Oakley and Meta are teasing a joint launch for Friday.
A new verified Instagram page with the handle oakleymeta and name “Oakley | Meta” posted a collaborative video with the official Meta and Oakley pages teasing the June 20 launch, and the video has been reposted by Mark Zuckerberg.
The branding for the new page mirrors the “Ray-Ban | Meta” branding for the current Ray-Ban Meta glasses, strongly suggesting Meta’s partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica is about to expand to Oakley too.
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Exactly this was reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman back in January.
While the Ray-Ban Meta glasses have a camera on one side and are aimed towards all consumers, the Oakley Meta glasses will have the camera in the center and be intended for “cyclists and other athletes”, Gurman claimed at the time.
The Ray-Ban Meta glasses have been a breakout hit so far. In February EssilorLuxottica announced that over 2 million units had been sold, and said that annual production capacity is being increased to 10 million by the end of 2026.
We’ll keep a close eye on Meta and EssilorLuxottica on Friday and bring you the full details of the Oakley Meta glasses once they’re officially revealed.
The Bravely Default series has established itself as a well-known RPG franchise that is all but certain to continue growing in the coming years. But the original game has been trapped on the 3DS since its 2014 debut—largely due to its unique two-screen interface—leaving fans to wonder if they’d ever have a chance to…
The traditional summer Nintendo Direct is just around the corner, but it won’t be one of the usual E3-style blowouts. Instead, the upcoming livestream will be devoted entirely to Donkey Kong Bananza, the next big release on the Switch 2’s launch year calendar.
10 million Quest owners have completed at least one track of Beat Saber standalone on their headset.
Beat Saber’s first achievement crossing 10 million unlocks on Quest was spotted by UploadVR reader James Kelley, who brought it to our attention.
Arguably the most widely known VR game of all time, Beat Saber has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon.
The game originally launched for PC VR in mid 2018, then PlayStation VR in late 2018, and was a launch title for the original Oculus Quest in mid 2019. In November 2019 Facebook acquired Beat Games, though the studio has continued to release all updates for PC VR too, and even launched the game on PlayStation VR2 a few months after it shipped.
Just before the Quest launch, Beat Saber crossed 1 million copies sold, and four months after Quest 2 shipped it reached 4 million.
Meta hasn’t released unit sales figures since then, but in October 2021 said the game had brought in $100 million revenue on Quest alone, and in April 2023 The Wall Street Journal reported that the game had reached $255 million.
Meta has continued to launch paid DLCs for Beat Saber featuring songs from world-famous artists. Since the acquisition, the game has seen tracks from Imagine Dragons, Panic! at the Disco, Green Day, Timbaland, Linkin Park, BTS, Skrillex, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Fall Out Boy, Lizzo, The Weeknd, Nirvana, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Eminem, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Metallica, and more.
Beat Saber has been at or near the top of Meta’s weekly top sellers list since the launch of Oculus Quest. And earlier this year, Meta revealed the 50 best-selling paid Quest games of all time via a new section of Quest’s Horizon Store, and Beat Saber holds the #1 spot.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild launched with the Nintendo Switch in 2017, and the game’s Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade has ensured that it remains as relevant as ever. And whether Link’s first truly open-world game is calling to you for the first time, or you’re a returning veteran looking to re-explore Hyrule…
Jim Henson’s Muppets could be coming to VR following talks with Disney—possibly offering a clue at the sort of content Meta reportedly hopes to bring to its next VR headset.
Disney held an event on June 14th celebrating the 70th anniversary of The Jim Henson Company. The event was also a bittersweet sendoff for one of Disney’s Hollywood Studios most famous long-running attractions, Muppet* Vision 3D.
As reported by Disney fan site Laughing Place, The Jim Henson Company CEO Lisa Henson announced at the event that, while Disney closed the physical attraction a few days prior, the company was now “exploring ways to preserve the film and other parts of the experience for fans to enjoy in the future.”
This, Henson said, included discussions with Disney about bringing the attraction-based film to VR, with Laughing Company reporting that the Muppet* Vision 3D was captured using VR cameras.
This follows a Wall Street Journal report from earlier this month alleging that Meta is currently shopping for branded immersive content from companies such as Disney, A24, and smaller production studios.
