Virtual Reality

Apple's decision to call its first headset "Vision Pro" strongly hints that it plans a more affordable product line in the future. Kuo, The Information, Mark Gurman, and other sources have claimed to have knowledge of these plans in recent years, though some of these reports have contradicted each other. Kuo's latest report claims that mass production of a headset he calls Apple Vision Air should begin in the second half of 2027, a changed position from his November report where he suggested it was delayed "beyond 2027". According to Kuo, Apple Vision Air will be over 40% lighter than today's Vision Pro, and have a "significantly lower price point". He claims that this weight and price reduction will be achieved, at least partially, by using A-series chipset (specifically, the one also set to be used in the iPhone 19 Pro), fewer sensors, plastic instead of glass, and magnesium instead of aluminum.

Resolute Games launched a crowdfunding campaign late last month to kickstart a VRMMO called Eldramoor: Haven in the Mist. Now the campaign has officially crossed the $100,000 mark, and it’s not showing any signs of stopping.

Launched on June 24th, the Eldramoor campaign is hoping to revive some of the fun of recently shuttered VR MMO Orbus VR.

Founded by ex-Orbus players, Resolute Games celebrated some early success with the Kickstarter. Within just 1.5 hours of going live last month, the project had already crossed its “all or nothing” minimum funding goal of $25,000.

A Humble Bundle for The UploadVR Showcase gathers together some of VR's best games for an extremely low price.

The bundle benefits Safe In Our World through the PayPal Giving Fund. The $18 minimum nets Steam codes for nine total games in the bundle,

including:

Vertigo 2

Hard Bullet

Until You Fall

The Light Brigade

Pirates VR: Jolly Roger

Moss II

Mothergunship: Forge

Townsmen VR

50% discount code for Metro Awakening

Apple is apparently working on at least seven head-mounted devices, with one set to arrive later this year. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared an updated forecast roadmap for the company’s headset and smart glasses market, which includes three products for the Vision series and four smart glasses variants. Additionally, five of these devices already have confirmed development timelines.

According to Kuo, an upgraded version of the Apple Vision Pro which uses an M5 processor is scheduled for mass production in the third quarter of 2025. He also stated that aside from the chip upgrade, the device specifications will remain unchanged. Shipments of the product are estimated to be between 150,000 and 200,000 by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, a cheaper version of the Vision Pro, the Vision Air, will reportedly only enter mass production in Q3 2027. The headset will weigh 40% lighter than the original, use plastic and a magnesium alloy instead of glass and titanium alloy, as well as feature fewer sensors. Kuo also mentioned that it will be equipped with the company’s latest flagship iPhone processor.

"We're excited to announce that we've started shipping the very first Bigscreen Beyond 2 production units to customers around the world. We expect to ship more headsets in the next 7 weeks than our typical annual shipment volume, and we are prepared to ship 5X more product this year than we shipped in 2023 or 2024." - Bigscreen Beyond Team

Rob Yescombe, co-creator of immersive VR mystery game The Invisible Hours (2017), recently regained the rights to the game, which he says could led to a remaster across modern VR headsets, as well as TV and film.

As confirmed by Hollywood Reporter, Yescombe is currently looking for partners for a potential film or TV adaptation of The Invisible Hours—probably one of the most unique takes on the VR mystery genre.

Seemingly inspired by Agatha Christie classics and the board game Clue, The Invisible Hours lets you observe unnoticed as you try to piece together a mysterious murder that takes place in a massive mansion on a remote island.

You’re not a player character as such, but rather an impartial viewer who can rewind and fast-forward time, effectively letting you trail the game’s seven suspects, and unravel the thread of who killed world-renowned engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla.

In case you thought that the Quest 3S Xbox Limited Edition launch was the only surprise news drop today, think again. Announced on PlayStation's X (formerly Twitter) account, PS VR2 is getting four new titles, with many arriving later this year. Each game has a featured post on the PlayStation Blog.

Dreams of Another

Meteora

Grit and Valor -1949

Hotel Infinity

Developed by Funny Tales, VRider SBK is a motorbike racing simulator that allows players to compete in various racing game modes for vehicular glory. Initially released on Quest last year, VRider SBK is now launching on PS VR2 and Steam at the end of June, bringing performance improvements and an upgraded grid with it.

The South Korean news outlet claims preorders will open at a Samsung Unpacked event in South Korea on September 29.

Samsung's Android XR headset will launch in South Korea on October 13, NewsPim reports, with a "sequential" global rollout.

The South Korean news outlet claims preorders will open at a Samsung Unpacked event in South Korea on September 29.

The report comes a week after a Samsung-focused leaker strongly hinted that the headset would launch in July at a New York Samsung Unpacked event, also saying it would ship to South Korea first. NewsPim says that the July event will feature prototype demos of the headset as well as "teaser video", but that it won't see the headset actually launched.

Anywhere Bungee VR is a location-based experience to let you try the sensation of doing Bungee Jumping. It consists of a (patent-pending) machine that can put your body upside-down, with fans blowing air to your face, and software that lets you experience the sensation of falling from a great height to being very close to a street in the city of Tokyo.

The biggest VR game of all time, Beat Saber, has sold countless virtual reality headsets over the years. Now owned by Meta’s Oculus Studios, the rhythm game juggernaut is on pretty much every VR platform, but the devs are now abandoning PSVR and PSVR 2.

In a statement to fans, Beat Studios confirmed end of support for PS4 and PS4 players. While the game will still be available to buy in its current state alongside DLC packs, no new updates will be coming to the game.

