Codemasters is “pausing development” on future World Rally Championship games, ending updates for EA Sports WRC.
With work wrapping up on the Hard Chargers content pack for EA Sports WRC, it’s been announced that Codemasters will be ceasing all active work on rally games. With the venerable UK studio having provided considerable VR support for three of its titles – EA Sports WRC, DiRT Rally, and DiRT Rally 2.0 – rally fans will soon have to find a new ride if they want to continue the journey in VR.
“Every great journey eventually finds its finish line, and today, we announce that we’ve reached the end of the road working on WRC”, began the announcement. “For now, we are pausing development plans on future rally titles. Rest assured, EA Sports WRC will continue to be available for existing and new players. We hope it remains a source of joy, excitement, and the thrill of rally racing. We’ve poured our hearts into making it for fans, and we know you’ll keep the passion alive.”
Codemasters’ association with rally games goes back more than 40 years, to the release of Paris to Dakar Rally for the ZX Spectrum back in 1991. The studio went up a gear six years later with the release of Colin McRae Rally in 1998, which sold beyond three million copies in Europe and became a huge success for the-then independent publisher.
Over the next decade, the studio focused all its efforts on driving games and was one of the first to embrace VR. When we reviewed DiRT Rally VR in 2016, we called it “the new high watermark for VR racing games.” The sequel wasn’t bad either. It’s unknown if Codemasters has been affected by EA’s recent redundancies reportedly cutting over 300-400 jobs, and we’ll update this story if we learn more.
Going forward, there aren’t too many new options for rally driving in VR. Whether Codemasters’ games will continue supporting the VR front with compatibility updates remains to be seen, while the studio’s next title F1 25 will continue supporting PC VR. Meanwhile, if we see any new games bounding towards us over the horizon, you’ll be the first to know.
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The Quest 3 & Quest 3S “Passthrough Camera API” can now be used in shipping apps on the Meta Horizon Store.
The capability was made available to all developers as an experimental release six weeks ago, meaning they could experiment with it, and in theory distribute APKs with it (on SideQuest, for example), but couldn’t include it in Meta Horizon Store apps until now.
With v76 of the Meta XR Core SDK, out now, the capability is no longer considered experimental, and thus can be included in shipping apps “after a review process”.
What Is Passthrough Camera Access?
While headsets like Quest 3 use cameras to let you see the real world, until recently only the system software had raw access to these cameras. Third-party developers could use passthrough as a background, sure, but they didn’t actually get access to it. They instead got higher-level data derived by the system, such as hand and body skeletal coordinates, a 3D mesh of your environment with bounding boxes for furniture, and limited object tracking capabilities. That meant they couldn’t run their own computer vision models, which severely limited the augmentation capabilities of these headsets.
For the “Passthrough Camera API” to work, you as the user need to grant the app permission to access your headset cameras, just as you would the microphone. If granted, the app gets access to the forward-facing color cameras, including metadata like the lens intrinsics and headset pose, which it can leverage to run custom computer vision models.
Examples of how apps can use this include scanning and tracking QR codes, detecting a game board on a table to add virtual characters and objects to it, detecting physical objects for enterprise guide experiences, and integrating the visual AI functionality of cloud-hosted large language models (LLMs). Developers are only limited by which real-time computer vision models can run on the XR2 Gen 2 chipset performantly, or which cloud-hosted image analysis models they’re willing to pay for.
Meta software engineer Roberto Coviello’s QuestCameraKit samples.
The passthrough camera stream is provided to the app with up to 1280×960 resolution per camera at 30FPS, with a stated latency of 40-60 milliseconds. That means it isn’t suitable for tracking fast moving objects, such as custom controllers, nor for discerning fine features like small text.
Technically, at a base level, there actually is no specific Meta Quest Camera Passthrough API. Developers do need to request a Horizon OS specific Headset Cameras permission, but otherwise Quest’s passthrough camera access leverages Android’s existing Camera2 API, extending it to return the headset pose via OpenXR, and the Camera2 API is what developers of custom engines, or source code for Unreal or Godot, use for it. This also means the same code should work on Google’s upcoming Android XR platform, set to debut in Samsung’s standalone headset, with only the permission request being different.
For Unity, developers can easily access the cameras through Unity’s WebCamTexture API, which is how they already access phone, tablet, and PC cameras and webcams in the engine. A limitation here, however, is that Unity’s WebCamTexture API only supports one camera at a time, not both.
Walkthrough from Meta software engineer Roberto Coviello.
Interested developers can find Quest passthrough camera access documentation here: Unity / Native Android.
