series’ unique combat and action-based storyline, where players fight to the death against killer robots—which just so happen to be very frangible.

Doborog says in Clone Drone in the Hyperdome, players take on the role of Blink, a teleporting robot who is the newest ‘looprunner’ gladiator forced to compete in Crashloop, a deadly roguelike combat sport.

“Players die and reawaken in an endless loop, leap over lava pools, avoid turret fire and take down waves of enemy defendroids, as well as deal damage exactly where their cut lands using a stunning voxel combat engine. In order to win and feel freedom, players must battle their fellow looprunners for a chance to fight the Captain in the Hyperdome.” the studio says.

Doborog says the follow-up builds on the series’ fast-paced combat, where you can shear off a robot’s limb or take them down with one perfect slice. They can also do to you if you’re not careful, so make sure to block.

The game promises to let you take on voxel combatants with more than 10 weapons, which you can grab off your fallen competitors and use them in any combination, including things like spears, bows, scythes, and axes.

Clone Drone in the Hyperdome is launching on Steam and the Horizon Store for Quest 2/3/Pro on December 12th. You can wishlist it now on Steam, and pre-order on Quest, priced at 10% off its $20 launch price.

Monstercat Mixtape released a little over five years ago, marking Beat Saber’s first foray into paid DLC. Now, VR’s favorite block-slashing rhythm game just got the long-awaited Vol. 2 follow-up: Monstercat Mixtape 2.

The 12-track paid DLC, now available across all supported VR headsets, includes a few familiar names like Tokyo Machine and Pegboard Nerds.

Priced at $14.99 (or $1.99 per track), Meta calls it “the most challenging paid music pack to-date.”

Check out the full track list below:

• “Accelerate” — Teminite & Skybreak
• “DABADABADABADABA” — Excision & Dion Timmer
• “Dead Man Walking” — Grant & Ellis
• “Endgame” — Bossfight
• “Final Boss” — Nitro Fun
• “Memory Bank” — Dyro x Conro
• “Mercenary” — F.O.O.L & Power Glove
• “Pump” — Teddy Killerzs & Pegboard Nerds
• “RAD” — Tokyo Machine
• “RIOT” — Öwnboss & Selva
• “Thrones of Blood” — Sullivan King
• “Wake Up” — Alan Walker

Additionally, Meta says in the DLC’s announcement the new Monstercat Mixtape 2 includes a dedicated environment and levels with Arc and Chain notes, and multiplayer mode for all songs.

You’ll find Monstercat Mixtape 2 on all supported platforms, including Quest, PSVR 2 and SteamVR.

If you don’t already own Beat Saber, there’s a Monstercat Mixtape 2 + Beat Saber bundle available on the Horizon Store, Steam, and PlayStation Store for $39.99, representing a $5 savings.

bHaptics, the South Korea-based VR haptics creator, announced it’s launching a refreshed lineup of its most popular haptics hardware, which are said to support over 270 titles across Quest, PSVR 2, and PC VR headsets.

The company today announced pre-orders for three new accessories: TactSuit Pro, TactSuit Air and TactSleeve.

Pre-orders for all three are set to launch today, November 12th, and go until November 26th.

TactSuit Pro – $499

TactSuit Pro is the company’s new flagship haptic vest, priced at $499. bHaptics says the device’s standout feature is the addition of a new breast-mounted Controller Wheel, which allows users to precisely adjust the intensity of haptic sensations during use, and keep an eye on the vest’s haptic status with a ring LED.

In comparison to the previous bhaptics TactSuit X40, which launched at $499 in 2020, the new TactSuit Pro technically features fewer haptic motors, reducing the count from 40 motors to 32.

Like its previous vests though, out of the box you’ll find expandable straps, which bHaptics says will ensure “a comfortable fit for users of all body types,” and a single black-themed colorway.

TactSuit Air – $249

TactSuit Air cuts down on the price, meanwhile cutting down on the number of haptic motors in comparison to TactSuit Pro. It does however deliver the same number of haptic motors as its previous TactSuit X16, and is notably cheaper than its predecessor, which launched in 2020 for $330.

Like TactSuit X16, bHaptics is offering two colorways: Onyx and Ash, both of which carry the same $249 price tag.

