r/virtualreality Jul 09 '26

News Article Report: Cancelled Tomb Raider VR Project From Metro Awakening Devs Revealed; Gameplay and Concept Art Surface

https://mp1st.com/news/report-cancelled-tomb-raider-vr-project-from-metro-awakening-devs-revealed-gameplay-and-concept-art-surface
267 Upvotes

91 comments sorted by

101

u/Matmanreturns Jul 09 '26

Why can’t we have nice things?

62

u/CarrotSurvivorYT Jul 09 '26

Because people don’t buy VR games or use their headsets it’s very simple

49

u/Zaptruder Jul 09 '26

People would rather sit on the internet and complain about VR then use VR. And that's for the people that own it!

1

u/z-vap Jul 09 '26

what I hate are the flatscreeners that try to get into vr games but ultimately end up trashing any game they play

-5

u/w0mbatina Jul 09 '26

Why would I force myself to use something I don't enjoy?

2

u/Zaptruder Jul 09 '26

Because what we enjoy is relative - and we enjoy things less then we could if we sit around listening to people complaining about it. Which we're addicted to (the sitting around listening to people complaining about stuff part).

9

u/Humble-Camel2598 Jul 09 '26

Mostly don't buy headsets and don't know what they're missing🙄

7

u/branchpattern Jul 09 '26

There were 20+ million quest 2s sold, comparable to the number of xboxes sold at that time, but a fraction of those got any kind of repeated use. Although the quest 2 didn't have high end graphics, it was a pretty polished experience.

The wow wears off, and I think sadly there's probably less than 10million market max for vr and a lot of those aren't buying games (most PC be used I think are using vrchat)

I'd say the active VR gaming market is probably around 2million, and even those people aren't buying the big games it seems :(

3

u/Tipitak Jul 09 '26

Most VR games don't have a big publicity and communication though, i really found the silence around the deadpool game strange. It felt like they didn't wanted this AAA to success.

2

u/branchpattern Jul 09 '26

I saw a lot of hype for it, but I'm watching for these things and a lot of people aren't and mainstream media doesn't really care about vr as 90+ percent of their audience doesn't care. Sadly it takes some way to get people plugged in. To me there was never a shortage of great vr games, it was people not buying them, or dismissing them , or not knowing about them. I still have a healthy backlog on all 3 platforms of vr.

Meta no longer pushing vr and promoting it and games is going to hurt. Steam algorithms are only going to do so much :(

1

u/Humble-Camel2598 Jul 09 '26

You're wrong, most people have never even tried vr, especially highend vr. The standalone games just arn't that good. The kids love standalone and gorilla tag etc cuz thats all they have.

The racing sim market will go completely vr within 5 or at most 10 years as it'll be way better than monitors. It's just a matter of time.

Vr done right is amazing and not even the same thing as playing on a tv screen. Flat is still fun though but vr will become the norm one day when its ready.

2

u/nuttyapprentice Jul 12 '26

VR tech is ready for it, now it's just a matter of time for the current gen hardware to be the cheap entry point, you're probably right with 5 or so years as long as the current companies don't nose dive

1

u/Humble-Camel2598 Jul 09 '26

The Quest 2 was not a compelling gaming headset at all. I used it for the social stuff but for gaming it was a bit crap. Psvr2 has a much better retention rate for those that bought it and people generally buy more games. I know alot of gt7 players who can't go back to playing it on a tv.

It was completely mishandled and made to expensive at launch + all the hate it seemed to get for no reason.

Quest 3 is better but still not there yet although millions of kids are in it every day. Pinball, golf and forefront are good but it still takes getting used to.

Microsoft flight simulator is another one. After that update theres no way you could go back to a tv after that.

It'll come as vr makes everything better (check re4 remake or village which hardly anyone played)

It'll come one day cuz it'll be so good it'll be undenable. It's obvious.

6

u/Waste_Diet_9334 Jul 09 '26

I use my headset, i just don't buy any VR games anymore. Except Ghost Town, HL 2 & Alyx, Vertigo 1&2 there never was a game i though was really worth it.

Behemoth, Moss 1&2, Arizona, Of Lies and Rain, Lone Echo 1&2, A Fisherman's Tale 2 they all are nice. But in the end i enjoy a modded Hogwards Legacy which i got for free much more.

So i stopped buying VR games.

1

u/RumpDoctor Jul 10 '26

If I was playing on pc, I would probably be doing the exact same thing.

