Windows users have long relied on the default disk.sys driver for storage management, a component that has mainly remained fundamentally unchanged since its introduction in 2006. While Windows has supported the NVMe protocol since Windows 8.1, the legacy driver continues to treat modern high-speed solid-state storage as a legacy SCSI disk. To address this bottleneck, Microsoft has officially introduced nvmedisk.sys for Windows Server 2025, but apparently, Windows 11 25H2 also has it hidden away.
The team over at Notebookcheck tested this new driver on a Windows 11 PC, and as promised by Microsoft, the deeper NVMe awareness appears to be paying dividends in raw throughput. The testing suggests that nvmedisk.sys provides a measurable performance uplift across both sequential and random read/write workloads compared to the old driver. By bypassing the legacy SCSI translation layer, the new driver allows the OS to interface more directly with the flash controller, reducing overhead and improving latency on high-end drives such as the Samsung 990 Pro and Crucial T705. You can find the results before and after installing the new driver below:
Although impressive, enthusiasts looking to force the transition should proceed with extreme caution, as the driver is not yet enabled by default for all hardware configurations. Current reports indicate that forcing nvmedisk.sys via registry modifications can lead to severe system instability or a total failure to boot if the underlying SSD controller lacks specific compatibility hooks. To verify which driver your system is currently using, users must navigate to Driver Details in Device Manager.
Given the potential for data loss or unbootable partitions, we strongly advise against manually switching drivers without a full-disk backup at hand. While the performance gains are enticing for those chasing benchmark records, the new driver is still in a soft launch.
KitGuru says: It is about time Microsoft retired a driver stack from 2006 for high-end storage. The question that remains is when it will arrive at a stable build.
Two recent studies have highlighted gaming's potential benefits for mental health and acuity. The most recent is a study published this month by JMIR Serious Games, named Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi Games' Affordance of Childlike Wonder and Reduced Burnout Risk in Young Adults: In-Depth Mixed Methods Cross-Sectional Study. This study, authored
Because of the way we interact with these features, it's easy to think of Intel XMP and AMD EXPO as binary, 'yes or no' features, but both standards have actually gone through a few revisions. Right now, we're on revision 1.1 of AMD's EXPO, but it looks like 1.2 is on the horizon, and we know that because it has just appeared in the patch
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and deal hunters far and wide, do yourself a solid and don't sleep on the Mac mini if you're in the market for a compact PC (yes, Macs are technically PCs too). They're great systems, and the model with an M4 chip inside is on sale right now for 20% below Apple's regular asking price, making this a really
Do you know what stinks about buying earbuds for gaming? The vast majority only support Bluetooth for wireless connectivity. That's fine and dandy for listening to music and making phone calls, but for playing games, a 2.4GHz wireless connection keeps latency at bay. The good news is, there are a few earbud options that feature 2.4GHz wireless
LG Display is unveiling its new OLED technology ahead of CES 2026. The company has officially announced the development of the world's first 27-inch 4K OLED panel featuring an RGB stripe structure and a 240Hz refresh rate. This new monitor promises to address the most persistent complaint regarding OLED monitors: text clarity.
While OLED has long dominated in contrast and response times, the technology has struggled with productivity tasks. Current-generation WOLED panels typically use an RWGB structure, while QD-OLED uses a triangular RGB arrangement. Both configurations often cause “color bleeding” or “fringing” around text because modern operating systems like Windows are designed for the standard vertical RGB stripe found in traditional LCDs. By successfully implementing a true RGB stripe at 4K resolution, LG is promising a monitor that is finally as capable for spreadsheet work and coding as it is for high-end gaming.
The breakthrough isn't just about clarity, however. This new panel is the first of its kind to maintain the RGB stripe while pushing to 240Hz. To achieve this, LG applied new manufacturing techniques to increase the aperture ratio (the physical area of the pixel that emits light), allowing for higher brightness and faster refresh cycles without the need for an extra white subpixel found in standard WOLEDs.