TactSleeve – $199

bHaptics is also launching a new version of their popular arm-based haptic device, called TactSleeve, which is priced at $199. Tactosy for Arms, which the company released in 2019 for $250, featured six haptic motors per-arm, while the new TactSleeve features three per-arm.

The company says however the motors have been optimized to deliver powerful haptic feedback while also being over 40% lighter than previous model, letting you feel things like kick-back from weapons, and better experience environmental noise such as rumbles and music.

You can pre-order all of the above devices from today until November 26th, direct from bHaptics. There’s also a bundle available which includes both TactSuit Pro and TactSleeve, priced at $600, representing a $100 savings.

Note: While not all VR games are officially supported across TactSuit Pro, TactSuit Air, and TactSleeve—they do however support all previous titles available to bHaptics main slate of haptic vests, which now boasts a list of over 270 titles across Quest, PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets. Check out game compatibility here.

Virtual reality’s most compelling Rube Goldberg sandbox Gadgeteer (2019) just got an update on Quest 3 and Quest 3S which finally brings mixed reality gameplay into the fold.

Launched in 2019 for PC VR headsets, Gadgeteer was initially conceived to work in homey virtual spaces that replicated what it might be like to build a massive marble ramp in your kitchen, ad hoc music boxes in your living room, and (of course) intricate loops of machines filling the floorplan of an entire virtual apartment.

The long-awaited mixed reality update, which launches today, now lets users transform their physical spaces with the game’s myriad of puzzle pieces, letting you do things like build a row of dominos across your couch, launch rubber ducks from one table to another, or roll balls down a flight of stairs and watch them blast through castles—no cleanup required.

This isn’t the first time Gadgeteer developer Metanaut wanted to bring the game out of virtual reality however, as the studio was accepted into the Magic Leap Independent Creator Program back in February 2019. While Magic Leap pivoted to enterprise in 2020, ostensibly forcing Metanaut to shelve its AR edition, it was clear Gadgeteer would translated well to mixed reality.

“Gadgeteer is the ideal game for mixed reality,” says Creative Director, Peter Kao. “Chain reaction machines inherently rely on the clever use of the surrounding environment. With this update, our players can now build complex, imaginative machines that weave through their furniture, bounce off of their walls, and use the unique contours of their homes as canvases. This update is all about giving players more opportunities to be more creative and innovative using their familiar surroundings.”

The mixed reality update for Gadgeteer is available for free to all Quest 3 and Quest 3S players right now. If you don’t own the game, you can grab it over on the Horizon Store, priced at $18.

Ember Souls, the upcoming VR hack-and-slash inspired by Prince of Persia, is officially set to launch on Quest this month.

VirtualAge, the studio behind Gladius VR and Guardians Frontline, announced that Ember Souls is coming to Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S on November 21st. Pre-orders are now live on the Horizon Store, offering a 16% discount off the $25 launch price.

The game is also headed to SteamVR headsets at some point, although the studio hasn’t confirmed precisely when. Spanish language XR news site Real o Virtual reports we should expect it sometime in 2025 however.

In addition to some clear inspiration from Prince of Persia, VirtualAge says Ember Souls also patterned some of the action after Assassin’s Creed, putting you in the shoes of the (frightfully adept) last Immortal as you battle against the mysterious Shadow Sultan.

As a singe-player game, Ember Souls is said to feature intense sword fighting with over 20 different weapons against a host of enemies, which you’ll fight across five distinctly Persian locations, like opulent sultan’s baths and serene gardens.

While we’re still waiting for confirmation on the PC VR release, you can wishlist Ember Souls over on Steam to be notified when pre-orders drop.

Cyborn, the team behind VR sci-fi adventure Hubris (2022), announced it’s releasing mixed reality city builder Wall Town Wonders on Quest 3 next week.

Coming November 21st to Quest 3 and Quest 3S, Wall Town Wonders promises to turn any room in your house into a magical miniature town.

Supporting hand-tracking, the mixed reality game lets you interact with tiny characters as you help them rebuild and customize their world, rightfully built across your real-world walls.

Wall Town Wonders also promises to bring “a peaceful environment where you can progress at your own speed,” which includes a variety of quests, mini-games, and hidden surprises.

The studio says it’s cued up post-launch seasonal content, letting you keep your little town fresh with new themes, events, and special decorations for the game’s 100 unique buildings, 40+ characters, and variety of skins and decorations already available at launch.

