Revealed back in May, the first official Warhammer VR game for out-of-home VR attractions is now set to launch next week, coming to Zero Latency locations worldwide.

Update (September 16th, 2024): Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine VR – Warriors of Avarax is officially coming to Zero Latency September 25th, with pre-bookings now available.

Based on Space Marines 2, in 30-minute Warhammer VR experience lets you and up to seven others take the fight to Tyranid forces, promising plenty of co-op exploration and combat.

The original article detailing the initial announcement follows below:

Original Article (May 23rd, 2024): We knew as of 2022 that a Warhammer 40K experience was in development for VR attraction Zero Latency. It was initially expected in 2023, but it seems we’ll have to wait until October this year to jump into our very own Power Armour.

The teaser for Warhammer 40K: Space Marine VR reveals very little, save for Space Marines, Tyranids, and an October release date (see update).

But we know that Zero Latency is a VR attraction with experiences that are typically designed to last around 30 minutes. So while this won’t be a full-blown Warhammer 40K VR game in the traditional sense, it’s likely to be a fun time (with you and up to 7 of your friends!). Here’s the text teaser for now:

In Space Marine VR: Defenders of Avarax, you will play as a Space Marine, a genetically enhanced super-soldier. Exploring the Hive City of Fervastium, players will delve deep into a vault on an important mission that could turn the tide and help beat back the Tyranids, an all-consuming alien swarm from beyond the known galaxy. Using a wide range of weapons from the Space Marine arsenal, players will fight off voracious swarms of Tyranids as they step into the shoes of these highly disciplined and indomitable warriors.

Zero Latency is one of the leading VR attractions with 93 locations across 26 countries. We’ve been impressed previously with the company’s internal development talent, and hope to see their work taken to the next level with Warhammer 40K: Space Marine VR. Designing experiences for VR attractions is a surprisingly unique challenge compared to building in-home VR applications—especially with multiple players in the same physical playspace.

“The Warhammer 40,000 universe and Space Marine in particular has such awesome lore and history, we just couldn’t wait to dive into it,” says Tim Ruse, CEO at Zero Latency. “With Space Marine VR: Defenders of Avarax, we are pushing our technology to the limits, and our talented development team is creating our most immersive and thrilling experience yet. We can’t wait for players to step into the Warhammer 40,000 setting and take on the Tyranids in this epic adventure.”

While it’s a shame this experience can’t also be enjoyed on in-home VR headsets like Quest, luckily there’s already a few ways to dive into the Warhammer universe from the comfort of your own VR headset with the likes of Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister (2020) and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall (2021).

Thrill of the Fight 2, the upcoming sequel to Quest’s most popular VR boxing sim, seems to be gearing up for release, as studios Sealost Interactive and Halfbrick Studios tossed out its first teaser trailer.

Update (September 16th, 2024): Announced early last year, we’re still waiting on gameplay, although the studios are chumming the waters now with a new live-action teaser, stating to “Prepare Yourself.”

The game is coming to Quest first, however original creator Ian Fitz says the team plans to bring it to other platforms eventually, which he notes isn’t due to “any contractual exclusivity or anything like that.”

Additionally, Fitz notes the Sealost Interactive team officially started work on Thrill of the Fight 2 in July 2020, but scaling the studio was an issue. “I abandoned that [internal scaling] plan and started working with Halfbrick, and we restarted the project together in January 2023,” Fitz says in a Discord post.

There’s no release date yet, however Fitz says we’ll find out “soon! ! and I mean soon!” The original article detailing the initial reveal and Halfbrick’s involvement follows below:

Original Article (January 23rd: 2023): Created by Ian Fitz and his studio Sealost Interactive in 2016, Thrill of the Fight focuses on realistic boxing mechanics, eschewing arcadey things like stamina bars and unrealistic knockout blows.

Thrill of the Fight 2, which is now in co-development by Halfbrick Studios, is bringing the much-requested feature of multiplayer mode. In a development update video (below), Halfbrick CEO Shainiel Deo reveals a few more features coming to the sequel: improved audio and visual feedback, changes to how combinations are scored, more gameplay variety to keep players coming back for more.

Halfbrick is known for developing both the flatscreen versions of Fruit Ninja and Fruit Ninja 2 and also their respective VR adaptations. The studio’s bread and butter however has been its slew of mobile games, including Jetpack Joyride, Battle Racing Stars, Dan the Man, and Shadows Remain.

In an update posted to Reddit by Sealost Interactive, series developer Ian Fitz discusses Halfbrick’s involvement.

“The reason I’m partnering up with Halfbrick on this is because I was comfortable it would help make the game I wanted to make. They want to make (and play) the same game I do,” Fitz says.

Fitz also broke down the division of labor, and how the sequel is being made in cooperation with Halfbrick.