Meta has published five official Unity samples on GitHub: CameraViewer, CameraToWorld, BrightnessEstimation, MultiObjectDectection, ShaderSample. Meta software engineer Roberto Coviello has separately published QuestCameraKit on GitHub, a collection of five further samples: Color Picker, Object Detection, QR Code Tracking, Frosted Glass Shader, and OpenAI Vision Model.
Legends BMX is a freestyle mixed reality cycling game launching on Quest 3/3S and Pro next week.
Developed by Saga Legends Games, Legends BMX is an MR cycling game that aims to let you feel the rush of performing skate park tricks from the comfort of your home. You can pick between various arenas that you can scale up or down to match your play space. From there, it’s all about controlling a mini rider as they perform BMX tricks for points and prestige. You can check out the gameplay trailer below:
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Similar to flatscreen skating games like the beloved Tony Hawk series, Legends BMX tells you the name of a performed trick or stunt alongside a score for your biking prowess and execution. As well as free riding, there will also be weekly challenges, online leaderboards and global rankings to contend with. Judging by the variety of avatars seen in the gameplay trailer, it appears there may be cosmetics available to set each pocket racer apart.
Legends BMX will be available for Quest headsets on May 8. A flatscreen version is out now on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Lowe’s is letting customers in select Austin & Bay Area stores design their kitchen in VR with an Apple Vision Pro.
The headset is running Lowe’s Style Studio, a visionOS app that Vision Pro owners have been able to use at home since the headset’s launch to customize the colors, materials, styles, and furniture of a realistic virtual kitchen’s sinks, cabinets, ranges, countertops, flooring, and more at 1:1 scale. You can then sync your design to the Lowe’s iPhone app to purchase, or book a consultation in a store.
Of course, the vast majority of people don’t own a $3500 headset. So for 10 stores Lowe’s now lets customers book a free session to use Lowe’s Style Studio in a Vision Pro for 45 minutes.
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The Lowe’s Style Studio app.
The in-store VR experience has been available in five of the six Lowe’s in Austin, Texas since last month, and is now in five of the eight Lowe’s in the San Francisco Bay Area too. Lowe’s also conducted a small trial last year, but this is now a publicly available deployment, the first of its kind.
The view in the Vision Pro is mirrored to a nearby iPad, so families, friends, and installers can attend too and watch.
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Lowe’s customer reactions so far.
If you’re near Austin or San Francisco, you can book a Lowe’s Style Studio appointment on Lowe’s website.
Earlier today racing game developer Codemasters announced that it was no longer developing any future dirt rally racing games, ending a 25-year run that started back in 1998.
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VR arcade basketball game Just Hoops is heading to PlayStation VR2 this year.
Developed by Realcast, Just Hoops offers a virtual arcade with “ultra-realistic physics” inspired by the classic arcade game, Pop-A-Shot. Featuring over 60 levels, various challenges like moving hoops or time-based drills, 1v1 matchmaking and four-player lobbies, global leaderboards and more, that’s heading to PlayStation VR2 at the end of this year. Here’s how it looks on Sony’s headset.
At launch, Realcast states this will feature a new dynamic scoring system where you can earn up to four points with two controllers and 8 points for “ultimate skill.” Updated hand physics are also promised for better control, alongside the ability to switch between the Sense controllers and hand tracking.
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Motorola phones can now be used in VR on Quest 3 & 3S, and owners can even stream and control individual apps or multiple at the same time.
First announced by Mark Zuckerberg at Motorola parent company Lenovo’s yearly event in October, the Smart Connect app is now available on the Meta Horizon Store.
The app lets Motorola phone owners stream and control either individual apps, or multiple at the same time in the ‘Mobile Desktop’ mode. They can also see notifications and take calls, or opt out of that at any time through a Do Not Disturb toggle.
The setup process involves scanning a QR code displayed on your phone using the headset’s passthrough cameras, leveraging the same API used to scan Wi-Fi QR codes.
Motorola has around 5% smartphone market share, and thus the majority of Quest 3 owners can’t use this new capability. But those who do own a Motorola phone might find it a useful feature to stay connected in VR.
There are already a number of ways to view any Android phone in VR though, including a few that also let you control them. Meta Quest HDMI Link, for example, lets you view any device over USB-C using a capture card. You could also use the store app Spatial Phone, or sideload a general Android remote desktop app such as AnyDesk.
Since visionOS 2, iPhone owners can view their phone in Apple Vision Pro, but they can’t control it.
Lenovo, Motorola’s parent company, is still working on multiple Meta Horizon OS standalone headsets of its own, originally announced a year ago and reaffirmed in October.
Some players adore realism in their racing games, including mechanical and cosmetic damage that forces them to drive perfectly or risk breaking down mid-race. Other folks enjoy a more leisurely racing experience that lets them get away with being a bit more reckless (or a lot more reckless).