The WSJ report maintains Meta is hoping to sign timed-exclusive episodic and standalone immersive video content geared towards its next VR headset.
Codenamed ‘Loma,’ the reported device is said to feature a design similar to a pair of eyeglasses that connects to a tethered puck, which is described as having greater compute power than its Quest 3 series of headsets, and a price of “less than $1,000.”
By turning guns into a tool for creation, Dreams of Another isn’t your normal VR adventure.
We’ve known about Q-Games’ upcoming philosophical adventure since its announcement back in February, and Dreams of Another explores a key philosophical theme; “no creation without destruction.” Following the stories of the Man in Pajamas and the Wandering Soldier, this occurs within an ephemeral dream-like world that’s brought to life with cloud point rendering technology.
The reveal quickly captured my attention, and Q-Games explained more in a recent written Q&A. Exploring visual styles for inspiration, Dreams of Another’s director, Baiyon, began thinking about how he could relate those to ideas he’d been forming, later remembering something visual director Dylan Cuthbert had previously shared.
“As I watched [the clouds] again, an idea connected with my long-standing theme as a creator – “destruction and creation” – and suddenly the gameplay, visuals, and sound all came together in my mind at once.”
Further inspiration came from different cloud visuals found online, alongside occasionally seeing such imagery used in VJing at clubs. By being both nothing and capable of becoming anything in forming shapes, Baiyon found appeal in this duality.
“In many of those visuals, point clouds that originally formed a shape would scatter apart. I thought that if I reversed that – making the scattered points come together to form something – it might express a kind of creation through destruction, so I experimented with that idea.
“As I added sounds to the visuals and explored how they interacted, the overall atmosphere of the work began to take shape. What I find fascinating about point clouds is that each individual point might once have belonged to a specific form, but when they scatter, they lose that identity – and then, they can become part of something entirely new.”
As a multimedia artist, Baiyon confirmed that he’s “often tried to weave my respect for different cultures” into that process. When creating music or visuals, he’s then sought to incorporate his respect for game culture into the design, and vice versa.
This time, he’s taking a different approach.
“With this project, I wanted to weave my love for games into the medium of games themselves. The inspiration that games have given me is woven throughout this title. In Dreams of Another, I see the guns in the game as a kind of symbolism. It’s not just a gun – it’s a gun in games.
“If you found it interesting that this gun can create rather than destroy, it’s likely because you already know what guns usually represent in games. Knowing that context makes this reversal feel interesting. Since I really love games, I wanted to share a different perspective and invite everyone to engage with the “what if?” question together, exploring it through the game.”
There’s a clear philosophy at the game’s narrative core and this approach allows him to make it resonate with several themes he hopes to explore: “human contradictions, our sense of inadequacy, dreams and regrets, and what freedom means.” He’s not aiming to express such sentiments directly, instead exploring them in a more symbolic sense.
Though it’s part of the PixelJunk series, Dreams of Another doesn’t use the series name, something Cuthbert points out was also initially true with its 2016 VR game, Dead Hungry. Graphics programmer José Luis Ortiz Soto confirmed the team’s been inspired by “various” VR games that have since launched without naming any specific titles, and Dead Hungry provided useful development experience.
“The development experience of PixelJunk VR: Dead Hungry has certainly been valuable, and we were even able to base some of the actions in Dreams of Another on the food-throwing mechanics from the game,” confirmed Soto.
Since my hands-on demo during GDC’s Day of the Devs was flatscreen only, I’ve not directly seen how gameplay differs on PlayStation VR2. Lead programmer Ryuji Nishikawa confirmed that on PS VR2, you can switch from the flatscreen game’s third-person perspective to an exclusive VR-only first-person mode.
“The third-person view emphasizes the game’s concept and storytelling, allowing players to “watch” the narrative unfold while seeing their character. In contrast, the first-person mode offers heightened immersion, placing the world of point clouds directly in front of your eyes and allowing for close-up inspection of every detail,” replied Nishikawa.