For competitive gamers, the panel also features LG's Dynamic Frequency & Resolution (DFR) technology. This “dual-mode” capability allows users to switch between the native UHD (4K) at 240Hz for immersive gaming and a high-speed FHD (1080p) at 480Hz mode. We expect to see the first retail monitors using this panel at CES 2026.
KitGuru Says: Are you thinking of making the jump to an OLED monitor in 2026?
Samsung is setting an aggressive tone for CES 2026 with a new wave of high‑end monitors that mark several technical firsts for the company. The updated Odyssey lineup introduces a 1040Hz refresh rate, a glasses‑free 6K 3D display option, and broad adoption of DisplayPort 2.1 across its top models, signalling a clear push toward next‑generation bandwidth and visual performance.
Leading the announcement is the Odyssey 3D (G90XH), a 32-inch 6K (6144 x 3456) IPS monitor that aims to succeed where previous 3D efforts failed. By using real-time eye-tracking cameras and a lenticular lens layer, the G90XH delivers a glasses-free 3D experience that adjusts perspective based on the user's head position. While it runs natively at 165Hz, it features a “Dual Mode” that drops the resolution to 3K to enable a 330Hz refresh rate. Some games getting dedicated optimisations for this monitor include Stellar Blade and Lies of P.
For competitive gamers, the Odyssey G6 (G60H) is likely to be the most talked-about display of the year. This 27-inch QHD IPS monitor is the first in the world to break the four-digit refresh rate barrier, reaching 1040Hz in its “Dual Mode” (at HD resolution). Even at its native QHD resolution, the panel maintains a staggering 600Hz refresh rate.
The Odyssey G8 series has also been expanded into a trio of high-resolution displays. The first is the G80H, a 32-inch 6K IPS model that mirrors the resolution of the 3D flagship, offering 6K at 165Hz or 3K at 330Hz. Then there's the G80HF, a 27-inch 5K variant running at 180Hz natively or 360Hz in QHD mode. Lastly, the G80SH is for the OLED enthusiasts, featuring a 32-inch 4K QD-OLED panel. This model stands out by being VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 500-certified and supporting DisplayPort 2.1 with UHBR20, providing up to 80Gbps of bandwidth.
All five models support AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and are Nvidia G-Sync Compatible. Samsung also stated that it will be showcased at CES 2026.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Samsung's 2026 Odyssey line-up so far?
Thermaltake has introduced the MAGCurve 360 Ultra ARGB Sync AIO Liquid Cooler, a display‑driven cooling solution built for high‑performance systems. Available in Black and Snow, it combines a curved screen, AI‑assisted customisation, and a compact but capable thermal design.
The cooler features a 6.67‑inch curved AMOLED panel with a 2240×1080 resolution, offering high contrast and wide viewing angles. The display supports system monitoring, time and weather widgets, video playback, and dynamic visuals. Through TT RGB PLUS 3.0, users can upload images or videos, adjust layouts, fine‑tune colours, and even run split‑screen configurations. The integrated AI Forge tool allows users to generate custom backgrounds from simple text prompts, which can be edited and combined with system data. The TT PlayLink mobile app adds faster customisation with direct photo uploads and real‑time camera or video streaming to the display.
Cooling performance is handled by three TOUGHFAN EX 120 ARGB Sync fans, which include a swappable blade design for switching between standard and reverse airflow without affecting lighting. The fans reach up to 2500RPM, delivering high airflow and static pressure while keeping noise controlled.
Installation is streamlined through MagForce 2.0 magnetic connectors, which use enlarged contact pads for more stable daisy chaining and reduced cable clutter. The radiator uses a slim 27mm design paired with a thickened 20mm copper chamber, supported by a high‑quality pump and precision copper base. The cooler is rated for CPUs up to 365W TDP, ensuring consistent thermal performance under sustained workloads.
KitGuru Says: Are you in the market for a new CPU cooler?
Prior to Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar had a good stretch where it was releasing a new game every two years or so. As it turns out, during this time, Rockstar had been kicking around the idea of bringing in third-party studios to make Grand Theft Auto games set in other cities around the globe, with the biggest idea being Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo.