May will continue this busy trend with a wide slate of new VR titles across various genres, though horror seems particularly prominent this month. As always, we’ll keep updating this list should any further games get announced or pushed back, while our comprehensive upcoming VR games list remains active with even more titles.
Here are our highlights for new VR games on Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Pico this May.
Bearly Escape – May 1 (PC VR, Quest 3)
Developed by Time Traveller, Bearly Escape is an early access puzzle game where players explore a hazy forest called Everwood searching for your missing dog, Robin. During this search, you’ll find the twisted labs of the game’s villain, Dr. Kidd, which are packed with stolen animals.
Deep Cuts from Scythe Dev Team is an action game focused on the world of filmmaking, where you’ll try to save your best friend. This adventure takes you directly inside different movies that range from westerns to kaiju attacks, all while fighting against a deadly group of cartoon characters.
Blue Brain Games confirmed that The House of Da Vinci VR — an adaptation of the 2017 flatscreen game rebuilt for VR — is heading for PlayStation VR2 next, following a Steam and Quest launch. As Leonardo da Vinci’s apprentice in 16th-century Renaissance Italy, you’ll need to solve riddles and clear escape rooms to find the missing inventor.
Walkabout Mini Golf: Raptor Cliff’s – May 1 (Pico, PC VR, PS VR2, Quest)
Mighty Coconut confirmed that its next DLC course for Walkabout Mini Golf is “Raptor Cliff’s.” Reaching all supported VR platforms and iOS, this prehistoric dinosaur-themed course takes you on a journey along the Pacific Northwest and marks the 33rd course yet for the popular multiplayer game.
Legends BMX by Saga Legends Games aims to turn your play space into a skate park through mixed reality, and the studio informed UploadVR it’s launching on May 1. Coming to Quest Pro and Quest 3, you can resize ramps to fit your space, pull off various tricks and compete across global online leaderboards for the best score.
Developed by Kluge Interactive, Final Fury is inspired by traditional fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Featuring single-player modes and online multiplayer with both crossplay and rollback netcode supported, Kluge confirmed the early access launch will begin this month.
Developed by Arcadia VR, Requisition VR takes inspiration from Dead Rising and The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. You can craft increasingly absurd weaponry like electrically charged baseball bats using household items across an extraction-based PvPvE adventure. You’ll scavenge for resources to create new weapons, teaming up with friends to defeat AI and human opponents.
The Midnight Walk by Moonhood promises five different tales of fire and darkness. Playing as The Burnt One, you set out to find a purpose after digging yourself out of a muddy grave in this dark claymation fantasy adventure. That’s heading for PC and PS5 with optional VR support.
Released last October, Vendetta Forever is a VR shooter from Meatspace Interactive and publisher nDreams. It’s designed around the ‘LO-KILL-MOTION’ mechanic, where you can only move by teleporting to an enemy’s dropped weapon. That’s now heading for PC VR with five extra levels, and this new content will simultaneously reach Quest and PS VR2 as a free update.
Wall Town Wonders initially appeared last November as a more casual mixed reality title on Quest, and it’s now getting a VR edition for Steam and PlayStation VR2 with fully immersive environments. Your goal is to craft homes and amenities for this quirky cast of local citizens, with over 100 unique buildings and more than 40 characters included.
Slender: The Arrival VR – May 13 (PC VR, PS VR2, Quest)
Horror game Slender: The Arrival is being ported from flatscreen to VR. Developed by Blue Isle Studios, the first-person horror game pulls from the notorious creepypasta character The Slender Man, asking players to survive eerie environments while avoiding The Slender Man’s haunting faceless stare and hair-raising presence.
Echoes of the Sun by Outer Realms is a puzzle adventure game with optional PC VR support. The game focuses on a teenage girl called Mia, who seeks to restore the world after witnessing her homeland’s demise following the explosion of the Sun. You can use telekinesis to manipulate objects, solve solar puzzles, and encounter numerous ghosts to learn their stories.
Published by VRKiwi, Pirates VR: Jolly Roger is a new VR action-adventure set across a cursed Caribbean island. You’re tasked with navigating perilous traps and fighting undead pirates while searching for Davy Jones’ treasure. Following its Steam launch in January, the PS VR2 version will feature a new introduction scene and controller haptic feedback.
Smash Drums is heading to PlayStation VR2 with improved real-time lighting and shadows, redesigned environments, 120fps performance mode on a base PS5, plus support for adaptive triggers and eye-tracked foveated rendering. It also joins the list of PS VR2 games with PS5 Pro enhancements, promising higher resolution and 120fps in Fidelity mode.