You can pre-order Wall Town Wonders on the Horizon Store for Quest 3 and Quest 3S at a 10 percent discount, which is regularly priced at $20.

If you’re one of the few remaining PSVR owners looking to use the original 2016 headset on PlayStation 5, you only have a few more days to request your free PS Camera adapter, as Sony is discontinuing the device later this month.

Sony released its PlayStation Camera Adapter for free in 2020 to help bridge the gap for PSVR users looking for a console upgrade to PS5, which notably didn’t offer full PSVR support out of the box.

The PlayStation 5 HD Camera that launched alongside PS5 can’t track the original PSVR headset or PS Move controllers spatially, requiring the additional adapter.

Of course, this was nearly three years before Sony released PSVR 2, making the adapter indispensable for playing any VR title on PS5.

Now, Sony says it’s discontinuing the free adapter program come November 26th, or “until supplies last.”

If you still haven’t requested a free adapter, all you need is the serial number on the PSVR Processing Unit. In the US, requests can be directed to Sony’s toll-free number 1-800-345-SONY (7669).

Notably, the adapter has never officially gone on sale. There are however heaps available through eBay if for some reason you own a used PSVR that has already technically claimed its one free adapter. You’ll need it!

Cyan, the studio behind MYST and RIVEN, announced its PC VR-supported puzzle adventure Firmament (2023) is coming to PSVR 2 later than expected.

The news comes following the release of the game’s big PC and Mac 2.0 patch, which includes the studio’s upgrade from Unreal Engine 4.27+ to Unreal Engine 5.3.2.

“Doing this has resolved a WIDE number of stability issues related to the game running on various platforms,” Cyan says in the 2.0 patch notes.

The studio says Firmament for PC and PC VR headsets now includes a number of quality of life fixes similar to those seen in its recent update to the Myst remake, such as increases to performance and stability, as well as the adoption of OpenXR.

Now, the studio says its long-planned PlayStation and PSVR 2 release of Firmament is coming in Q1 of 2025, which follows a previous announcement in May that Cyan had “high hopes that [they] will be able to ship Firmament on PlayStation this Fall.”

“We have to update the PlayStation SDKs we use with the engine once more, and address a few remaining PlayStation-specific issues,” the studio says in a Kickstarter update. “Unfortunately this has taken us longer than we estimated, but we want to make sure the game is completely stable (and looking good!) on PlayStation before we ship it.”

Continuing: “All this work is not without a cost, though. Unfortunately it means that Firmament’s estimated PlayStation release has to be moved into Quarter One of 2025. We hope you’ll join us in the excitement we all share to be able to deliver Firmament on PlayStation 4, 5, and PS VR2 to you next year!”

Released in 2023 on PC and PC VR headsets, Firmament combines impressive visuals with the studio’s patently difficult puzzles, tossing you into a strange, interconnected realm filled with gigantic machines, voice recordings, found notes… everything you’d expect from a game from the studio behind Myst, Riven and Obduction.

None of those happen to offer PSVR 2 support though, making Firmament the first in the bunch, which could point to a rash of PSVR 2 releases yet to come from the storied studio.

Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses are already pretty fashionable, as they look nearly identical to a few of EssilorLuxottica’s best-selling sunglasses, albeit with the inclusion of neatly integrated cameras, speakers, battery and onboard AI driven by a positively tiny Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 processor. With the launch of a new pop-up store in Los Angeles today, Meta is hoping to test out whether it can move the needle with broader adoption.

Meta calls the LA pop-up store “experiential retail,” having modeled it after the Meta Lab pop-up at Connect 2024 in October, which allowed event-goers to try on a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses to capture photos and videos and keep the resultant files, or even buy a customized pair of the $300 glasses right then and there.

Ultimately, the idea with its first publicly available pop-up in LA is to increase word-of-mouth marketing, which Creative Director Matt Jacobson hopes will make its users into the “best salesperson ever.”

Adorned with a giant pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses on the outside (with the glasses’ LED privacy light), the flagship pop-up in LA is only going to be around until December 31st, although it won’t be the last.

The company’s next pop-up is planned to hit Phoenix, Arizona in January, which the company calls a “real shop-in-shop,” the exact location of which is still a mystery.