In a recent interview with GamesHub, former Rockstar technical director, Obbe Vermeij, talked about plans to supply a Japanese studio with code from GTA in order to create GTA: Tokyo while Rockstar was busy working on the next mainline game in the series. The plan came about after leaders at Rockstar had wanted to produce new GTA games set outside of the USA.
“We had ideas about GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul. Tokyo almost actually happened. Another studio in Japan were going to do it, take our code and do GTA: Tokyo. But then that didn’t happen in the end”, he said.
Unfortunately for fans, Vermeij also thinks the ship has sailed on the potential to produce new GTA games set outside of the US. This is largely due to the inflated development times now required to ship a proper AAA game, coupled with the fact that GTA is now primarily known for its small handful of fictional US-based cities.
“It’s just not realistic. I would love it, and if games still took a year to make, then yeah sure, you can have a little fun, but you’re not going to get that when there’s a GTA every 12 years. You’re not going to set it in a new location. You don’t really need to either because the technology changes so much. Nobody is going to say that they’re not going to play GTA VI because they’ve already played Vice City.”
He's not wrong about the long development times – GTA V first released in 2013 and the next game, GTA 6, is finally due to release in November next year. However, at this point GTA is such a massive global success that it is unlikely that Rockstar would ever let a third-party studio near its source code.
KitGuru Says: It would have been cool to see GTA licensed out so we could get a wave of spin-offs like GTA: Tokyo. There is no way that would happen now though, as GTA has risen to become a core pillar in gaming.
IO Interactive snuck out some disappointing news to end the year. The studio's new James Bond game, 007 First Light, has been delayed, taking over Grand Theft Auto 6's original release slot on the 2026 calendar.
In an update shared this week, IO Interactive confirmed that 007 First Light will no longer release in March like originally planned. Now, the game will launch on May 27th 2026. If that date rings a bell, then there is good reason, as Grand Theft Auto 6 was originally scheduled to release on May 26th, before being delayed to November next year.
In its statement, IO Interactive said: “007 First Light is our most ambitious project to date and the team has been fully focused on delivering an unforgettable James Bond experience”, adding that the delay will “ensure the experience meets the level of quality” that fans deserve on day one.
007 First Light has been pitched in the first game in an on-going series, all starring IOI's own version of James Bond, not tied to any previous films, games or novels. We will see more of the game in early 2026 as IO ramps up the marketing ahead of release.
KitGuru Says: Fortunately, the delay is quite short, giving IO Interactive roughly eight extra weeks to polish up the game. Are you looking forward to 007: First Light?
AMD's next-generation Zen 6 processor with 3D V-Cache may kick things up in a big way to compete with Intel's upcoming Nova Lake chips. How so? According to a popular leaker on X, AMD will offer single CCD (core complex die) variants with up to 144MB of L3 cache, and dual CCD models with up to a whopping 288MB of L3 cache. To put those capacities
For Day 24 of the KitGuru Advent Calendar, we have teamed up with NVIDIA to give one lucky reader a new graphics card! Today's prize is none other than the RTX 5070 Ti graphics card!
The RTX 5070 Ti is a GPU we are already very familiar with. We've reviewed a bunch of them, each time coming away with positive impressions for performance at 1440p and 4K resolutions. With this graphics card, you'll also have access to all of the latest RTX features, including DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation, so you can multiply your performance in hundreds of games at the press of a button.
How to Enter:
To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is head over to our competition announcement post on Facebook, HERE. In the comments, leave an answer to the following question – What was your favourite game this year?
This competition is open in the UK and EU.
The winner will be picked randomly shortly after 11AM GMT December 25th, and a new competition will be announced for Day 25. The chosen winner has 48 hours to respond, if we do not hear from them, a new winner will be picked.
Terms and Conditions: This competition is open in the UK and EU, starting at 11AM GMT on December 24th and ending at 10:59AM GMT on December 25th. Due to the busy Christmas season, prize deliveries could take longer than usual, and some prizes may not ship until January. In compliance with GDPR, we will not collect or store any personal information as part of this competition. Once the winner has been contacted and their prize received, personal details will be deleted from our email servers. Your details will not be shared, we respect your privacy.
