Visit us in West Hall Booth # 5222 to demo Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series, Phantom: Covert Ops, and Beat Saber on Oculus Quest and Lone Echo II, Asgard’s Wrath, and Stormland on Rift S. Check out the rest of our E3 coverage for more information:

Swing by Swing by West Hall Booth # 5222 to get hands-on with our E3 demos and explore new worlds in VR.

It’s Day 1 of E3 2019, and there’s already been a lot of VR news. Yesterday, we announced After the Fall, a brand-new post-apocalyptic shooter from Vertigo Games. Beat Games partnered with KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records to bring the Imagine Dragons Music Pack to Oculus Quest and the Rift Platform, and we unveiled a new 360° mode that takes full advantage of the freedom of movement delivered by fully untethered VR. And UploadVR hosted the first-ever E3 VR Showcase. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.

Vertigo Games Announces Arizona Sunshine for Oculus Quest

Apparently, announcing a sprawling, ’80s-infused co-op title with an anticipated 2020 release wasn’t enough for Vertigo Games: They’ve also teamed up with Jaywalkers Interactive to bring Arizona Sunshine to Quest later this year.

“Oculus Quest is the platform of possibilities—we’re excited to be bringing the new freedom the headset offers into the Arizona Sunshine experience this year,” says Vertigo Games Programmer Arjen van Heck. “If you had a large enough space—and we mean really large—you could theoretically walk all the way from A to Z of the campaign, kicking zombie butt in 360° along the way. We’re equally excited about Quest making VR games accessible and shareable for everyone. Who wouldn’t want to put their grandma in Arizona Sunshine?”

Winner of UploadVR’s 2016 VR Game of the Year Award, Arizona Sunshine pushed the boundaries of realistic, high-end graphics in VR—and rebuilding that PC-powered experience for standalone VR is no small task.

“We’re probably surprising no one when we say the biggest challenge in bringing Arizona Sunshine to a mobile chipset is in the field of graphics,” notes van Heck. “We’re continuously finding new, creative solutions to overcome these obstacles and have become very adept at moving computationally-heavy tasks such as animation to parts of the chipset that are best suited for them.”

First Gameplay Reveal for Arizona Sunshine — The Damned DLC, Launching August 27

Not to be outdone by its own announcements, Vertigo Games also debuted the first gameplay video for Arizona Sunshine — The Damned DLC!

“The Damned DLC is an all-new standalone story in the Arizona Sunshine universe in which you play as Liam, a survivor who not that long ago happened upon the military base at the refinery,” explains van Heck. “As the pressure of the undead rises, drastic measures are being prepared and access to the base is now strictly monitored and only allowed for people that can make themselves useful. Liam strikes a deal with Emily, the base commander, to assist in a mission to restore the function of a nearby hydroelectric dam. We hope you’re not afraid of heights...”

Scheduled to launch on PC VR headsets including the Rift Platform on August 27, The Damned DLC will also be available to Quest players when Arizona Sunshine launches for standalone VR later this year.

Fast Travel Games + Neat Corporation Announce Budget Cuts 2

Upon its original release in 2018, Road to VR called stealth adventure Budget Cuts “one of the smartest VR games to date.” And now, indie developer Neat Corporation is teaming up with Fast Travel Games to deliver Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency, coming to PC VR including the Rift Platform later this year.

Picking up where the original left off, Budget Cuts 2 serves up new enemies, environments, gadgets, and challenges—and its dark humor holds up even if you’re new to the series. Plus, there’s tacos...

... and who doesn’t like tacos?

Introducing The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets

Doubling down on their E3 announcements, Fast Travel Games also pulled back the curtain on a delightfully whimsical project from a small, passionate team. Taking advantage of VR’s unique ability to let you explore things from different angles and perspectives, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets tasks you with light puzzles spread across a number of miniature fantasy worlds.

“I’ve always loved adorable games, touching stories, and gameplay without time pressure, and this is my opportunity to bring just that to VR,” says Creative Lead James Hunt. “I would love it if people really felt something when playing The Curious Tale—that they enjoy the interactions and the puzzle elements but also spend some time in each world to marvel at the details we have put in it them.”

With no time limits and hidden surprises, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets rewards exploration and encourages you to take your time and appreciate the worlds at your fingertips. And it’s coming to both Quest and the Rift Platform later this year.

Ready At Dawn Expands the Echo Games Universe

Last week, we teased some Ready At Dawn news, and yesterday they delivered: VR esports favorite Echo Arena is coming to Quest!

Ready At Dawn Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Ru Weerasuriya also teased the introduction of some new characters in Lone Echo II as Jack and Liv’s space saga continues. Check out our first playable demo in the Oculus Booth, or tune into Gaming Inside the Story: Single-Player Narrative in VR—an E3 Coliseum panel featuring Weerasuriya in conversation with Special Gaming Initiatives VP Jason Rubin and veteran voice actor Troy Baker, June 13 at 11:30 am PT.

Harmonix Highlights

Our friends at Harmonix showed up with their own news spanning a pair of VR games.

On the Dance Central front, they announced a new fitness app that tracks your calories burned in real time while also measuring your stats over time. In addition to be challenged by your friends, now you can also be challenged by in-game characters, competing to unlock wardrobe items and up your street cred. And there’s a new six-song DLC coming your way to keep the soundtrack fresh.

While VR rhythm shooter Audica is still in Early Access, it’s already shipped 10 updates so far. Harmonix just released an in-game editor that lets you shoot along to any song on the soundtrack and then share it as a playable map or export it—and today, they announced that you can submit your maps to the official Discord channel by July 10 for a chance to win some sweet prizes. Click here to learn more.

That’s not all—Audica’s biggest update yet is on the way, featuring more songs, a new environment, an additional weapon set, and cross-platform leaderboard features that make it easier than ever to challenge your friends and engage in some friendly competition.

Survios Spotlight

Our friends at Survios showed off the first campaign hands-on for The Walking Dead: Onslaught, coming to the Rift Platform this Fall. It builds on technology introduced in Creed: Rise to Glory, and it imaginatively redefines the classic headshot.

The team also showed off Battlewake, a seafaring combat game bringing pirates and a battle for domination to Quest and the Rift Platform later this year. Visit battlewake.com to sign up for the closed beta.

Rockstar Status

Wolf & Wood gave the world a look at Hotel R’n’R, a smash ’em up with a sinister twist.

You play as a washed-up rockstar stuck in a hotel room with the goal of causing as much collateral damage as possible—and the Devil is in the details. Watch for Hotel R’n’R to hit the Rift Platform later this year.

Rapid Fire

UploadVR’s E3 VR Showcase gave us some additional glimpses into what the future of VR holds. In case you missed it, here’s the Reader’s Digest version:

It’s been one for the record books—and it’s just getting started. We can’t wait to share more with the VR community soon.

— The Oculus Team