Oculus launched its first Gaming Showcase stream yesterday. There was much high anticipation of what was going to be announced for the Oculus Quest and for VR as a whole. Fans were excited for what was to come. Sadly the outcome was little to be desired, and quite frankly very disappointing.
In a show format similar to a Nintendo Direct or PlayStation’s State of Play streams, we saw Ruth Bram, Executive Producer at Oculus Studios and Facebook Reality Labs, present 12 VR titles that will be coming to the Quest and PCVR via Oculus Link (Oculus Air Link).
Below are the trailers for each game that was announced during the 27-minute stream…
What a disappointment…
If you have been counting, you’ll have read or watched all 12 titles featured in the showcase. 8 of those were new standalone titles that will be coming to Quest, with the exception of Lone Echo II, which remains PCVR only and will only be playable via Oculus Link (Oculus Air Link) when it releases later this year.
Four updates round up the remaining titles that were showcased at the event. Sadly though, for many who were hoping for some new unknown titles to be revealed, we were left standing at the end of the 27-minute showcase feeling a little disappointed. There were far too many mentions of “later this year”. No fixed dates to look forward to, no sneak peeks, or even mentions of titles under development. Part 2 of Star Wars Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was the only title without a video, just a screenshot of a Star Wars character that most will not be that bothered about. We likely have until May 4th before we see more about that one.
Personally, I don’t think such drama and build-up from Oculus was needed for the type of pre-recorded content that they new will be shown in the stream. Hopefully, Oculus will learn from this and build on their next Gaming Showcase, just like Nintendo and Sony did with theirs. However, expectations will be a little dampened after this first disappointing outcome. There we no BIG surprises for anyone that wasn’t already following new and upcoming releases that are coming to VR or the Quest itself. For me, After The Fall and Carve were the only surprise, and it was only that they were coming to the Quest (hopefully as standalone titles and that wasn’t marketing speak that they were coming via Oculus Link).
New updates to The Climb were good to see, so close to its release as well. But along with updates for Pistol Whip, The Walking Dead, and Warhammer 40K, it was kind of expected, so its news didn’t really blow me away or get me excited. In the end, I wasn’t super hyped for a future release that I wasn’t already super hyped for. If anything, I did remind me that I really need to finish The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners story campaign!
With lots of hype and build-up for VR over the past few weeks, it was Oculus’s chance to really hit a home run and get people even more on board with VR and non-VR gamers. Especially with a possible standalone headset reveal looming from HTC VIVE early next month. Maybe Oculus doesn’t want to play their cards just yet, what with a few million VR users under their wing already. Here’s hoping Oculus learns from the many reactions from their first showcase, like this one, and they improve on their second and future Gaming Showcases yet to come this year.