“I made the blueprint. Sealost prototyped and proved out many of the mechanics and tech challenges. Halfbrick is putting together a release-worthy product and supporting it into the future. I’m in meetings with them every workday building the product right alongside them and making sure we don’t deviate from the original plan (which hasn’t been a problem because, again, they want to make the same game I do).”

Fitz notes the partnership with Halfbrick “doesn’t have anything to do with funding. This is just about having a solid production team and a plan in place to support the game post-launch.”

The studios say they’re aiming for release “later this year,” although that’s admittedly “just an estimate based on current progress,” Fitz says.

It’s still unclear which platforms are initial targets, however if the original is any indications, we’re liable to see it on Quest 2/Pro, Steam VR, and possibly also PSVR 2.

Human Fall Flat (2016) is getting VR support soon, bringing the whimsical, wobbly physics-based platformer to all major headsets. And you can thank VR modder ‘Raicuparta’ for that.

Raicuparta reveals Human Fall Flat studio No Brakes Games actually bought experimental VR support from the modder after having seen a video of some early control concepts at work. Although the mod was never released, it was enough to get the studio interested in hiring Raicuparta.

“I showed the video to the creators of the game, and they were very excited,” Raicuparta reveals in a Patreon post. “They offered to hire me, but that wouldn’t work for me at the time.”

While Raicuparta wasn’t directly involved in the development of the official VR port as it is today, the studio did implement the third-person control scheme featured in the recently released trailer, seen below.

“They then offered to buy the mod from me, so that they could eventually use the same “puppet controls” concept on an official VR port,” Raicuparta says. “I don’t think they really needed to pay me at all, so that was really nice of them.”

Raicuparta is known for adding unofficial VR support to number of games over the years, such as The Stanley Parable, Outer Wilds, and Neon White. Raicuparta also served up the game and mod management tool ‘Rai Pal’ to go along with their Universal Unity VR mod currently in development, which, much like Praydog’s Unreal Engine VR (UEVR) tool, makes it possible to inject VR support into flatscreen games running in the Unity game engine.

Working with Flat2VR Studios, an Impact Reality studio dedicated to porting flatscreen games to VR, Raicuparta also had a major hand in porting the soon-to-release Trombone Champ: Unflattened to all major VR headsets, which is slated to come among a rash of official VR ports, including WRATH: Aeon of Ruin VR, Roboquest VR, and Flatout VR.

Launching “soon” on Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets, Human Fall Flat is coming with all levels from the game’s original release as well as extra content created by community members. There’s no release date yet, but you can now wishlist on Steam and the Horizon Store, with a PlayStation Store listing still pending.

The past few months has brought little speculation surrounding the name of Meta’s next headset, primarily due to a number of leaks from Meta’s periphery. A new leak, courtesy of serial dataminer Luna, however seemingly confirms what we all knew all along. It’s called Quest 3S.

Meta’s support pages now confirm the “Action Button” on Meta Quest 3S that I had previously leaked: https://t.co/vaCWeoksnv pic.twitter.com/uKuhluk4nC

— Luna (@Lunayian) September 13, 2024

The image above reportedly comes from a Meta support page detailing an ‘Action Button’, which seems to allow the user to switch between virtual reality and passthrough, an action that’s done with a tap of the headset on Quest 3.

Provided the image is genuine, it makes for the most direct confirmation of the Quest 3S name among a torrent of strong, but equally questionable leaks.

Back in March, an image from a now deleted Reddit post (preserved by Luna) showed an ostensible mock-up of a French language Meta store landing page, wherein ‘Quest 3S’ is both seen and named.

It’s still not clear the provenance of the image, although an official image of the headset itself cropped up in files found within the Meta PC client, confirming that the initial leak originally derived from either Meta or a close partner.

Then, in May, Meta-owned studio Magnopus briefly listed ‘Quest 3S’ as a supported device in their fitness game Alo Moves XR.

So now we’ve seen the headset, and we now know with confidence it’s actually named Quest 3S, what else is there to find out?

Here’s the rumor mill’s take: Quest 3S is said to have the same Fresnel lenses and display as Quest 2, although runs the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset as Quest 3, and comes with color passthrough for mixed reality experiences. It’s also rumored to target a $299 price point, and be offered in a both a 128GB and 256GB model.

With an FCC certification already on the books, we’re now waiting for confirmation of those specs and a big reveal at Connect 2024 kicking off September 25th – 26th, which seems all-but-confirmed to be the event to watch for all things Quest 3S.

Games inspired by ‘The Backrooms’ Internet lore are usually pretty scary, but PC game POOLS (2024) has a different way of getting under your skin. No monsters. Just pools. And soon, you’ll be able to play in VR.

Developer Tensori is bringing VR support to Pools soon, which is slated to arrive as a free update to the PC game.

