Last week, my time at the Next Reality festival in Hamburg was very nice, and I even won an award there! It’s always great to see some recognition for the hard work of all these years. Now I’m back in Italy, back to work, and back to pasta, but ready for the next adventure next week when I’ll head to Helsinki, Finland. But enough talking about all my trips, let’s get to the real deal: what happened in XR during the past week?
Top news of the week
Most games on the Quest Store are making no money
A very interesting analysis published by JP Minetos highlights the harsh reality of the Horizon Store: most of the titles are making almost no money. These are some relevant statistics to keep in mind:
- The top 100 games on the store make up ~90% of playtime & revenue
- 60% of games have fewer than 10 reviews
- 12% break 100 reviews
- Only 3% pass 1,000 reviews
This is exactly what I’ve been saying for a long time: we keep hearing the success stories of Gorilla Tag, Walkabout Minigolf, and the other Quest games making millions, and may have the impression that on Quest it is easy to succeed. This is also what Meta would like us to think, so that more and more developers publish content on its store. But this is just survivorship bias at its finest: most VR games do not have enough users to make for a sustainable business, and many of them actually fall into oblivion without anyone noticing. These are the stories you won’t find in the VR magazines but that represent the majority of the market. I’ve heard many of those when speaking with developers at events around the world.
But you shouldn’t come to the wrong conclusion: I’m not saying that VR is dead, or that you should not publish content for the Quest (Horizon) Store. What I’m saying is that you should realize that succeeding on the Quest store is hard. Success is possible, and the various success stories show us that, but it is not frequent and not easy. That’s why, before developing any content for Quest, you should spend some time designing it carefully so that your users are going to love it. And you should also make a business plan to be sure that you are going to have a sustainable business.
In the three social media posts linked below, you will read some good pieces of advice to follow if you want to become a successful Quest developer.
More info (JP Minetos’s analysis)
More info (My suggestions to Quest developers)
More info (John Dagdelen’s suggestions to Quest developers)
Other relevant news
Is Steam Frame going to be revealed on the 12th?
Various XR people are sharing on social media that they’ve heard a rumor that Valve is going to reveal the Steam Frame and Half Life 3 on November 12th. Others are answering that it is not going to be the 12th, but more around the 20th, while others believe it is the end of this month.
I have no idea what the source of information is, but I guess it’s the usual very reliable “trust me bro”. So I’m just going to live my life, and when Valve really wants to actually release its device, so be it.
More info (Tweet about November, 12th / 1)
More info (Tweet about November, 12th / 2)
More info (Tweet about November, 12th / 3)
Meta starts two new competitions for developers
Meta has just started two new contests for developers. These “long hackathons” lasting one month have very big awards. The first one is about Horizon Worlds, has a prize pool of $1.5M, and awards developers that are creating innovative worlds for mobile. The second one is instead about VR/MR and is dedicated to developers of content for the Meta Store: its prize pool is of $1.5M too, and rewards applications in gaming and lifestyle. There are various special prizes also for those who excel in some particular feature: for instance, there are 3 special awards worth $50K for developers that come up with innovative uses of passthrough + AI.
I personally think it is amazing that Meta is offering these contests that are bringing good money to developers. And finally, these contests are not only about Horizon Worlds, but also regard standard VR/MR devs. Distributing $1.5M to the XR dev community is a huge move by Meta.
While on one side, I praise Meta for this, on the other side, I would like to also see more funding opportunities for professional studios. Contests are nice, but people can’t work for 1 month, crunch like hell, and then maybe see no money in return. Students can afford that, but professional adults rarely can, because they have expenses on both the personal and professional side. I understand that Meta likes these “hackathons” because this way it can give money to 10 studios, but see 100 applications published: this means having a lot of new applications on the store and a lot of interesting ideas to harvest. But at the same time, these “hunger games” will let many devs without money to reward for their work. That’s why I think that a mix of hackathons and pitching competitions would be even better for the XR community.
More info (Road To VR on the Meta contests)
More info (MR/VR apps contest on Devpost)
More info (Horizon Worlds mobile worlds contest on Devpost)
News worth a mention
SHARP to launch its headset via crowdfunding
A few weeks ago, I told you about SHARP’s upcoming PCVR headset. This week, we had more information about it. The headset is called “Xrostella VR1” and is going to feature 2,160 × 2,160 per eye LCD displays clocked up to 90Hz. It has a 90 degree field of view (FOV), and cameras for both inside-out 6DOF tracking and color passthrough.
To be honest, the specifications are not amazing for a PCVR headset in 2025. But to make things worse, SHARP, the big corporation, is launching its headset via a crowdfunding campaign on the platform Green Funding. Don’t ask me the sense of this, because there is none.
More info (SHARP headset — Road To VR)
More info (SHARP headset — Upload VR)
The human retina perceives more than 60 PPD
This week I was able to find more info about the study that certified that the human eye can perceive more than 60 PPD (Pixels Per Degree), the threshold that until now was considered “retina resolution”. It seems that people can perceive differences in details even beyond 60 PPD, and one participant in the study even arrived at 120 PPD. I still think that there are diminishing returns after 60 PPD, so it makes little sense to invest in resolutions beyond this threshold, but it is interesting information to know.