Developed by Nomad Monkey, Tunnels is a VR horror game that plunges players deep underground into a maze of abandoned mine shafts and tunnels, tasked with finding a way out. Throughout the labyrinth of claustrophobic spaces, you must clamber down cliffs, zipline over chasms, and listen to your survival instincts to evade monsters around the caverns and make your escape.
Trailblazer: The Untold Story of Mrs Benz – May 16 (Quest)
Set in Germany in 1888, Trailblazer explores motoring history through VR with an immersive narrative. This 20 minute experience tells the story of Bertha Benz, the wife of Karl Benz, inventor of the first car powered by an internal combustion engine, as she defied societal norms to embark on the world’s first road trip.
Horror puzzler Out of Sight VR is the latest game from Flat2VR Studios. It’s an eerie puzzle game that asks players to control a blind girl called Sophie from the viewpoint of her cuddly teddy. Set throughout a menacing mansion, you control Sophie and carry around the toy to gain better vantage points on confounding contraptions. Quest 3 and PS VR2 versions will also arrive later this year.
Quantum Threshold by Vaki Games is an accessibility-focused VR roguelike shooter that turns your wheelchair into your greatest weapon. It promises a cyberpunk-themed narrative using wheelchair-based locomotion across a post-apocalyptic world overrun by rogue AI, as you seek an escape across “ever-evolving” levels.
Zombie Army VR is bringing the Sniper Elite spinoff to most major VR platforms, and Rebellion’s working with Xtended Realities for its latest VR game. Featuring online two-player co-op, this campaign sees you reprising the role of a Deadhunter, fighting your way through Europe during World War 2.
Neolithic Dawn is a VR survival game reaching early access, though it’s unclear if the Steam release will coincide with Quest. As a Neolithic hunter-gatherer, you must survive by crafting physics-based tools and weapons, hunting for food, and taming creatures. If you die, you’ll return as your son or daughter to a changed world. Dynamic seasons, a day and night cycle, and five maps are promised.
Developed by GexagonVR, Hard Bullet takes inspiration from classic Hong Kong action movies. Across various game modes, players are tasked with taking on waves of ragdoll enemies using a combination of environmental bric-a-brac, physical movements and curated loadouts to wipe them out. Previously on Steam, it’s now confirmed for launch this month on Quest 3.
F1 25 is the latest entry in EA’s annual racing series with optional PC VR support. It features the third installment of its story mode with ‘Braking Point 3’, alongside an updated ‘My Team’ mode with a new ‘Owner Perks’ system that lets you specialize in specific areas of team management. Anyone who buys the ‘Iconic Edition’ can unlock the game on May 27 instead.
POOLS from Tensori will officially launch PC VR support soon following prior beta testing. Described as a suspenseful walking simulator with no monsters or jump scares, you’ll explore liminal spaces inspired by the backrooms that “can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark” and tight spaces. A PlayStation VR2 release will follow later this year.
Besiege, the physics-based sandbox where you construct war machines, is receiving a VR remake next month on Quest. Your goal is to construct medieval siege machines and more modern designs that range from catapults, tanks, and giant mechs. It features a 50-level campaign where you can destroy castles, fight armies and terrorize villagers, alongside three sandbox environments.
Developed by Singular Perception, Epyka is described as a family adventure where you discover the world’s first civilization on a previously unknown island. Playing as archaeologist Scott Hudson, he’s joined by his trusty dog Jack, working together to uncover secrets and defeat a malevolent force. Previously on Quest, that’s now heading to PlayStation VR2.
Honey Pot is the latest game from VRMonkey (Galaxy Kart,Sky Climb). Described as a cooperative tower defense game, you’re tasked with defending a beehive from elemental bears using flying mechanics, bow combat, and powerful towers. After initially targeting an April launch, that’s now arriving this month.
Vivarium is a mixed reality experience that lets you create your own environments for raising animals and plants, including 18 different saltwater animals. “Players can look forward to aquascaping for saltwater aquariums and the addition of new sealife and terrestrial animals like a crab spider, a bushveld frog, and a white dutch rabbit,” states the studio.
VRider SBK is an officially licensed VR game for the Superbike World Championship that offers a mix of arcade and simulation racing elements. It features twelve tracks, including Phillip Island, TT Assen, Imola, and Magny-Cours. VRAL Games informed UploadVR that it’s heading to Steam and PlayStation VR2 this month.
If you’re releasing a new VR game we should know about for this article or future monthly round-ups, you can use our contact page or email tips@uploadvr.com with details.
Interested in learning about more upcoming VR games? Take a look at our complete list below, which covers upcoming Quest, PC VR, PS VR2, Pico, Apple Vision Pro, and Android XR games:
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