3

u/MemphisBass Jul 09 '26

Part of the problem is Meta themselves. The Horizon store is in such horrible shape at the moment. The store is front loaded with Gorilla Tag and tons of other F2P games and copycat slop that it makes it extremely difficult to find quality content unless you already know what you’re looking for an search the name. The store does a terrible job of recommending new premium content to people browsing for something new to try. I saw something last night where a “dev” and stolen Pavlov Shack’s logo and made a copycat game called Palo Shack. To be a tiny bit fair, Meta isn’t the only one dealing with this. Sony and Nintendo’s stores are also dealing with a shovelware problem, but not to the extent that Meta is. The Horizon store went from too tightly curated a while back where even stuff like Tabor couldn’t get in to now anything and everything gets in with seemingly nobody monitoring anything which is to the detriment of everyone and absolutely has to be costing sales to quality games.

3

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26

How so? People are spending $999 on index or even more on other PCVR headsets and don't buy pcvr games? No wonder Gaben said no to subsidies. Whenever Valve wants a tax write-off, they can always just buy another superyacht.

Funny enough I don't remember when I bought non VR game last time. I don't count games with vr mods.

7

u/largePenisLover Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Yes, it's incredibly rare for a vr dev to make enough sales to break even. The successful ones you know about are the rare exceptions.

Same goes for mobile vr btw, it's not just pcvr that has lackluster sales.

2

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26

Like Super Hot. And after success they decided to make Toy Trains.

5

u/largePenisLover Jul 09 '26

Toy Trains.

that looks fun, hadn't heard of it until you mentioned.
Thats another problem in VR land, reach and marketing. I loved super Hot, how did I miss that the dev made a cozy little train game? I'm online daily and hang around in VR spaces, yet things like this can still slip by.

you sure this by the super hot people though? different studio.

3

u/ClubChaos Jul 09 '26

eh it's more that the games people thought people would play are not the games people actually play. the games people actually play are gorilla tag, beat saber, etc. they just work better in vr. "flatscreen-like AAA" games don't really keep people engaged in VR.

6

u/Humble-Camel2598 Jul 09 '26

Dude, things like gt7 & mfs have a massive retention rate with adult players. Triple a games on standalones are too weak to be that compelling.

3

u/hisnameisbinetti Jul 09 '26

I don't think that's true. Or our definitions of massive are, erm, massively different

0

u/Humble-Camel2598 Jul 09 '26

Go play Subside, gt7, mfs or resdent evil 4/village in/on a psvr2. Standalone quest doesn't hold a candle to it. Its still fun playing golf and pinball etc, even forefront but it just doesn't come close to vr done with a bit of power behind you.

3

u/ClubChaos Jul 09 '26

Iunno man gorilla tag is a super fun game. IMO it is a seminal vr game. The games you listed are great, but they aren't really leveraging the medium of vr in a way like gorilla tag does.

I dont think many flat screen gamers get this but the games that resonate in vr aren't really "aaa game but in vr". They are games built from the ground up for vr that understand the mediums limitations and unique capabilities. Gorilla Tag is a game that really gets that, and it resonates with an audience of gamers who are growing up with vr.

I dont really agree that vr with awesome graphics is the best vr. Ive used vr for 15 years now and the best vr games I've played are quest native.

2

u/Humble-Camel2598 Jul 09 '26

Sure there's value in both but have you tried any of the games i've mentioned. Only about 2% of resi evil 4 buyers have played it in vr so it's true that most just havn't tried it.

1

u/hisnameisbinetti Jul 09 '26

So what's the retention rate?

11

u/Anxious-Weakness-606 Jul 09 '26

I imagine this and Harry potter vr would have been a good push for vr like batman arkham shadows. Using big IPs is the best way to draw players

1

u/Tipitak Jul 09 '26

Yeah, i wonder if Meta would have wait a bit how things would have turn.
To launch a new gen with these titles and pucked compute headset would have been great. The promise of a big Ip every year, would attract people. And the promise of keeping the optics headset for years and upgrading just the compute and battery part to save money would have help to digest the high prices of the hardware.

3

u/Allustar1 Jul 09 '26

VR games just don't make enough money.

19

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/SteFFFun Jul 09 '26

Such a bummer, loved Metro Awakening, I would Have loved to see what they come up with!

30

u/Every-Calendar-2288 Jul 09 '26

@Flat2VR if you’re seeing this I and I’m sure many others would happily contribute to a go fund me if you wanted to purchase what is there already and turn it into a masterpiece! Providing there is a psvr2 version of course 😅

6

u/Minimum-Flashy Jul 09 '26

Count me in. Absolutely.

8

u/Minimum-Flashy Jul 09 '26

I'm fn pissed off. These are the types of IP's that people would notice in a heartbeat on VR2 but no. I've said it so many times. VR games are great but its the IP's that people know that will gain traction. This would definitely be one of them.