“Can we build a store inside somebody else’s business? Can we drive traffic to it, and can we leverage their marketing as well as ours? By the end of January, we will have tested all three expressions of our experiential first-party retail.”

To boot, the Meta Lab location is doing more than just letting people try on and buy Ray-Ban smartglasses. The company says it will have “regular programming,” which includes stand-up comedy with Desi Banks, a live podcast with Madeline Argy, a ‘paint and sip’ night with Tinashe, a Ray-Ban Meta-focused workshop with Director Drex Lee, and a cooking class with Cassie Yeung.

From there, Meta hopes to share its findings with EssilorLuxottica, which operates over 17,000 stores worldwide, as well among third-party partners. Meta announced in September it was expanding its smartglasses partnership with the eyewear conglomerate into 2030.

As pop-ups go, the LA and Phoenix locations may be a limited engagement, but it may also spark more to come.

“We can’t scale a hundred of these, but we can build a few of them at locations around the country, and then fill in if we decide we want to do more first-party retail. This is aspirational, inspirational. They’re not easily scalable in terms of what they look like, but in terms of experience, they are,” Jacobson says.

If you’re in the LA area, you can find the Meta Lab pop-up over at 8600 Melrose Avenue, open from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm PT seven days a week beginning November 8th through December 31st.

Posted holiday hours are 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on Black Friday and Christmas Eve, with the location closed on Thanksgiving, December 3rd, and Christmas Day.

Alien: Rogue Incursion is coming to Quest later than expected, as developer Survios announced the Quest 3 version of the game is now delayed to “early next year.”

The studio announced the news in an X post, noting that both PSVR 2 and SteamVR versions of the game will still arrive on the original December 19th launch date.

Survios says the delay, which affects Quest 3 and Quest 3S, is to “ensure Alien: Rogue Incursion meets these high standards and provides the Alien VR experience that fans and players expect.” You can find the full message from Survios at the bottom of the article.

This follows the game’s first preview event, where press went hands-on with the game running on Quest 3 tethered to a PC, consequently showing off the SteamVR version. Notably, previews were promising, with previewers from IGN and UploadVR praising the game’s immersive environments, smart narrative beats, and intuitive weapons and tools.

Fitting all of those complex and necessarily lush environments into Quest 3’s comparatively more demanding performance budget however is a big sticking point for practically all VR developers, as it requires a lot more care and polish to meet those ‘AAA’ visuals fans are expecting—making the delay regrettable, if not understandable from a developer standpoint.

A single-player action-horror game, Alien: Rogue Incursion is puts you in the shoes of Zula Hendricks, an ex-Colonial Marine on a dangerous mission that brings her to the uncharted planet Purdan. Accompanied by the sentient AI companion, Davis 01, you’re tasked with fighting to the heart of the infested Gemini Exoplanet Solutions research facility, fighting against packs of Xenomorphs along your way.

The full message from Survios follows below:

At Survios, we take pride in delivering top-tier immersive gaming experiences for our players. To ensure Alien: Rogue Incursion meets these high standards and provides the Alien VR experience that fans and players expect, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay the game’s release on Meta platforms until early next year. PlayStation VR2 and Steam versions of the game will still launch on December 19, 2024.

Our team has been delighted to see the reactions from the community, press, and creators following our first hands-on previews over the past few weeks, and we couldn’t be more excited to deliver this terrifying, action-packed, and authentic game for fans of Alien, VR enthusiasts, and players new to VR.

We can’t wait for you all to immerse yourselves like never before in this fan-favorite universe. Stay tuned to our social channels for the latest updates on the game – we’re confident it will be worth the wait, no matter where you play.

Stranger Things VR (2024), the Quest game from Tender Claws, is leaving timed Quest exclusivity next month.

Originally launched on Quest 2/3/Pro in February, the studio announced it’s bringing Stanger Things VR to to PSVR 2 and SteamVR-compatible headsets on December 5th.

Here’s the breakdown, courtesy of Tender Claws:

Experience the world of Stranger Things from the never-before-seen perspective of Vecna as he explores unknown realities, forms the hive mind, and enacts his plan for revenge against Eleven and Hawkins.

Players will invade the dreams and memories of fan-favorite characters and harness telekinetic powers to possess minds and battle creatures, as Henry Creel’s transformation into Vecna and his influence on the events of prior seasons is revealed.