The game, which throws you into an eerie, maze-like pool facility, is also heading to PS5, which according to the PlayStation Store listing will also be bundled in for PSVR 2.

Pools “can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and liminal space architecture,” the studio says, having released the game on Steam earlier this year to overall ‘Very Positive’ user reviews.

There’s no release date yet, however Tensori says in a Steam update they’ll be announcing “all the details on when the update is coming real soon.” The studio said previously while it’s making no promises, “during this year is likely.”

Notably, the studio hasn’t mentioned whether it’s eyeing Quest support at this time, although we hope they do.

Curve Games and No Brakes Games, makers of indie hit Human Fall Flat (2016), today announced an entirely new version of the game targeted at all major VR headsets.

Called Human Fall Flat VR, the puzzle-filled platformer sends you wobbling through whimsical dreamscapes, letting you control your wibbly arms, where you can leap, climb, and swing around by using your VR controllers.

The game is slated to arrive “soon” on Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets, bringing with it all the levels from the game’s original release, along with a wide selection of Extra Dreams created by some of the most talented community creators, the studio says, noting that it will feature an “intuitive 3rd-person view specially designed for VR headsets.”

Like the original, there will be both solo and online multiplayer, letting you team up with three other friends to navigate the game’s tricky traps and mind-bending physics puzzles.

While there’s no release date on the books yet, and store pages for Meta and PSVR 2 are still coming, Human Fall Flat VR is available to wishlist on Steam, priced at $13/£10/€13.

Meta CTO and head of Reality Labs Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth says the company is currently working on a “glasses form-factor” mixed reality headset.

In an Instagram Q&A, Bosworth confirmed the company is working on the device, although didn’t provide any concrete timelines:

“I don’t think a mixed reality headset, even in a glasses form factor—which we’re working on—is going to disrupt the smartphone. But I do think augmented reality is going to at some point, and we’re also working on that—but I can’t tell you the timelines.”

Two weeks ago, a report from The Information citing two Meta employees alleged the company is now considering a mixed reality device resembling “a bulky pair of glasses,” codenamed ‘Puffin’, which could release as early as 2027.

Puffin allegedly incorporates pancake lenses and includes an “External Processing Puck and Battery,” which would ostensibly offload weight from the user’s head.

In his Q&A, Bosworth also highlighted that a “ground breaking” AR announcement is set to come during Connect 2024, which is due o kick off September 25th.

“I think the AR announcement will be very ground breaking. We’ve already kind of teased it, but I think when people start to be able to experience it, I think that it’s really going to turn some heads,” Bosworth said.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed in an interview with YouTuber Kane ‘Kallaway’ Sutter back in July the company was showing off a pair of prototype AR glasses soon, which now appears to point to a Connect reveal.

“The glasses are, I think, going to be a big deal,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re almost ready to start showing the prototype version of the full holographic glasses. We’re not going to be selling it broadly; we’re focused on building the full consumer version rather than selling the prototype.”

We’ll also be looking forward to learning more about the all-but-confirmed Quest 3S, which is likely set to be the company’s next affordable headset. There’s also a fleet of third-party Quest-like headsets running HorizonOS still sitting in the wings, which will arrive from partners ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox.

Apple confirmed it’s launching VisionOS 2 on September 16th, which is coming along with a ton of previously teased features announced back at WWDC in June. Three features are listed as “coming later this year” though. Here’s what you’ll be missing come Monday.

We wrapped up the list of VisionOS 2 stuff below, however three pretty interesting features don’t have release dates yet:

Panoramic Productivity with Mac Virtual Display

This one we really hoped would come along with VisionOS 2, but we’ll just have to wait a bit longer. Later this year Apple will finally allow Mac Virtual Display for a more immersive, ultrawide screen experience, something the company says simulates two 4K displays side by side for enhanced multitasking.

It looks pretty simple too. The video above shows a UI toggle to go from ‘Normal’ to ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ modes when using Mac Virtual Display, which could tip the scales of finally bringing Vision Pro (along with your Mac) to the coffee shop to get work done.

Spatial Videos Support for Final Cut Pro

Apple announced back at WWDC that Final Cut Pro will finally play nice with MV-HVEC videos captured by Vision Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, and now the entire iPhone 16 line thanks to support for of spatial video, photo and audio capture. At some point, Apple says you’ll be able to import and edit spatial videos in Final Cut Pro on your Mac, add “immersive titles and effects,” and then view the final product in Vision Pro.

We haven’t seen it in action yet, but if Apple is investing sufficient resources, we’re really holding out hope for a seamless editing and live viewing experience, which would be great for workflow.

Apple TV Sports Multiview

At some point Vision Pro is getting the Multiview feature on Vision Pro’s Apple TV app, putting it more in line with the capabilities of Apple TV 4K.