Because of this, Nishikawa recommends using the DualSense controller for third-person mode and the Sense controllers for first-person mode. With performance, graphics programmer José Luis Ortiz Soto confirmed Dreams of Another uses reprojection from 60Hz to 120Hz. Playing on a standard PS5 uses 1080p resolution, which is boosted to 1440p on PS5 Pro.
However, while Dreams of Another is also coming to Steam, this VR mode is currently PlayStation VR2 exclusive. Can we ever expect Q-Games to introduce PC VR support?
“We have no plans right now, but we don’t rule anything out in the future,” stated Cuthbert.
To finish this Q&A, Baiyon discussed how people can’t always choose what they remember and what they forget. Calling this lack of clarity “a reflection of who we are,” he believes that a person’s character is “not black or white,” but something in between.
“Dreams of Another is a game that invites you to step into that hazy, undefined world. If even a small part of it lingers in your heart after experiencing it, I would be truly grateful. If it sparks your curiosity, please give it a try.”
Dreams of Another reaches PS5 and PlayStation VR2 this year.
Sandbox adventure I Am Cat (2024) is all about stretching your chubby little paws, exploring the neighborhood, playing with dynamite—you know, cat things. Now the hit single-player game just got a new update that brings multiplayer lobbies to the mix, following an increasing trend in social VR games taking over.
Developer New Folder Games just released a new maritime playground, letting you and up to 19 other feline friends set sail together for more patently wacky adventures.
The update, now available on Quest for free, also comes alongside a host of new cosmetics, including skins, hats, glasses, and more. For now, the update only features public lobbies, although the studio says it’s currently working on private lobbies.
New Folder is likely hoping to capitalize on the growing trend of social VR games regularly taking the top spots in Quest’s highest-earning games, which includes free-to-play apps like Animal Company, Gorilla Tag, Yeeps: Hide and Seek, and VRChat.
Image courtesy New Folder Games
And the stakes are pretty high. Another Axiom’s Gorilla Tag is ostensibly leading the pack, as last summer the studio announced it had topped $100 million in gross revenue, which was almost entirely driven by in-app purchases.
Notably, Meta chalks up the recent success of social VR to the release of Quest 3S headset ($300), which has also seen a demographic shift towards younger players on the platform. That said, there aren’t many paid single-player apps making the multiplayer leap, as I Am Cat’s base game still costs $20.
For I Am Cat though, costing $20 doesn’t seem to be a massive barrier to entry. The title has not only been one of the top games on Quest multiple months in a row, but also one of the top-earners too since it launched in early access back in May 2024.
Image courtesy New Folder Games
And with the launch of multiplayer, the studio is ostensibly hoping to kick paid DLC drops into high gear. The game’s first multiplayer cosmetics pack introduces six paid character models—Zombie, Robot, Alien, Detective, Wolf, and Super Hero cosmetics, priced at $20.
For now, the multiplayer update is only available on the Quest version of the game, although New Folders Games says it’s also coming to the China-only Pico version. At the time of this writing, there’s no word on whether the update will also come to the Steam version.
In the meantime, you can find I Am Cat on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and the single-player version over on Steam for PC VR headsets. There’s no word on when the game will come to PSVR 2, although you can be sure we’re bookmarking the game’s PlayStation Store page.
You know what we all need sometimes? A little advice. How do I plan for a future that’s so uncertain? Will AI take my job? If I go back to school and use AI to cheat, will I graduate and work for an AI boss?
Opinions are like Kotaku — they’re a bunch of assholes! I think that’s how that saying goes. Anyway, this week, we liked Pragmata and hated Crimson Desert, felt skeptical of Xbox’s forthcoming handheld and thankful for the Switch 2, and, perhaps most urgently, had a great many things to say about promotional popcorn…
The idea at the core of Exer Gale is a good one; use VR to let players fly like a bird.
Since the dawn of time (or at least, since the birth of imagination) human beings have dreamt of flight. In the year 8 CE, the Roman poet Ovid wrote The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus, in which a craftsman’s son donned wings and flew. At around 1136, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote The Historia Regum Britanniae, which contained the legend of Bladud, a king of the Britons who used necromancy to sprout wings. For nearly twenty years, Red Bull used funny cartoons to advertise that their energy drink could “Give you wings.”
