Here’s the complete list of games, along with the platforms, that will have their online services disabled.

• Anno 2070 – PC
• Assassin’s Creed II – PC, PS3
• Assassin’s Creed 3 (2012 Release) – PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – PC, PS3, Xbox 360
• Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD – PC
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations – PS3, Xbox 360
• Driver San Francisco – PC, PS3, Xbox 360
• Far Cry 3 (2012 Release) – PC, PS3, Xbox 360
• Ghost Recon Future Soldier – PS3, Xbox 360
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – PC
• Rayman Legends – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U
• Silent Hunter 5 – PC
• Space Junkies – PC (HTC Vive, Oculus)
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist – PC, PS3, Xbox 360
• ZombiU – Wii U

It is worth noting that the vast majority of these games are from two console generations ago, and as such, the disabling of their online services shouldn’t be too surprising. As part of the process, players will not be able to play multiplayer, link their Ubisoft accounts in the games, or use online features.

The PC versions of all of these games will also be losing access to DLC. This also includes trying to reinstall previously-purchased DLC.

Ubisoft has also made it clear that games with more recent HD re-releases will not face any discontinuation of online services on September 1.

Along with Leon S. Kennedy, there are other playable characters like Ada Wong, Albert Wesker, Jack Krauser and even H.U.N.K. But that’s not all. Ranked online leaderboards have been added along with 20 Challenges tailor-made for VR. These Challenges provide unique scenarios and conditions to complete, like knife-only, less time and even a strange fog that limits your vision.

Your rewards for completing these Challenges include unlocks like Classic Horror Mode (which turns everything black and white), Big Head Mode, Fast Forward Mode and new Golden Gun skins. Even better, you can use all of these in the story mode for added hilarity/fright.

Resident Evil 4 VR is available exclusively for Meta Quest 2. To see it in action, head here.

New controller-directional movement (which allows for steering with one’s hands) and the option to swap analog stick movement hand (which should help left-handed players) are included. There are also height adjustment settings, waist adjustment and chest holder positions. You’ll even be able to change the laser sight color on weapons in addition to having more reloading settings.

As for The Mercenaries, which was revealed in a pulled trailer last year, it’s confirmed to be coming this year. As an unlockable new mode, it sees players taking out groups of enemies and evacuating via helicopter. New characters can also be unlocked. The mode will be free for current owners of the game. Stay tuned for more details on a potential release date in the coming months.

The video has since been pulled but Biohazard Declassified managed to snag it. Interestingly, it also seems that the VR headset is being renamed to Meta Quest 2 to reflect Facebook’s recent name change. Much like in other titles, The Mercenaries involves revisiting levels and taking down as many enemies as possible to rack up a high score.

The mode was also recently included in Resident Evil Village though without multiplayer support (and it’s unknown whether Resident Evil 4 VR will include the same). In the meantime, stay tuned for an official trailer and more details on the mode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPdkSJHGRME

Visually, the improved textures make for a cleaner presentation but it’s the new perspective allows for some pretty big changes in the gameplay. Along with looking at enemies while running in a different direction, it also allows for more seamless aiming, especially up-close. Of course, actions like picking up ammo have to be done with one’s own hands which also adds to the tension.

For even more gameplay footage of Resident Evil 4 VR, head here. Facebook also confirmed recently that several changes have been made to dialogue and animations, mostly revolving around Ashley, to update the game for a modern audience. Learn more about that here.

Now we know exactly when it will launch as well. Capcom has set an October launch date, and shown new gameplay footage in a trailer of the game. Meanwhile courtesy of IGN, we also have some interesting gameplay details, specifically when it comes to the changes made for VR- such as fully interactible VR environments, reaching for your belt to pull out a gun, reaching for your shoulder to pull out healing items, and more. Get a brief glimpse of its gameplay below.

Resident Evil 4 will launch for Oculus Quest 2 on October 21. Rumours have heavily suggested that a remake of RE4 is also in development. Read more on that through here.

While virtual reality has not quite caught on like many expected it to, there still is a dedicated market to the tech. Two of the biggest drivers of it so far has been Sony with their PSVR, and Facebook with their Oculus branch that has specialized in VR and have released multiple headsets on both the low and high end. Now, the latter has a showcase of what’s coming next.

The company announced on their official blog that the first ever Oculus Gaming Showcase will happen next week. Cloudhead Games, Ready At Dawn and ILMxLAB are all teased as being part of the event, as well as updates on Pistol Whip, Lone Echo 2, and Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge.

The latest Oculus headset was the Oculus Quest 2 that released last year, an update to the company’s lower end and most accessible headset that was completely wireless. We’ll keep you updated on what news comes from the event.

Good VR hardware usually costs an arm and a leg, so when Oculus Quest 2 launched in Holiday 2020 with its promise of solid hardware and actually reasonable prices, it was immediately clear that the new VR headset would sell a lot, in spite of all the issues with enforced Facebook connectivity. Now, we know how much it sold during its initial months, and the numbers are very impressive.

As per a report by SuperData, Oculus Quest 2 sold 1.4 million units in Q4 of 2020, which is the most any VR device not powered by smartphones has sold in a single quarter. SuperData predicts that the Quest 2 will like account for around 87% off all VR headset sales in 2021, which is impressive by any metric.

And how did other VR devices fare during Q4 2020? PlayStation VR was the second highest selling device of the period, though it trailed behind the Quest 2 by a massive gap, selling 125,000 units during Q4. Valve Index sold 61,000 units, while while Oculus Rift/Rift S sold a total of roughly 55,000 units.