KitGuru Says: Good luck to all who enter, we'll be back tomorrow morning to announce a winner and turn the calendar over to Day 25!
Today we’re taking a look at NZXT’s new F-Series X performance fans – the F120X, F240X, and the F360X. NZXT claims these are their most advanced fans yet, with LCP construction, ultra-tight tolerances, and a magnetic-levitation hybrid bearing designed to push serious airflow while keeping noise under control. We break down the design, the performance numbers, and of course whether these premium fans are actually worth the upgrade for your next build. Let’s dive in.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:52 The latest NZXT fans & pricing
02:10 Tech details on the coolers
02:38 A closer look at the fans
06:50 Do they look good?
07:07 Accessories
08:04 Test System
09:02 Smoke Visualisation Airflow Test
10:15 Thermal and Noise Performance
16:06 James thoughts – Are NZXT onto a winner?
Features:
LCP construction and optimised blade design for strong airflow & pressure — All three fans are equipped with liquid-crystal polymer (LCP) for blades and frame, for improved rigidity at high speed which helps resist flexing and vibration. Minimal blade-to-frame gap (“ultra-tight tip-to-frame clearance”), reduces turbulence and air leakage, resulting in optimal airflow and static pressure.
Custom Hybrid bearing for quiet and durable operation — “Custom Hybrid Bearing” includes magnetic levitation to keep the rotor stable at higher RPM, combined with fluid-dynamic lubrication to help reduce friction and wear. The aim is to provide smooth, long-lasting, quiet rotation.
Advanced 3-phase, 6-pole motor for precise, efficient cooling — The motor design enables more precise speed control for steady and efficient cooling across different speeds for lower noise and consistent performance.
Polished design with subtle RGB and easy install — Featuring brushed-aluminium accents, subtle RGB lighting and a clean aesthetic. You can control fan speeds and lighting via motherboard software or, with NZXT Control Hub and NZXT CAM software. The single-frame models (F240X and F360X) have an all-in-one frame that reduces screws and cables for clean and simple installation.
Specifications (F360X):
Dimensions: 360 x 120 x 30mm
Weight: 750g
Speed (PWM): 3,100 ± 310 RPM
Airflow: 0 CFM per fan
Static Pressure: 53 mmH2O per fan
Noise: 0 dBA per fan
Bearing type: NZXT Magnetic Levitation Stabiliser & Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Motor type: 3-phase, 6-pole
Rate Voltage: 12V (Fan) / 5V (RGB)
Rated Current: 60A (Fan) / 0.52A (RGB)
Input Power: 8W
Connector: 4-pin PWM and 5V ARGB
Material (Blade & Frame): Liquid-crystal polymer (LCP), rubber
Our testing focuses on the thermal performance of each fan under three conditions: 100% PWM, 1400 RPM, and 40 dBA noise-normalised operation. All tests are conducted with a manual CPU overclock, locking the all-core frequency and VCORE to ensure consistent load across runs.
Baseline Measurement:
Ambient temperature is recorded.
The system is left idle for 10 minutes.
CPU and GPU temperatures are logged using HWINFO, while case temperatures are monitored with thermocouples placed at three positions:
T1: Behind the front intake fan
T2: In front of the rear exhaust
T3: Above the AIO exhaust
Load Testing:
A combined CPU/GPU stress test is run for 30 minutes using 3DMark Speed Way stress test and Cinebench simultaneously.
Temperature charts show the average CPU/GPU delta over the final 10 minutes of the test, along with the thermocouple readings at the end of the session.
Noise Testing:
Noise levels are measured with a decibel meter placed 30 cm from the front of the system.
Airflow Visualisation:
Smoke tests are filmed with all fans running at 1400 RPM to illustrate airflow patterns across the case and cooling components.
This methodology ensures a consistent, real-world comparison of each fan’s thermal efficiency, noise performance, and airflow characteristics.