But flight is notoriously difficult. Icarus famously plummeted to his doom when he flew too close to the sun, melting the wax which held his wings together. Bladud flew straight into a wall and dashed his brains out. In 2014, Red Bull settled a multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit when the drink-maker was sued for false advertising. Apparently, energy drinks don’t give you wings. Who knew?
I dreamt up the paragraphs you’ve just read after spending two hours flying, flapping, diving, and soaring through Exer Gale’s immersive world. And while there are several beautiful elements to this new flight/racing VR game, the core gameplay mechanic just isn’t very fun.
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What is Exer Gale?
Exer Gale is built around a bird-like flying mechanic. You flap your arms to generate upward lift and then lean and twist your head and torso to bank, pitch, and yaw through the air.
It takes place in a sort of tropical archipelago, a central hub where portals take us to various stages. These stages can be thought of as race arenas, or obstacle courses populated with jump pads, wind currents, projectile-launching turrets, and other obstacles, as well as dozens of tantalizing, sparkly gems which hover all over the courses.
The idea is that you flap your wings and soar through the skies, avoiding obstacles, capitalizing on wind currents and jump pads, and collecting as many gems as possible within a set time limit. If you successfully acquire enough gems before time runs out, a new stage unlocks.
In concept, all of this is a wonderful idea. The game world is beautiful. The soundtrack is lovely. There are collectible face masks, tattoos, and jewelry for our character to wear. There’s a multiplayer mode which impressively and seamlessly introduces other players to fly alongside you, and whom you can compete with to set the best time. Stages also have leaderboards and exploring the world through flight is a freeing feeling.
Honestly, who doesn’t want to feel like a bird (or dragon, if you prefer), and who doesn’t want to collect gems? Also, racing is cool. It all sounds like a winning combination, doesn’t it?
Turbulence
Unfortunately, Exer Gale’s core mechanic is just not particularly fun. The controls aren’t as intuitive as I’d hoped and can often be frustrating. Standing in my office with my arms in a T-pose, pitching and tilting while my in-game character sluggishly turns in a lazy arc, only to inevitably splat into a rock, I feel more like the foolish Icarus than Superman.
The worst part, though, is that the endless flapping is literally painful. The collect-a-thon flight stages last, on average, 90 seconds, and it takes just that long to realize all that virtual flapping is killing your real-world rotator cuffs.
For reference, I exercise with weights five times a week, ride motorcycles, run, do endless yard work… I’m not averse to moving my body. But, damn, flying is hard as hell. I guess I have a new respect for birds.
To Exer Gale’s credit, the game world is beautiful, and the game is well-made. The collision detection is excellent, and the team has intelligently created large hitboxes for gem collection so that it’s not too frustrating when we’re trying to string together a long sequence of gems mid-flight. The controls aren’t terrible, but for a game that’s attempting to replicate the imagined effortlessness of soaring flight, Exer Gale is too tricky.
I imagine that the developers know what they’ve made. For them, the gameplay is likely exactly what they’d imagined since day one. I can imagine they wanted to make a game that made you move your body, and one which requires skill and stamina. That said, I can’t help but think that improvements to the control system could have been made or at least offered as an option. A simple button to engage infinite lift, for example, and allowing more complete stick controls would take away what is essentially my only complaint, though it’s unfortunately a big complaint, and make Exer Gale a game that truly lets us feel the thrill, freedom, and speed of flight. Since the game is in Early Access, it’s not unlikely that improvements will come.
I love flight games. Since I was a child, my favorite experiences with games have included the likes of Pilotwings, Panzer Dragoon, Star Fox, and Rez. But Exer Gale asks, “What if Pilotwings made you tired?” For me, that’s a crash landing.
While the Exer Gale early access can be had for free, the $14.99 Exer Gale Premium Edition opens up four more stages, and will allow access to four more in a Summer update. This update will also bring cosmetic items such as masks, tattoos, and wings, and “additional game modes.”
All that said, it costs nothing to try Exer Gale yourself. It’s out now on the Meta Quest store.