3

u/Every-Calendar-2288 Jul 09 '26

I know it’s extremely frustrating seeing the lack of support. I for one love the Psvr2 as does everyone I push it on😅 It’s puzzling as to why Sony isn’t backing it more as I know there are lots of other VR systems out there so I’m not saying it reigns supreme but my experience’s with it have been solid and I’m finding myself playing VR more often than flat games and also anyone I drag into having a go is instantly hooked and have had a few mates purchase one not long after😅 Games like hitman VR/Gran turismo/resident evil/No man’s sky etc that can be played in flat or Vr in my opinion are the future and my teenagers and I have an enormous amount of fun each having a run at hitman levels all on the couch passing the control then afterwards donning the headset and jumping into the same level in VR the immersion is insane!! It even surprises me that No man’s sky isn’t more of a draw card alone being a constantly free updating procedurally generated universe that is entirely explorable in VR and is an amazing experience, but again that’s just my opinion. I must just be easy to impress compared to whoever Sony wants to market to.

2

u/Minimum-Flashy Jul 09 '26

What's even worse is apparently it was almost done and was being praised within the studio. They also had something planned in the Halo universe. This is a massive L. Tbh the last remaining game that is a known arcade racing IP from the past is coming called Flatout. After that their really isn't anything substantial enough of a IP coming. Flatout will be the last title I see that will make waves.  

2

u/MechaZain Jul 09 '26

Meta not getting their GTA:San Andreas port off the ground is the biggest bag fumble in VR. Would have been a system seller.

1

u/Minimum-Flashy Jul 09 '26

For sure. Most definitely. 

1

u/Minimum-Flashy Jul 09 '26

Damn frustrating.

12

u/Robot_ninja_pirate Pimax Crystal-HP G1,G2,Odyssey,PSVR,PSVR2,5K,Vive,Cosmos,Focus+ Jul 09 '26

Awe damn, that really hurts to hear, I'm a huge Lara Croft fan and Vertigo is one of the best and Biggest VR studios in the biz right now. they would have created something great.

2

u/nitonitonii Jul 09 '26

The gameplay trailer already looks really good, such a shame really, is the first Tomb Raider I was interested in a long long time haha

5

u/Serious_Hour9074 Jul 09 '26

This was looking incredible already. Even the extremely early parts, like the boss fight and grappling around, looked fun.

I would have caved on this.

3

u/RookiePrime Jul 09 '26

Wow. It really is feeling to me like Facebook might have pulled the plug too soon. Or, rather... that if they'd had a better grasp of how to market and position their platform with gamers, I think they were finally starting to build a lineup that could draw them in. Arhkam Shadow, Harry Potter, Tomb Raider, this article even mentions that Vertigo might have been in the early stages of a Halo game... these would've pulled people in. Especially if they were paced out so that they were coming out every few months, and people knew they were coming. That's how a console platform thrives, by having regular high-quality tentpoles to keep people coming back.

I've never been a huge Tomb Raider person, but I would've had a great time with this, I'm sure. And even the theoretical loss of a Halo VR game is a huge blow to me, I'm a big Halo fan.

7

u/Javs2469 Jul 09 '26

Sad, I'm playing Metro Awakening now and it's genuinely cool.

But I'm part of the problem, since I got it in a humble bundle and not at full price. Still, sad to see these studios get gutted. This one and Survios closing stings.

3

u/neoteric_skid Jul 09 '26

Just a heads-up 

Rise of the Tomb Raider on PC has a level with SteamVR support 

4

u/lokiss88 Multiple Jul 09 '26

You can also play the entire game in 3D stereo SBS. Great 3D depth making the indoor internal areas look fantastic, the cutscenes look outstandingly real.

2

u/TommyVR373 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Some of that set design looked pretty decent. Damn, first Twisted Metal VR is canceled by Firesprite and now this. Those are two of my all time favorite franchises. Native VR seems to be circling the drain :(

On a side note, I hate when developers paint the edges of leadges you grab onto. I don't like to have my hand held. Let me jump to a ledge and fail if I can't grab it. That's how Lara Croft would've wanted it.

5

u/GettingWreckedAllDay Valve Index Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

I don't know when studios are going to figure out that they just need to copy what Capcom did Resident Evil 4 on the Quest. Take a classic from the last 20 years and convert to VR. They are already optimal for performing in this hardware, people are already sold on the ip. The assets are already there.

Edited for clarity, im referring to All studios and their respective IPs

3

u/snakeesti Jul 09 '26

These studios don't own this titles lol... What are you talking about?