In our review on Quest earlier this year, we lauded the game’s visually intense retelling of the show’s last two seasons, showcasing extremely deft art direction in the process. On the flipside, it retreads a lot of familiar ground for fans of the show, and puts some of its most engaging gameplay mechanics in the backseat, presenting itself as more as mélange of interesting scenes than a truly indispensable addition to the franchise’s lore.

Still, it’s a visually intense experience, letting you follow the show’s villain Vecna and protagonist Eleven as you traverse the terrifying world of the Upside Down and a shattered version of Hawkins, letting you confront Dr. Brenner and duke it out with Demodogs and Demobats alike—culminating in around four hours of gameplay.

You can pre-order Stranger Things VR on the PlayStation Store for PSVR 2, priced at $20, and wishlist the game on Steam for PC VR headsets.

Meta may be rethinking its approach to third-party app funding, as the company has reportedly cut funds to some outside VR game developers whilst reshifting its focus to non-gaming apps.

According to a report from The Information, Meta is becoming “more discriminating” in how it spends to stock its Horizon Store for Quest.

Citing unnamed Meta staffers, the company has reportedly cut funding for some outside app developers amid a wider shift to fund apps that have seen comparatively better traction. The Information maintains Meta is hoping to boost “lifestyle apps,” such as fashion, beauty and music. Funding for these apps is said to arrive at some point via an accelerator that grants seed-stage funding.

Meanwhile, The Information has cited two VR developers that have taken a hit as a result, requiring them to slash staff numbers following the funding pull.

Netherlands-based studio Monks has reportedly halved its team of 100 people, which was creating content for the company’s Horizon Worlds social app. France-based Atlas V, known for work on Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway (2023) and Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom (20240, has also apparently cut half of its team, according to The Information report.

This follows Meta’s shutdown of first-party VR studio Ready at Dawn in August, creators of the Lone Echo franchise and Echo VR.

A few months prior, the studio concluded a protracted legal battle with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to acquire Within, the studio behind popular VR fitness app Supernatural.

Apple has released initial access to the long-promised panoramic display feature for Vision Pro’s Mac Virtual Display, which now brings three virtual screen sizes via its visionOS 2.2 beta release.

Having initially launched with Vision Pro back in February, Mac Virtual Display only included a single virtual screen size, albeit allowing Vision Pro users to have multiple app windows open at the same time.

Many were hoping Apple would release the new ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ display formats for Mac Virtual Display last month during the company’s online Mac product reveal event. Now, as reported by MacRumors, visionOS 2.2 is here in beta, allowing Vision Pro users who opt in to finally take advantage of long-awaited wider screen real estate.

Apple said during the feature’s unveiling in June the update would bring an “ultra-wide display that wraps around you,” allowing for resolutions “equivalent to two 4K monitors, side by side.” Mac-side dynamic foveated rendering also keeps content “sharp wherever you look,” Apple said.

While it’s unclear exactly when Apple plan to push out visionOS 2.2 to the stable branch, it’s likely to come alongside the next ‘X.2’ updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS Sequoia, watchOS, and tvOS, MacRumors suggests.

In the meantime, to enroll in the visionOS 2.2 beta, simply follow these few steps:

Updating Vision Pro via OTA updates

1. Sign in to the Apple Developer Center with with your Apple ID and accept the ToS.
2. Put on Vision Pro, and go to Settings General > Software Update > Beta Updates and choose the developer beta.
3. When a new developer beta is available, you can install it from Software Update.
4. From there, you should see the new ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ options when tethered to your Mac.

Human Within is a sci-fi interactive VR film coming to Quest in January that explores how AI affects humanity. Departing from standard VR films, which are usually pretty ‘one-and-done’, the upcoming interactive experience promises to give you the choice in how the story progresses and ends.

Created by Signal Space Lab and Actrio Studio, Human Within is set to arrive on Quest on January 9th, and “soon” to SteamVR headsets.

Like the interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, Human Within is slated to offer the user choices and consequences, but also explore digital recreations of the films environments, displayed as point clouds, in addition to viewing some of the action from what the studios call “a virtual internet space.”

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Directed by Avi Winkler and Anne Weigel, Human Within follows engineer Nyla, and her sister Linh, who are employed at Forward Industries. Having pioneered a groundbreaking supercomputer that harnesses the human brain’s processing power, Nyla pulls back from the project after confronting its implications. But the sisters are forced by the company to continue their work, and Lihn’s consciousness is transferred to the metaverse.