Test Results:
System Noise: 100% PWM
1400RPM Normalised
Case Temperatures: 100% PWM
1400RPM Normalised
40dBA Noise Normalised
CPU & GPU Temperature: 100% PWM
1400RPM Normalised
40dBA Noise Normalised
We found the NZXT F120/240/360X fans listed at Scan. An F120X costs £39.98 while the F360X is priced at £99.98.
Pros:
Solid airflow and cooling, close to competitor performance.
Clean looks with all in one frame and minimal cables.
Very wide PWM speed range with high max speed for extreme cooling.
Cons:
Quite expensive.
Loud at max speed.
Performance drops off a little at lower RPM.
No reverse blade versions.
KitGuru says: If your build prioritises aesthetics over absolute thermal performance, then these fans might be a good fit for you. They will still provide solid cooling too, just not chart-topping, but they are very expensive and loud at max speed.
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Welcome to the last entry of UploadVR's Best of VR Awards for 2025.
The year's almost over and we're once again celebrating this year's best releases across the VR and wider XR industry, highlighting some exceptional releases across software and hardware alike. Just like we always do, each category features one clear winner and varying numbers of honorable mentions. Excluding our specific early access categories, all of our winners are currently in full release.
Like last year, we've split the awards across multiple rounds. Our first round covered platform favorites for Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro, joined by our favorite exploratory experience. It's here where we recognized Ghost Town, Roboquest VR, Arken Age, Gears & Goo, and The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up.
Round two is where we focused on achievements across mixed reality, hand tracking, and early access releases. Our winners across these categories were Jigsaw Night, Laser Dance, Forefront, Little Critters, and Figmin XR.
Which leaves us with some of our biggest picks still to come, the moment we've all been waiting for. Here are UploadVR's Best of VR Awards 2025.
Best Virtual Place 2025
A small number of software packages in virtual reality have grown so large and diverse that calling them games doesn't really apply anymore. They are places, vast, with interconnected systems that make spending significant time there a delight for many. VRChat and No Man's Sky come to mind as candidates for this category in future years, and both were considered to inaugurate this award category at UploadVR.
In 2025, Walkabout grew from a game to a place as mini golf became secondary to the best place where people congregate in virtual reality.
The artists at Mighty Coconut entered the year realizing Elvis as a course to play on and ended it with the best physical illustration of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ever made. In between, Walkabout's creative director and mastermind Lucas Martell took golfers to the seat of the gods at Mount Olympus, face-to-face with dinos at Raptor Cliff's, sneaking into a Mother Goose-inspired theme park at Forgotten Fairyland, and up close with Neko Atsume kitties all over a tiny Tokyo. While Walkabout's courses always had secrets, like hidden balls and skeletons, now they've started adding playable activities like slingshots and chess. Designers continue rooting around the backstage areas as they add the foundations for future activities and new secrets to discover in places players have been hundreds of times.
The design team spent days together in December roughing out courses that will open starting in 2027. From release in 2020 for standalone VR headsets, we see other developers following the precedents set by Walkabout – guest mode for paid add-ons, private rooms by default, and support for a single controller.
Whether you're looking to introduce yourself to virtual reality or get lost in there for days, Walkabout Mini Golf is the right onboarding experience for most people and a great place to be.
Best VR Developer
We've seen some impressive work from VR developers this year. Mighty Coconut keeps releasing regular DLC courses for Walkabout Mini Golf, Flat2VR Studios continues to deliver impressive VR adaptations like Roboquest VR, while nDreams Elevation and Fireproof Games both showed strong VR-focused gameplay design across Reach and Ghost Town respectively.
This time, our Best VR Developer award goes to VitruviusVR for its work on Arken Age. We previously discussed what we loved about Arken Age when giving it our Best PlayStation VR2 Game of the Year award, praising its exemplary approach to VR-first gameplay design. However, it's a testament to the studio's strength that it did so while leveraging the strengths of each platform so effectively. For that reason, we're giving them this year's award.
Best New Hardware
This year saw Meta break its three-year streak of new VR headset releases, Apple upgrade its “spatial computer” with a new chip and strap, Samsung launch the first product running Google's Android XR, and Bigscreen refine its ultralight headset with improved and adjustable lenses.