The addition of Multiview means you’ll be able to watch up to five MLS or MLB games simultaneously, with customizable layouts and the ability to switch between different game views. On the toilet.

In case you missed it, here’s a list of some headlining features coming to VisionOS 2 next week:

Coming Next Week:

• Create Spatial Photos from 2D Images: Instantly transform existing photos into spatial photos with depth and dimension by tapping on them in your library.
• SharePlay for Photos: On FaceTime, share and interact with spatial photos, videos, and panoramas with friends and family, allowing you to relive memories together in life-size scale.
• Redesigned Photos App: A refreshed and organized Photos app makes it easier to find photos and featured spatial photos with a visually appealing and user-friendly layout.
• Trim Videos at Any Scale: Trim videos from your photo library with ease, adjusting the scale to fit your preferences.
• See Your Keyboard in Any Environment: When immersed in an Environment, your Magic Keyboard or MacBook keyboard will be recognized, allowing uninterrupted typing.
• Cinematic Video Experience in Safari: Enjoy watching videos on a massive screen in Safari, with enhanced cinematic effects, such as screen glow and reflections.
• Guest User Mode: Easily let friends and family try Apple Vision Pro with Guest User mode, which now saves their eye and hand data for quick setup in future sessions.
• Look to Dictate in Messages: A new dictation method in Messages where you can simply look at the text field to start dictating.
• AirPlay Receiver: Use AirPlay to mirror your devices to Apple Vision Pro, expanding sharing and viewing capabilities.
• Train Support in Travel Mode: Work with multiple apps or watch shows while commuting, enjoying a massive screen in a serene virtual Environment.

Flight simulator company Dogfight Boss, and Varjo, the high-end XR headset creator, announced they’ve shipped their first mixed reality F-16 simulator to the Ukrainian Air Force to help accelerate pilot training. And there’s likely more to come, as the country inevitably looks to scale training to keep pace with the influx of the American-built fighter jets.

Last month Ukraine began receiving its first F-16s from NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands, which are meant to replace its aging Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi jets. Belgium and Norway have also signed on to provide Ukraine with over 60 of the fighter jets.

A handful of Ukrainian pilots began training to fly F-16s in Arizona late last year, however Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration they simply can’t train enough, as F-16 training programs in the US and across Europe have limited seats.

Now Dogfight Boss and Varjo have partnered to deliver a MR headset-equipped F-16 C Viper simulator to an unspecified Ukrainian Fighter Pilot Base in Kyiv, which will allow pilots to fly virtual missions while seeing a passthrough of their instrument cluster, allowing for a more realistic training experience.

Although such a platform doesn’t address the training crunch at hand, it will allow pilots to train and maintain skills in-country, which has been an active war zone since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

Dogfight Boss maintains in a LinkedIn post that the reception to the MR simulator has been promising thus far, noting there is an “urgent need for additional units to support cooperative training scenarios.” This could see at least eight more simulators shipped to the Ukrainian military, the company says.

“After nearly a year of detailed fine-tuning and extensive testing with the help of EU F-16 pilot instructors, we are honored to deliver Ukraine’s first fully functional F-16 simulator,” Dogfight Boss CEO and founder Lukas Homola says. “This simulator is a testament to our commitment to precision and excellence, which is being developed and produced in-house. From construction to electronics, every component, including the complete instrument panels, throttle quadrant, pedals, and force-sensing stick base, has been crafted to meet the highest standards.”

Both the Finland-based Varjo and Czechia-based Dogfight Boss have worked extensively with defense customers over the years, with Varjo’s XR headset currently used by 60 such entities, including the U.S. Army Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer (RVCT) program which uses Varjo for portable training for the Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk helicopters.

Apple announced its new iPhone 16 is getting a little more spatial with the addition of both spatial photos and audio, essentially putting it in line with Vision Pro’s capture capabilities.

The company’s big event on Monday didn’t bring any giant revelations for Vision Pro, although the company announced a host of products, including its AI-infused iPhone 16 line, as well as all-new Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4.

The iPhone 16 introduces a new pill-shaped camera design, enhanced AI features, and a couple of new buttons (Action and Camera Control) compared to the iPhone 15. It retains the same 60Hz display (120Hz on iPhone 16 Pro), with improvements being pretty incremental overall.

The entire iPhone 16 line however also comes with the ability to not only capture spatial video like on iPhone 15 Pro, but now spatial photos and audio. Vision Pro can do all of these things, although you’d have a hard time fitting it in your pocket.

Regardless of what phone you have, if you own a Vision Pro all of your photos can be spatialized thanks to an update earlier this summer which automatically converts 2D photos to 3D—and pretty convincingly so.

Notably, spatial videos can also be viewed on other XR devices that support the MV-HVEC video codec, such as Meta Quest.