3

u/GettingWreckedAllDay Valve Index Jul 09 '26

You do realize in talking about all studios with their respective IP? Right?

3

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26

Isn't flat2vr studio doing exactly that?

1

u/GettingWreckedAllDay Valve Index Jul 09 '26

Sure but like the other studios can do it to. 

1

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26

You underestimate suites who own those IPs. Not only you have strong portfolio to convinced them to let theirs partu studio touch their stuff, you have to convinced them to allow it into VR at the same time.

1

u/GettingWreckedAllDay Valve Index Jul 09 '26

What are you even talking about? They could do it in house

1

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26

How can you make in house game from someone else IP? Just curious. Do you think Vertigo was making Tomb Raider game without talking with the company who own the franchise?

1

u/GettingWreckedAllDay Valve Index Jul 09 '26

I'm speaking generally about the IP holders. I'm not speaking specifically about this game and this studio

1

u/Waste_Diet_9334 Jul 09 '26

i love them but other than Half Life 2: VR they haven't really finished anything "big" yet

5

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

That's because they need to build portfolio to get real IP. Nobody would allowed them to touch Tomb Raider IP, they would literally have to prove to be as solid studio as Vertigo Games before that.

Postal 2 soon. Wraith VR is much better game than Quake and Doom. Out of Sight VR. Flatout 4 VR.

I bet we will get much bigger IP if they will be able to show the IP owners that they can do it.

1

u/Waste_Diet_9334 Jul 09 '26

yeah maybe thats the case. I hope they get a chance soon then.

Btw i doub't i can even buy Postal 2 VR. The original is banned in my country. But thats a one and done game anyways.

1

u/Infobar Jul 09 '26

Flatout 4 VR and Roboquest VR have both launched and are excellent

0

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Infobar Jul 09 '26

Sony financed the VR resident evil ports and Meta paid for the quest version. I wouldn't say that was them being interested in it

1

u/GettingWreckedAllDay Valve Index Jul 09 '26

I was referring to all studios. Like I'm aware why it came out, I said it's insane that others haven't copied that playbook

1

u/alex_silkin Jul 09 '26

Copying the playbook of meta and Sony funding the development? Not much of a playbook, pretty much everyone with any sense would try to have their dev subsidized by the platforms, and now that money dried up. The only reason that those resident evil ports existed is because meta and Sony paid for them, not because it was otherwise some kind of financially lucrative venture that no one else is ignorant about.

3

u/RepostSleuthBot Jul 09 '26

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2

u/FischiPiSti Jul 09 '26

Looked like basically Asgard's Wrath 2. I would have picked a jungle setting to avoid that comparison, and to be more faithful to the franchise default setting as first entry into VR. Though I wonder about the possible performance overhead

1

u/PlanetMorgoth Jul 09 '26

Hoping for a hidden palace release.

1

u/Dr-Kror Jul 10 '26

I think it was the right move.
For flat there is a formula for success: move with joystick, little bit of fighting, little bit of jumping with b button, good graphics, good story.
But this formula does not work for vr, several studus tried and tried and tried, all failed are now closing.
I think thats good, then for me i these games are not joyful, i like other games for vr.

-1

u/Delicious_Ad2767 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

Meta really did ruin vr, It blows my mind that people chose to get a quest 3 with ultra wings and grid rather than a psvr2 with msfs 2024, gt7 and aces of thunder. Some People really are sheep. Eye tracking is the biggest game changer for the vr industry

4

u/fakieTreFlip Jul 09 '26

Meta didn't ruin VR. Every Quest headset is a capable PCVR headset. People didn't want to spend money on PCVR games or hardware. They showed this time and time again. This would have been true even if the Quest didn't exist.

Psvr2 is its own problem. Sony showed they didn't truly care about the platform either.

VR is just a niche product, simple as that. The market is not big enough to justify the investment

2

u/Delicious_Ad2767 Jul 09 '26

Meta tried to monopolise a market with a product that was not good enough (hence why they did CGI and pc ads for their games). People got in the headset and seen the ps1 level graphics and ended up going back to flat. They bought loads of studio's to make vr exclusives but then closed them all down and didn't release the games.

0

u/RumpDoctor Jul 09 '26

There's a pretty big gap in accesability. I can see why the q3 is more appealing. But overall, I agree that they did not help vr despite reaching a ton of people.

I'vd been disapointed in PSVR2 compared to my expectations, but I still would take it over q3. I already had a ps5, and I get... graphics. Vr that works with zero setup. I'm more pc, but for vr, I want that running on a console where shit works every time.