Bigscreen and Apple deserve mentioning here, even though they aren't our winners.
Beyond 2's lenses fix a crucial flaw of the original to make it a viable optical experience for far more people, but the device still requires SteamVR Tracking base stations, an expensive technology that Valve itself is abandoning.
Meanwhile, the M5 Vision Pro's Dual Knit Band is a truly innovative approach to headset ergonomics, combining the benefits of a comfortable soft strap and counterbalance in one design, plus the ability to tighten both bands with a single dial. But other than this, it's a minimum-effort upgrade.
Our winner this year is Meta Neural Band included with Meta Ray-Ban Display. Surface electromyography (sEMG) is not a completely new input technology, but Meta Neural Band brings it to a sleek, lightweight, and flexible wristband with all-day battery life and IPX4 water resistance.
Meta Neural Band makes it practical and comfortable to control a smart glasses HUD without needing to constantly use voice commands, wear a giant ring, or wave your hands around. And for this, it wins our Best Hardware Award for 2025.
Best New Multiplayer Game
Social gameplay remains one of VR's most appealing strengths, and this year continued providing strong contenders. While Breachers would have been in contention if it wasn't in early access, plenty of multiplayer games either launched or finally reached full release.
Ultimately, our winner for VR Multiplayer Game of the Year 2025 is Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. Resolution Games brought back 2021's hit in style, and we considered it a “mostly natural crossover and a fitting evolution” on Demeo. If you can't commit to a real-life tabletop campaign, this is an excellent option that flatscreen players can also join in on.
And so, we now move onto one of our biggest categories. Our previous awards looked at games for individual platforms across Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro. This is what we believe stands out as the absolute best of the best across all four.
2025's been another year when the releases seemingly never end, and that's been especially true these last few months. Hotel Infinity, Roboquest VR, Marvel’s Deadpool VR, Demeo x D&D, Ghost Town, Reach, Arken Age, Lumines Arise, there's a lot to choose from, but we can ultimately only crown one title.
Same as our best PlayStation VR2 game, our winner for VR Game of the Year 2025 is Arken Age. Ghost Town and Roboquest VR have their own individual strengths on Quest and PC VR, yet Arken Age graced each of its platforms with some of the best VR focused design we've seen in 2025.
“Arken Age delivers clever VR-first gameplay design for a great sci-fi adventure,” we said at the time, praising its vibrant presentation and rewarding combat. As mentioned before, our appreciation for VitruviusVR's action-adventure has only grown since launch, and it's a strong choice no matter your headset.
So then, what's next? 2025's brought a strong line-up across Quest, PC VR, and PS VR2, and we've seen plenty of promising VR and MR games on the way in 2026.
Our Most Anticipated Game of 2026 goes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City, an action-adventure that supports single-player and up to four-player co-op. We've already had a brief look at what's to come, and we can't wait to see how Cortopia Studios adapts the iconic series on Quest 3 and PC VR.
MR Clean could be the PowerWash Simulator of mixed reality, and it's heading to Quest 3/3S next year.
Developed by PotamWorks (Smash Drums), MR Clean is a roomscale mixed reality cleaning game designed around hand tracking controls, where you clear virtual dirt off your walls, floors, and furniture. This also comes with a 'Virtual Objects Mode' where you clean detailed 3D models piece by piece, alongside a two-player 'Party Mode' you can play locally.
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It's originally inspired by a mixed reality experiment created in Smash Drums, where you can splatter your room with virtual paint.
“While the painting mechanic became a natural fit for Smash Drums, and one of its more iconic environments, the cleaning phase ultimately didn’t align with a game built around chaos and rock ’n’ roll,” states PotamWorks, who revived the idea for the Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition 2025.
Collaborative content and themed challenges are also planned for the upcoming game. Crossovers have already been confirmed with Red Matter 2, Ancient Dungeon, Deisim, Smash Drums, “and over 15 other fan-favorite experiences.” Finally, PotamWorks states MR Clean will also be compatible with the Quest's Travel Mode.
Our second round of UploadVR's Best of 2025 awards is now live.