Lihn’s now-digital brain is where the narrative plays out, presented as a mix of 3D spaces, and both 2D and 360 video, offering a total of five possible endings.

“At key moments in the story the events that take place are defined by the user’s choices. These moments define how events unfolded in the past and determine how it all ends in the present,” the film’s Horizon Store page says.

“We wanted to explore how advanced tech affects the human experience, and how we connect to one another,” said Avi Winkler, Creative Director at Signal Space Lab. “Launching at a time of rapid advancements, like ChatGPT 4.0 and Neuralink, Human Within no longer feels like science fiction, but rather a timely reflection on the shifting realities of modern life.”

Virtual reality was a key component, Winkler says, noting Human Within “immerses viewers in the reality of now – and where we’re headed – in a more immersive, nuanced way than through a traditional film or video game.”

You can pre-order Human Within on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and 3, regularly priced at $18, and wishlist it on Steam for PC VR headsets.

Code discovered in a recent Google Play update indicates the company may soon roll out support for XR headsets on its Android app store, which would mark a decisive shift in the competitive landscape.

As reported by Android Authority, code in version 43.3.32-31 of the Google Play app contains mention of “XR headset,” including a new headset icon that ostensibly indicates whether an app works with the supported device.

Google has technically hosted XR games on Play in the form of Cardboard apps since 2014, which use Android smartphones as ad hoc VR displays—something that was big in kickstarting user interest in the early days of consumer VR, but not so much in the day of standalone headsets like Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.

The addition of a dedicated section in the Play store and official device support however points to something bigger than Cardboard, or even its now-defunct Google Daydream platform, which the company abandoned in 2019.

So what’s spurred this renewed interest in XR? There are a few things, arguably the largest of which is the Google, Samsung and Qualcomm headset collaboration, which was announced in early 2023. Samsung is building the hardware, Qualcomm the chipset, and Google the Android-based XR operating system.

Although the companies have confirmed the headset will be announced (and possibly launched) by the end of this year, practically nothing is known about the XR collab. Industry rumors maintain Samsung initially delayed the device to better compete with high-end mixed reality headsets, such as Vision Pro.

Then there’s the recent report from The Information that claims Google and Samsung are looking to partner on a Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses competitor, which would be materially ‘easier’ to produce than a full-fledged XR headset, since the comparatively cheaper AI-centric smartglasses don’t include displays.

Still, such a device likely wouldn’t need such a close tie-in to the broader Android ecosystem like a potential Vision Pro competitor, which would likely trade on its ability to not only play XR games published on Google Play, but also run standard 2D apps too, like Vision Pro does with its millions of compatible iOS apps.

This follows revelations from earlier this year that Meta and Google held talks in effort to bring Android XR to Quest, however talks apparently stalled due to Google’s terms being too restrictive for the liking of Meta. In the meantime, Meta has been making overtures to Android developers to bring their apps directly to Quest in a bid to further flesh out Quest as a general computing platform.

Cyan Worlds has released its big 2.0 update to MYST (2020), the VR-supported remake of the classic ’90s point-and-click adventure game, which includes performance boosts and improvements to stability for PC VR users.

The studio says in a recent Steam update that many of those performance woes have been resolved thanks to upgrading Myst from using Unreal Engine 4.27+ to Unreal Engine 5.3.2.

This has also pushed Cyan Worlds to adopt OpenXR in Myst, as it previously relied on the older OpenVR API, which is compatible with SteamVR. This, according to the studio, brings stability improvements, more generic launch options, and a more flexible environment for VR users.

Now, when booting the game for PC, users will see a single launch option that should work for all officially supported headsets, and possibly unsupported ones too, the studio says, which is largely thanks to OpenXR support.

While Myst can unofficially run on any SteamVR-supported headset, the studio says the new update drops official support for the original Rift headset and Quest 1 through Quest Link, as well as the original HTC Vive.

“This doesn’t mean that you CAN’T play Myst with those headsets, it just means that we are unable to give official support for them anymore. This statement also applies to WMR headsets, of which we only supported the HP Reverb 2 previously, but we will unfortunately no longer be able to officially support it, especially because of Microsoft’s own announcements to deprecate this support on Windows,” the studio says.

