Videogame development is no easy task with most modern titles generally taking years of work. In that time a lot can go awry, design changes can drastically alter development or cash flow can mean features being cut to get a project out. Sometimes, rather than delays games can seemingly just disappear. Promising titles are quietly dropped by studios or are assumed to have been due to a lack of updates. Which made XR Source wonder, where are these missing VR games?
Now, when we talk about VR games that are seemingly missing, these generally tend to be big IPs that catch everyone’s attention. Titles that when first mentioned built up a furore of excitement. Setting our imaginations ablaze with the wonders that could be achieved in virtual reality. And then nothing, not a peep, a whisper or a murmur. Something that lets us know all is not lost. That we can still dream of the possibilities being assembled behind closed doors.
In fact, there are times when official cancellation news would be better than complete silence. Like Ubisoft with Splinter Cell VR. We know it’s not in development anymore so we can move on and focus our attention elsewhere.
Missing VR Games
So let’s start with one of the biggest missing VR whales, GTA: San Andreas VR. Having a Grand Theft Auto game coming to VR would be a huge boon – even if it is a 20-year-old game. Originally announced during the Meta Connect conference in 2021 by none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself, nothing has been mentioned since.
Worse still, media outlets attending Connect 2023 asked about the game and received responses like ‘no comment’ and “We don’t have any updates to share”. This suggests Meta really doesn’t want to talk about the game. Leading many to speculate that the game has been cancelled. Others hope that with no official response from Meta, GTA: San Andreas VR could still be alive and well. We hope for the latter.
Considering it’ll be Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ 20th anniversary this year, maybe we’ll hear something this summer?
Hiding from the Xenomorphs
Then there’s Alien, the VR spin-off being developed by Survios. The original announcement came during the summer of 2022. The studio confirmed it would be a single-player adventure set within the iconic sci-fi universe. Its story will be set between Alien and Aliens, an original storyline: “where a battle-hardened veteran has a vendetta against the Xenomorphs.”
Since then the studio has been virtually silent. The only mention coming from Survios’ Chief Technology Officer Alex Silkin last July. During a Game Dev Unchained interview, Silkin said: “The latest game we’re working on – we’ve announced it, we haven’t really shown much of it – is based on the Alien movies. So it’s kind of a sci-fi horror game. Sort of a spiritual…well, I think that’s setting a lofty goal, but we were spiritually inspired by Alien: Isolation so we’re hoping to create a compelling virtual reality focused follow-up to the game.”
Alien fans will be hoping it can match Alien: Isolation. A game never made for VR, a mod brought the atmospheric horror to headsets and was generally lauded by all.
With Alien: Romulus coming to cinemas this year, could 2024 be a bumper year for the franchise? Let’s hope so.
SINfully late
Another horror game that seemingly disappeared into the dark is The Exorcist: Legion VR SIN. A sequel to 2017’s episodic series, SIN – stands for ‘Safety in Numbers’ – was going to add a multiplayer component to the franchise. Announced in 2021 with a launch planned for 2022, that was pushed back to 2023. And now we’re in 2024 with little news of its progress.
To date, developer Pocket Money Games and publisher Fun Train have yet to reveal any images or further details on the gameplay. In January, Fun Train did respond to a question regarding what had happened to SIN via its Discord.
“The most simple answer is that it’s not good enough to release. – VR technology changes pretty fast and we want to make sure that SIN can take advantage of all the features current VR headsets have to offer. Unfortunately, making sure the game isn’t obsolete before it even launches this means going back and looking at the structure of the game and doing some rework.”
While that might not sound great, at least it’s more info than Alien or GTA: San Andreas has offered.
Are there any more VR games that have mysteriously disappeared? Let us know in the comments so we can investigate.