We kicked things off earlier today with our favorite games this year across individual platforms: Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro. This also discussed our top immersive entertainment titles outside of gaming, looking to more film-adjacent experiences.
Now, we're focusing on mixed reality apps and games as developers continue to embrace this approach. We're also diving into the best uses of hand tracking across the year, alongside dedicated early access categories for both mixed reality and VR games. While most of our categories are only applicable for full releases, Best Hand Tracking also factors in early access launches.
So then, onto round two. Here are our favorite hand tracking, mixed reality, and early access experiences in 2025.
There's one game, though, that stands out in 2025 – Jigsaw Night. You can grab the pieces whether they are close or far away and easily hand them to friends. At any time you can also pick up a controller and use it for more precise grabbing of faraway objects. This robust support, alongside other features like LIV integration, colocation, and puzzling with your own photos, means that solo developer Steve Lukas' project is an absolute delight to spend time in and a strong reason to bring just your headset with you.
Best Early Access Mixed Reality Game
We've seen some intriguing first looks at mixed reality games in early access this year. Pocket Lands has been a recent favorite where you create Minecraft-esque worlds, while Loop One: Done is an MR automation game where you record loops with drones and robots. We'd also note Super RC, Jigsaw Night, Galactic Traffic Control, and Healer.
This time around, Laser Dance takes our award for the Best Early Access Mixed Reality Game of 2025. Thomas Van Bouwel delivered what we called “the first essential mixed reality game” and a go-to party game in our review. Offering an instantly relatable premise that feels ripped out of a spy film, it's one of the first experiences anyone should try when putting on a headset.
Whether it's to gather community feedback or bring in crucial funding, more developers continue choosing early access launches across Quest and Steam, and 2025 has plenty of picks.
For 2025, Forefront is UploadVR's Best Early Access VR Game of the Year. Triangle Factory's latest game following Breachers provides a 32-player shooter comparable to EA's Battlefield series. “Combat is exciting and tense, its VR gunplay is tactile and satisfying, and its environments are dynamic and engaging,” we said at the time, and we'll continue watching its next moves.
As mixed reality continues to find its footing, we're continuing to see intriguing projects emerge from across the board. What we're seeing today feels like an early look at what we can expect in the years ahead. We're focused on games where mixed reality is the clear focus, and not an optional extra in otherwise fully immersive games.
This year, our winner for Best Mixed Reality Game is Little Critters by Purple Yonder. Following the studio's work on Little Cities, we found an innovative take on the tower defense genre that puts you front and center in the fight. Its compelling gameplay has real impact, there's great strategic depth, and Little Critters keeps us coming back for more.
Apps like Pencil continue to show promise building out from innovative ideas – you can learn to draw Walkabout Mini Golf characters with a good old-fashioned pencil in hand and a headset on your head, and that's pretty cool.
Our award for best mixed reality app of 2025, though, goes to the gradually improving spatial playground Figmin XR. The app won last year too, and this year solo developer Javier Davalos essentially brought Tilt Brush to iPhone with the launch of Figmin XR there. Last year, we were able to get a pretty impressive colocation experience going in Figmin XR from Quest to Vision Pro.
This year, I single-handedly logged in with iPhone to the same virtual room as my headset. I could hold a digital object with my finger pressed to the iPhone and carry it around without even looking at it. Capturing mixed reality videos of Figmin playgrounds from iPhone could be a big use of this integration, or to let a friend or family member see into a spatial creation when they aren't in a headset.
Maingear, a well-respected boutique PC builder, has taken note of the ongoing RAM crisis and is attempting to offer a potential solution, beyond simply raising prices. Its solution is a new "BYO RAM", or "Bring Your Own RAM" program, which accepts a user's shipment of DDR5 RAM with an order of a custom PC. Maingear will take the RAM, install
GamesIndustry.biz does a yearly analyst roundtable, gathering predictions for what the next year will bring to the industry. This year's post paints a picture of an industry stuck in cautious recovery mode, with growth returning slowly, platform boundaries continuing to blur, and a handful of massive releases and technologies threatening to
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