Ubisoft is currently developing VR titles in the Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell franchises, which will be coming exclusively to Oculus devices. Read more on that through here.

"The concept of the game is so unique that there was always a risk that people just wouldn’t understand it. It’s been wonderful to see players reacting so well to it."

Congratulations on the launch of Phantom: Covert Ops! How does it feel to finally have your game out there and being received so well by players?

Thank you! It’s a great feeling – the concept of the game is so unique that there was always a risk that people just wouldn’t understand it. It’s been wonderful to see players reacting so well to it, and finding the same fun and immersion in the gameplay that we always have.

What were the biggest challenges you faced during the development of Phantom: Covert Ops?

The central concept of the kayak is really the core that the whole game is built around, but it also poses the biggest design challenge. Delivering an entire game where you interact with characters, complete objectives, take on an enemy army and save the world all from within your boat was no easy feat. Many basic principles of gameplay which are usually taken for granted had to be reconsidered and approached from different ways. It was exciting to develop gameplay in ways that no one has attempted before!

Stealth as a genre has sort of been neglected in this industry over the past few years, which is one of the reasons why Phantom: Covert Ops has looked like such an alluring prospect. During development, how important was it to you to develop a hardcore stealth experience, especially one that leverages the unique capabilities of VR technology?

Much like the horror genre, we think that stealth is an excellent fit for VR. There are lots of very emotive and suspenseful moments which feel significantly more powerful and immersive when you are experiencing them yourself rather than just seeing them on a screen. It was always extremely important for us to capture that tension, and we went through many iterations of the stealth mechanics to find something which maintained the believability whilst still being fun and fair to play.

Since launch, have there been any particular fixes or updates that you’ve been working on directly in response to player feedback?

Player feedback is very important to us – we’re listening to what players have to say, and have recently addressed some issues that were raised.

"Much like the horror genre, we think that stealth is an excellent fit for VR. There are lots of very emotive and suspenseful moments which feel significantly more powerful and immersive when you are experiencing them yourself rather than just seeing them on a screen."

Do you have plans to add more content to Phantom: Covert Ops down the line?

We released the first of our free challenge packs a few weeks ago, and I can confirm that there is still more content to come.

Given Phantom: Covert Ops’ unique mechanics and premise, there are many who feel the game has a lot of potential for some great multiplayer gameplay, especially co-op. Is that something that you’ve considered adding?

It’s something we discussed early on in development, but with the idea already being very unique as it is we decided to focus our efforts on creating the best single-player experience we could.

The frequency with which we see ambitious VR-only games such as Phantom: Covert Ops has been increasing, which has been great to see, especially for those who’ve invested in this technology and want to see it grow. How close do you think we are to seeing VR offering similar kinds of experiences on a regular basis?

I think that these kinds of experiences will naturally start to appear more and more regularly as VR becomes more and more mainstream. Huge IPs like Half-Life and Medal of Honour are now appearing on VR platforms, and others are likely to follow suit. We’re proud to have been among the first wave of these large and ambitious VR titles, and can’t wait to see the bar continue to be raised.

nDreams as a developer has been at the forefront of delivering VR-exclusive experiences for a while now. Given all that experience, and comparing where you started to where you are right now with Phantom: Covert Ops, how encouraged have you been with the growth of VR and the potential it has for even further improvement?

As a company we have definitely grown alongside the VR market, with our studio more than doubling in size over the last few years. Even now VR is still relatively niche, so we see a lot of potential for future growth – with the investment that companies like Facebook are putting into VR, all signs are pointing towards a mass-market adoption of the tech in the not so distant future.

As far as console VR is concerned, what improvements do you wish to see for next-gen as far as VR and PS5 is concerned?

I think one of the largest barriers to entry for new players into VR is the setup – plugging cables into the back of consoles, positioning cameras etc. The Oculus Quest has taken a great step in removing those barriers, and I hope that a lot of future VR tech follows suit. Creating an experience which is easy for players to interact with is more important to me than graphical or processing power alone.

"I think that these kinds of experiences will naturally start to appear more and more regularly as VR becomes more and more mainstream. Huge IPs like Half-Life and Medal of Honour are now appearing on VR platforms, and others are likely to follow suit."

What’s your take on Microsoft’s stance on VR and their reluctance to invest in the technology for Xbox Series X?

I think that VR and AR technology has a huge amount of potential applications outside of videogames, and that’s where Microsoft seem to be focusing their efforts currently with the Hololens. As this tech rapidly evolves it’s not surprising to see different companies exploring different applications for it, and while VR gaming hasn’t found a home on Xbox yet I wouldn’t rule it out in the future. As long as companies are continuing to develop the technology and push the boundaries of what it can do, we are all benefitting from that.

It was last year when we got the surprising horror game from Bloober Team, Blair Witch. The game was set in the same canon as the horror franchise that essentially invented the found footage genre. It released originally on Xbox One and PC, and then trickled to other platforms, and was a solid enough game. Now, though, it’s coming to a new platform with some big changes.

The game will be getting a VR title just in time for Halloween, called the Oculus Quest Edition, but it seems to be more than a simple port with tacked on VR. Bloober says that the story has been rebuilt with extended interactions and that environments have been redesigned with VR in mind, which you can see a little of in the trailer below. It’s not clear as of yet the extent of these redesigns, but it could warrant a revisit even if you have played the game already.

Blair Witch, in its original non-VR form, is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. The Oculus Quest Edition will launch on October 29th.