Onward (2020), the tactical mil-sim shooter from Meta-owned Downpour Interactive, got its big 2.0 update in March, bringing improved visuals and a host of new content to the game. Now, Downpour Interactive announced that Meta is shutting down the studio, effectively halting development and moving employees to sister studio Camouflaj.

XelerateVR is a treadmill that lets you walk in real life to walk in VR. I guess you are aware of products like Kat VR or Virtuix Omni: this is exactly in the same category. You are harnessed to a machine, and then you can walk on a concave surface to walk in VR. Since the surface is concave and lets your feet slip on it, when you take a step forward with a foot, the inclination makes that foot slowly return back to its initial position at the center of the platform, so that you can keep doing the walking movement by staying still in the same place. On paper, all seems great, but in practice, the truth is that when we walk, we do not have feet slipping on the floor, so on these devices, usually, you have the impression of “walking on ice”. For this reason, some people do not even call these products “treadmills”, but “slipmills”.

XelerateVR is a VR treadmill solution that lets you walk in real life to walk in VR. It is not a product that creates a new category, but it introduces an interesting innovation that is a floor that is very slippery and so it can guarantee you more control on your feet. Walking on it is not fully natural, but it’s enjoyable, and it is also very easy to learn. That’s why I’ve found it to be an interesting device.

Previously released last year on Steam Early Access, Le Mans Ultimate by Studio 397 will reach version 1.0 on July 22. Announced before this year's famous 24-hour race kicks off, this landmark update also introduces two free 2025 cars, the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH and Mercedes-AMG LMGT3, alongside promised improvements to polish and performance. All 2025 official liveries will be included for free too.

Samsung Unpacked is expected to kick off next month with the usual slate of hardware announcements, which this year could include the company’s latest foldable smartphones, Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7, and its latest Galaxy Watch 8. Rumors suggest though the company is also looking to put its upcoming XR headset, Project Moohan, in the spotlight too.

Announced during the VR Game Spotlight at AWE USA, Ilysia is switching from a paid game to a free-to-play structure across Quest and Steam with a live launch of the level 11-20 content. Developer Team 21 Studio confirmed new players will be able to access the game's first full region, Lavea, for free, and existing owners can continue playing uninterrupted.

Tune in for the first VR Developer Direct where we deep-dive into three of the most anticipated VR games coming in 2025.

Hear from the developers making Reach, Roboquest VR and Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow on how they're shaping the best of what's to come.

Zombie Army VR is serving up its iconic arcade-style shooting on all major VR headsets. Like the flatscreen games, it’s all about blasting every make and model of Nazi zombie, upgrading some cool WWII-era guns, and experiencing the game’s dark, neon green-drenched universe. While Zombie Army VR tailors its zombie horde action to fit on VR headsets, despite its best efforts, it still feels a little too tied to its flatscreen roots.

Zombie Army VR Details:

Publisher: Rebellion Games
Developer: Rebellion, Xtended Realities
Available On: Quest, SteamVR, PSVR 2
Reviewed On: Quest 3
Release Date: June 12th, 2025
Price: $30

visionOS 26 will bring PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers & Logitech Muse stylus support, much more realistic Personas, spatial Widgets, 90Hz hand tracking, volumetric Spatial Scenes, local SharePlay, and much more. While you might have expected the next version of Vision Pro's operating system to be visionOS 3, Apple has switched to a unified year-based naming system for all of its operating systems. While visionOS 26 will launch later this year, most of its lifecycle will span through 2026.

If Apple brings out their lower cost headset soon and Virtual Desktop is released as well, they will own the high end of VR and MR.

Microsoft pulled the plug on support for its entire WMR platform on Windows 11 last year, putting an official end to the company’s foray into PC VR headsets. Now, an unofficial SteamVR driver hopes to bring it back.

Microsoft deprecated the Mixed Reality Portal app, Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR, and Steam VR Beta when Windows 11 24H2 update rolled out last October, making a fleet of PC VR headsets from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Samsung essentially expensive paperweights.

Granted, if you haven’t updated to Windows 11 24H2, or are still on Windows 10, Microsoft says you’ll be able to play SteamVR content through November 2026 before the plug is pulled for good. Still, that’s a bitter pill to swallow for users of WMR’s most modern headset, HP Reverb G2, which released less than five years ago.

Now, Reddit user ‘mbucchia’ claims an unofficial SteamVR driver is in the works, which aims to bring all WMR headsets back into the fold sometime this Fall.

Launching later this year on all major platforms, Reach is the debut title from nDreams Elevation following the studio's formation in 2022. Revealed during today's Future Games Show - Summer Showcase by industry veteran Shuhei Yoshida, nDreams states that Reach aims for “high agency, cinematic scale, and tactile, full-body immersion.”

I got to play a demo of Deadpool VR before anyone else. A huge thanks to the Meta for inviting me! 🙌

Jumping into Deadpool’s world in VR was everything you'd expect: chaotic, hilarious, and totally over-the-top. I’m sharing some of my gameplay experience.

During my trip to China, one of the most interesting things was visiting the Chinese headquarters of Play For Dream (the company is actually based in Singapore, but has a strong presence in Shanghai). There, I have been able to ask the company some interesting questions about their present and their future. Among these questions, I have of course also asked about their possibility of migrating to Android XR.

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow is reviving the legendary stealth series on PlayStation VR2, Quest and Steam this year.

First appearing in 1998, the Thief series is being reimagined for PlayStation VR2 by developer Maze Theory (Infinite Inside) and Vertigo Games (Metro Awakening, Arizona Sunshine). Announced during PlayStation's State of Play conference, you play as a thief called Magpie who's been orphaned by the tyrannical Lord Ulysses Northcrest who rules this city.