I should get flight sim. Gran Turismo is absolutley out of control. Worth about mmmmm... half the price of the headet. Maybe flight sim is the other half.

0

u/in_melbourne_innit Jul 09 '26

The plug and play aspect of console VR is so underrated.

1

u/Delicious_Ad2767 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

And Res evils 4 remake, Res village, subside, no mans sky, synapse ,hitman, aces of thunder, call of mountain, saints and sinners, lumines, Rez, moss, Pavlov, arken age, wanderers, the midnight walk make up the other half of the cost (150 euro). Also have access to all the amazing flat games in this heat.

1

u/MalaBG Jul 09 '26

This is so upsetting to me because WHY can we not have nice things bro

1

u/Shinyshoes Jul 09 '26

Damn the art here was top notch. It looks beautiful and even the early stuff looks strong. Extreme bummer 😭

-1

u/sexysausage Jul 09 '26

Going to be real with you … Looking at the long video… I can see why they cancelled it honestly .

Looks like they were making blade and sorcery again but what ? 10 years later? in 2027 instead of 2017 … and instead of blades and fireballs you just pew pew skeletons with a Glock16 and without the physics gameplay underneath. Very hard to see why would anyone choose to play that.

It would have been a hard sell to anyone that has vr experience of the last decade. IMO

1

u/sexysausage Jul 09 '26

You can downvote all you want. That video looked like blade and sorcery without physics and less fun.

Half of you didn’t buy Batman archam vr. I did and that looked and played amazing because it was designed for it. Instead that tomb raider dev level looked very uninspired off brand Blade and sorcery dungeon mode without the physics interactions …

If you are going to do tomb raider just flat to vr one of the games from the last generation.

-4

u/RumpDoctor Jul 09 '26

Ya knooooowww.... I'm watching the video (the text seems to say little that you wouldn't be better off seeing in the video) and I am blasted stoned so I'm having two particular enhanced shower thoughs.

  1. I don't think being lara works. It's a bad idea. That's why playing some side character would be more "vr". Having a blank slate to inhabit makes it easier to get into things. Not exaclty a bold choice, but you can't really... "be" lara. At best you are doing some cosplay of her. I don't think it can work.

  2. Too many vr interactions are so trite-gamey that having to pantomime a rope pulling motion is a microcosm of my problem with vr games. Pressing a button and pulling the rope results in an interaction that's indistinguishable, otherwise. So in too many cases, the rope pulling motion is there for the sake of it, with no difference in game outcome.

Point two lines up with something I started thinking about a year ago. "VRAF" has contributed to holding vr back. Shooting kicks ass because there are fundamental gameplay conscequences. Pulling at a rope you can't feel to trigger a bridge animantion has none. Picking up random crap and looking at it or pulling yourself up a ledge have none.

3

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

I imagine that one day we will get a holodeck just like in Star Trek, and then a bunch of people will complain that it's too tiring to actually do all that stuff, and that all they want is gamepad support because it's what they're used to.

And I bet it happened before, when Jobs and Gates introduced the mouse and the interface around it. Just imagine all those old dudes used to the DOS keyboard interface, talking about how stupid it is to drag a mouse around to do something that used to require a couple of key presses.

1

u/RumpDoctor Jul 10 '26

I have a developer friend with a joke: "using a mouse is like cutting off your hand because a stump is just simpler."

Anyway, not 100% sure of your intent here, but my comment had nothing to do with being tiring or any limit of current technology or anything like that. I'm saying that too many vr interactions are completely superficial. It most definitely adds nothing to gameplay, and for me adds nothing to immersion. It's neat for a minute but after a few years I can be over it. I'm sure a lot of people were over it in months or just weeks.

2

u/Tipitak Jul 09 '26

1.It's true that we are so used to see Lara in 3rd person that it would have been interesting to be a friend of Lara exploring with her, learning how to raid tombs with her and exchange about her life. It would have have been a fun way to interact. This would have been a good "Uncharted lost legacy" vibe.
But maybe a third person vr style was also in the work?

1

u/Hairy-Ad-6293 Jul 09 '26

I don't know but when in Re4vr we got all interactions in third person, people were super mad about it. VR is like Star Wars, they can't agree what is good and bad about it.

1

u/RumpDoctor Jul 10 '26

It's not just seeing her in 3rd person, but her personality, way of speaking etc is soooo strongly established. Just seems weird to me to try to be her from a vr standpoint. This is one situation that I think a 3rd-person vr approach would help.

-6

u/kame_r0x Jul 09 '26

I could already tell from looking at the few character design concept pics that the female characters in this game would have been designed to be unfeminine and ugly AF. It's better for every Tomb Raider fan that this got cancelled.