More info (Human eye and 60 PPD — Road To VR)
More info (Human eye and 60 PPD — Upload VR)
Meta is selling refurbished Quest headsets for as low as $216
Meta is now selling certified refurbished Quest 3S and Quest 3 headsets at a 20% discount through its official eBay storefront. Using the code TECH4THEM, you can buy all the headsets of the Quest 3 family for an insanely low price:
- Quest 3S 128 GB for $216
- Quest 3S 256 GB for $288
- Quest 3 512 GB for $360
We are not talking about new units but refurbished ones, but the prices are seriously good. And we have seen across the years how low prices are important for the adoption of virtual reality.
The VR Games Showcase is back
The VR Games Showcase is coming back on November 13th for its last edition of the year. You can expect, as usual, the reveal of new games, and updates on existing ones. For this time, The Showcase is not only partnering with IGN, but also with Road To VR.
More info (VRGS — Road To VR)
More info (VRGS — Upload VR)
Some news about content
- Salmon Man is a hardcore VR platformer rage game that’s been in development for the last three years and has been released on the Quest store. The developer is the famous ValemVR
- Little Critters pits you against a legion of invaders of your home in mixed reality, arming you with a host of virtual traps that you can attach to your walls, ceilings, floors, and furniture. It is priced at $20/£15/€18
- Realize Music: Sing, a self-care singing app, relaunches next week on Quest
- Forefront is a 16v16 VR shooter with expansive, semi-destructible maps where each team splits into four-person squads is out now in early access on Quest, Steam, and Pico
- Thrasher had a remastered edition with a visual update, flatscreen mode, and more on Steam
- Constellations: Touch the Stars lets you scan the night sky with a connect-the-dots experience in the first half of December
- Flowborne Spirit is a meditative Virtual Reality game that transports you to a distant world and lets you relax by performing breathing exercises
- Flat2VR Studios is releasing some games this month alone on PlayStation VR2: VRacer Hoverbike, Audio Trip, Roboquest VR, Shadowgate VR, RAGER, Out of Sight VR
- The creator of Line Rider randomly went on Reddit to ask for feedback for the VR version of his hit game that he wants to publish on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of his game
More info (Salmon Man)
More info (Little Critters)
More info (Realize Music: Sing)
More info (Forefront)
More info (Thrasher)
More info (Constellations: Touch The Stars)
More info (Flowborne Spirit)
More info (Flat2VR Studios games)
More info (Line Rider VR)
Some reviews about content
- Pickle Pro from Resolution Games shows the beauty of playing XR games in a colocated way for people in the same room
- Laser Dance is a game offering a cool concept for mixed reality. It is also very well implemented. But it is too easy to cheat to win
- Little Critters is a game that just works, and with a lot of attention to the details
- RUSH: Apex Edition is a good remaster of the game, but the game still shows its age
More info (Pickle Pro)
More info (Laser Dance — Upload VR)
More info (Laser Dance — Skarredghost)
More info (Little critters)
More info (RUSH: Apex Edition)
Other news
Realwear announces new enterprise Arc 3 smartglasses for hands-free use in industrial settings. They support voice commands and AI assistants
A new AI system called Skyfall-GS can generate walkable 3D city models using only standard satellite images
(Thanks Ivan Aguilar for the tip)
SIGGRAPH Asia is going to feature many research projects in the XR field
(Thanks Ivan Aguilar for the tip)
News from partners (and friends)
Metaverse Safety Week is back!
XRSI and its partners are organizing the Metaverse Safety Week also in 2025. The event will take place from 10 to 15 December, with a physical gathering on the 15th. As usual, the main theme of it will be privacy and safety in the metaverse and immersive technologies in general.
The event will explore how to:
• Govern cognitive, behavioral, and emotional data responsibly
• Embed safety-by-design into AI-integrated wearables
• Set guardrails for emotionally intelligent companions
• Align global standards, from XRSI’s RDG™ Standard to the EU AI Act and OECD AI Principles
Don’t forget to put it on your agenda!
Learn more
Discover FM DUO camera!
Meet the FM DUO, a VR camera that is capable of filming up to 12K @30fps, and 8K @60fps. With built-in RTMP live streaming and 5G connectivity, the FM·DUO will immerse your viewers in real time! The FM·DUO features 2 full-frame CMOS sensors, with 6000 x 6000 pixels each. This allows for high-resolution zooming capabilities. Not only can you narrow in on one subject, but you can also focus on singular details of the subject’s facial expressions, clothing textures, and a multitude of other small details, enabling a much more immersive experience of VR video.
Visit Product Website
Some XR fun
If you could keep the same name for at least six months, that would be great…
Funny link
When you want the same features of the Apple Vision Pro, but you are poor
Funny link
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate to my blog, but to the poor people who are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
- DeoVR
- GenVR
- Eduardo Siman
- Jonn Fredericks
- Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
- Reynaldo T Zabala
- Richard Penny
- Terry xR. Schussler
- Ilias Kapouranis
- Paolo Leoncini
- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
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- Cognitive3D
- Wisear (Yacine Achiakh)
- Masterpiece X
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- Keith Bradner
- Jennifer Granger
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- Jan Schroeder
- Kai Curtis
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- Andrew Deutsch
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- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
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- Alex P
- Lynn Eades
- Donald P
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- Qcreator
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- Sb
- Boule Petanque
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- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
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- Steve R
- Brentwahn
- Michael Gaebler
- Tiago Silva
- Matt Cool
- Mark G
- Simplex
- Gregory F Gorsuch
- Paul Shay
- Matias Nassi
And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Meta)
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This article was originally published on skarredghost.com