For PC VR users, Cyan warns that “mileage may vary” based on your machine, however the studio reports increased performance on some hardware, and decreased performance on others, to which the studio recommends toying with the existing and updated supersampling options.

The studio also fixed a number of VR-specific issues in Myst’s 2.0 update, such as resolving a height change bug when teleporting and menu visibility issues in certain game areas. The update also fixed backward movement glitches, random teleport loss, crashes upon exiting certain rooms, and inconsistencies in visual effects between eyes, along with refining VR menu bindings for smoother access across different SteamVR configurations.

It remains to be seen when the standalone Quest version will get similar focus from the studio, which released Myst sequel Riven (2024) back in June—optimized for Quest 3. Cyan Worlds says Quest and other platforms will get a patch “soon,” however the studio hasn’t released a clear estimate at the time of this writing.

Skydance’s Behemoth is coming to all major VR headsets in December, and developer Skydance Games has entered full hype mode with the release of its latest trailer, which shows off a new Behemoth and a good slice of fresh gameplay.

Ahead of its December 5th launch on Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2, and SteamVR headsets, Skydance is revealing more of what’s to come for its single-player combat adventure, which is said to feature a 12-hour campaign.

Developed by the studio behind The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners franchise, Skydance’s most recent trailer shows off a new bat-like Behemoth, which aims to take you into an epic skybound battle.

“The curse dooms our home. Black rot eats our flesh, and bloodlust consumes every soul,” the trailer narrates. “Salvation lies in the Forsaken lands, where foul Behemoths are the source of our affliction. Be our light in the dark. You walk on hallowed ground. Listen to me, Ren—there is no freedom while the curse remains. I can still feel the black rot in my veins. Together, we will be stronger. Show no mercy. Ren, I won’t let the curse take my people. I’ll fight, no matter what it takes.”

If you’re looking for more Behemoth lore, the studio also published a free graphic novel that prominently features the new giant bat Behemoth, revealed to be named ‘Nightscraper’.

In addition to a good slate of concept art covering Behemoths and in-universe areas, we also learned from the graphic novel that a previously revealed boss, featured in the first public hands-on, is named ‘Shacklehide’, owing to his main ball and chain weapon.

This follows the announcement in September that Skydance’s Behemoth was delayed beyond the original November 14th release date, pushing launch to December 5th. As recompense, the studio also released a trailer then revealing the boss ‘Dreddstag’, which similarly tasks you with grappling your way up the suitably mountainous Behemoth.

Nintendo has published a new patent that could point to its next iteration of Labo VR for its long-awaited Switch successor.

While news of the company’s next Switch console is expected “within this fiscal year,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said in May, rumors however suggest the company has delayed release to early 2025, which has only fueled speculation among Nintendo acolytes hoping for what promises to be a bigger, better Switch.

Now, Nintendo has published a patent (Japanese) that appears to be a VR add-on similar to its Labo VR kit first released in 2019, which allowed users to essentially ‘build’ a VR display add-on for use in experimental mini-games, and for playing a handful of traditional Switch titles in 3D.

Called an “auxiliary device and stereoscopic image display system,” the patent describes a “portable main unit that displays a stereoscopic image, and an auxiliary equipment that assists the user in viewing the stereoscopic image.”

Unlike Labo VR, which was primarily made of cardboard and featured a loose slot to house Switch, the patent shows off a more refined clip-in mechanism that more securely cradles the console. Images also show the console with controllers attached, with patent literature describing how a user holds it in the their left and right hands.

Some images show the device without controllers, however no such headstrap configuration is specified—essentially positioning it to work like Nintendo’s 2019 Labo VR, albeit without mention of the optional ‘Toy-Con’ game accessories offered at release.

So, not a VR headset as such, but an encouraging development considering Nintendo hasn’t fully invested in XR tech with a standalone headset release, like Meta Quest 3 or its new Quest 3S, which was launched earlier this month starting at $300.

Revisiting Labo VR with a follow-up device for its new Switch doesn’t seem that far-fetched though, as the kit widely sold out at retailers at launch, and used Switch in innovative, patently Nintendo ways.

Still, we’re taking this (and any patent) with a grain of salt. A mantra worth remembering: every product has a patent, but not every patent has a product.