The first year of consumer virtual reality is probably going to see a heck of a lot of cockpit-style games flood the market. And the proof of that is developer CCP Games, which just announced its second VR project in that genre.
Gunjack is a new arcade shooter that takes place in the same universe as CCP’s Eve Online. The studio built it to work with the Samsung Gear VR head-mounted display, which has you strapping a Galaxy smartphone to your face. Gunjack has you shooting down waves of enemies in space while collecting powerups and bonuses. The Gear VR platform exits its “Innovator Edition” phase and launches as a fully developed product later this year.
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Check out Gunjack in action in the video below:
This is already the second major VR game from CCP — although it hasn’t officially released either yet. Gunjack joins Eve: Valkyrie, which is also about shooting things down in space but is much more of a simulation. Where Gunjack runs on your phone in a Gear VR and has you moving your head around to shoot down waves, Valkyrie runs on your PC and has you fully controlling a space fighter.
But it’s interesting that CCP feels the need to invest so heavily in VR before the medium and taken off. In a statement, CCP chief executive Hilmar Veigar Pétursson explained why his company is throwing so much at this new platform.
“We believe that virtual reality will be a defining element of gaming’s future,” he said. “It may take some time to get widespread adoption, but we’re going to be there on day one. We’re making smart investments in VR so we can learn important lessons early and blow people’s minds when they get their hands on their first VR headset.”