It’s a little funny to consider the following stories “news” given the state of the world right now. I’m tempted to explain what I mean by that, but I’m just as happy to let that sentence be an ink blot test, revealing just what type of person you are based on the first thing that pops into your mind. (If the thought…
On the hardware side, Snap is launching its Specs AR glasses next year to consumers, as rumors suggest Samsung’s Android XR headset will launch next month in South Korea. visionOS 26 introduces support for PS VR2 controllers, photorealistic personas and more on Apple Vision Pro, while macOS Spatial Rendering could be Apple’s take on PC VR. Finally, Qualcomm revealed the Snapdragon AR1+ chip.
As always, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter or check out our latest articles page for more. Otherwise, here are this week’s additional stories.
VR Developer Direct Highlights Reach, Thief & Roboquest VR
While we’ve previously covered the VR Developer Direct, and it’s inclusion of Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow, this week’s showcase also took a closer look at two further upcoming games: Reach and Roboquest VR. You can watch the above showcase to learn more, and our linked hands-on previews from Summer Game Fest and GDC have further details.
Grokit Reveals Purrtropolis Update Coming This Summer
Grokit, the hand tracking multiplayer game for mixed reality by 3lb Games, revealed more about its upcoming summer update, Welcome to Purrtropolis, during the VR Game Spotlight at AWE USA. Across a feline-futuristic city that finds itself under siege, this upcoming content update includes new games, environment, features and more.
Hidden Pictures: Agent Q Gets Major DLC Update Next Month For Free
Mixed reality puzzle adventure Hidden Pictures: Agent Q is getting a free major update on July 31 on Quest. Playing as the titular agent, we’re now tasked with stopping space pirates from attacking a peaceful civilization across 20 different locations. This DLC also adds three new puzzle types, and you must complete the main campaign to access these levels.
MR Wildlife Sim Living Room Lets You Customize Animals In Next Update
Mixed reality wildlife sanctuary game Living Room is continuing post-launch support with the new “Wild Style” update. This allows you to customize pets in new ways by introducing different hats and headbands, and that’s arriving later this summer on Quest.
Mythic Realms Gets Free Spring Update On Quest
Following its launch back in March, mixed reality adventure game Mythic Realms has released a new ‘Spring Update‘ on Quest. That introduces new daily random events, a training grounds building, an enchantment zone, and a new animal companion. Other promised improvements include changes to the town layout and NPC behavior adjustments.
Other Updates
BuildPort Xumia is a new creative building game coming to Quest 3/3S in early access next month.
Reality Syndrome Symphony released a new trailer for Amelia’s Escape, an upcoming VR escape room game heading to Quest and Steam.
Le Mans Ultimate dropped a major update with custom liveries, team management, driver swaps and more.
The Phoenix Gene outlined new gameplay and accessibility features in a new trailer.
If you’d like to inform us about a VR game we should know about for this article or future updates, you can use our contact page or email tips@uploadvr.com with details.
In a crowded field full of online survival sims, Dune: Awakening is kicking up storm. The adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novels lets players build bases, rid sand worms, and smash Ornithopters into one another. That last part has become a problem, and the developers are already looking into a fix.
For nearly a century, filmmakers have been questioning what happens when technology becomes so advanced and self-aware that the machines we invent turn against the humans who created them. Artificial intelligence is no longer just a science fiction concept set in the distant future. Here in 2025, it’s everywhere, and…
Here we are at the end of another week and, hopefully, you’re staring at a healthy 48-hours of mostly free time to invest in some games. But if you’ve found yourself at a loss for what to play, you’re in luck.
Disney’s next animated film, Elio, is going to bring back the silly and charming bloopers that used to appear at the end of Pixar’s big features. Movies like Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. would feature animated faux-outtakes over the credits, and we’ve really missed them! But now, after being absent for two decades,…
It was just four years ago that Sony promised to launch 12 live service games by early 2026. Since then, many of those have been delayed, canceled, or taken offline. But that doesn’t seem to be deterring the console maker. PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst said in a new business update that live service games…
When a game is in the works as long as Dragon Age: The Veilguard was, it’s bound to have a ton of unused assets and concept art. Developers like BioWare go through so many artistic iterations of a game within normal development cycles, so you can imagine how many more a game like The Veilguard had when it was rebooted…
UploadVRDavid Heaney
