Graphics depicting Meta's upcoming ultralight headset with a tethered compute puck, codenamed Phoenix, have been found in Quest firmware.

Firmware dataminers Luna and Samulia discovered a "hilariously" low resolution depiction of the headset from the rear side (see above), as well as a silhouette of the frontbox from behind. The pair were also able to activate and run the eye tracking calibration setup on a Quest Pro.

While the resolution is indeed comically low, it still clearly depicts a compact headset with glasses-style nose pads instead of a classic VR-style face pad. Discovered strings also reference adjusting the nose pads for comfort. What we don't see is the back of the device, so it's not yet clear whether it has glasses-like arms or a cradle for the back of your head.

Before this, the only real indication we had as to what Phoenix might look like came from The Information's 2024 report that first revealed the existence of the device, then called Puffin, where it was described as "a bulky pair of glasses" that weighs less than 110 grams with a tethered compute puck running Horizon OS, the operating system of Quest headsets.

That 2024 report also described the headset as having eye tracking, in order to copy the gaze-and-pinch input system of Apple Vision Pro.

Luna's past and current datamining corroborates this. Last year they found references to automatic IPD adjustment and iris unlock, features both driven by eye tracking.

Separately, XR influencer Brad Lynch claimed that one of the candidates for the headset uses 0.9-inch micro-OLED displays, slightly smaller than those used in Bigscreen Beyond headsets. Without knowing the pixel density, this doesn't tell us the resolution. But it does let us know that this candidate could offer OLED's signature infinite contrast, true black, and punchy colors. UploadVR has previously reported that Meta has explored multiple display system approaches at differing price points.

Meta Delays Ultralight Headset, Starts Work On Gaming-Focused Quest 4

Meta is delaying its ultralight headset with a tethered puck to the first half of 2027, and, separately, starting work on a gaming-focused Quest 4, leaked memos reveal.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Leaked internal Meta memos from December revealed that the company is targeting the first half of 2027 for a launch of Phoenix.

Phoenix will be strongly focused on virtual screens for productivity and entertainment, and other seated mixed reality and VR use cases. Names that Meta has internally floated for the product have included "Quest Air", but it's far from certain what it will decide. It's also unclear whether it will even be marketed as a "headset" – it may instead be sold as "mixed reality glasses".

Keep in mind that Meta's hardware roadmap is constantly shifting, and the company frequently spins up and cancels devices before they ship. When a specific product gets close to shipping, we'll bring you any reliable rumors of its imminent arrival. Until then, be ready for anything planned to get canceled or delayed.

The Amusement shows a lot of potential as a narrative puzzler, but its implementation of roomscale movement may push players away early in the demo.

Roomscale VR games are becoming a rarity these days as the realities of limited play spaces and VR 'epic fail' videos may have softened developer interest in these types of experiences. That hasn't stopped recent efforts like Hotel Infinity, Laser Dance, and Eye of the Temple from offering up terrific gameplay. When done right, a roomscale game is some of the most immersive time spent in VR.

Enter The Amusement, a narrative adventure with environmental puzzles and the promise of a poignant family story. The Amusement utilizes roomscale movement with an optional teleportation system. It starts out well enough in a confined room with items to pick up, observe, and add to inventory. Then it quickly proceeds to the bulk of the demo, a zig-zag of a garden maze with thin paths that were painful to navigate with the movement system as currently designed.

I played The Amusement demo twice. First, in a limited play space with teleportation, a cumbersome exercise limited by a snap-only turning system without an option to change the size of the turn angle. This was not ideal by any stretch and made the garden maze section quite annoying to play through. I don't recommend it.

Then, I rearranged my room to get a completely open space and the maze still feels too constricted. Unlike the aforementioned Laser Dance & Eye of the Temple where you are constantly ducking, dodging, and otherwise navigating obstacles, in The Amusement I just walked a few steps, turned, walked a few more, wash, rinse, repeat until you reach a tube with a wheel to rotate into another part of the maze. If you accidentally walk into an object, the screen simply blacks out, telling you to reposition.

It is immersive. It's just not interesting and fails to capitalize on being roomscale in the same way the aforementioned games do. I hope that in the full release, there will be more open areas with environmental pieces to interact with that really take advantage of the 1:1 movement. The maze is roughly half of the demo's runtime, so in this short sample size, it sticks out more than it likely will in the full release.

It's a real shame too because the simple process of walking through the world is the only real flaw in an otherwise strong demo. The lead character, Samantha, has been sent by her mother to investigate her late father's amusement park. The story is delivered through a combination of cardboard cutout animations, shadows cast against the walls of the world, and voiceovers all befitting the cinematics of the 1920s, the setting for the game. This very effectively evokes the sense that Samantha is reliving her complex childhood memories as the story moves along.

The puzzles themselves make great use of VR. Navigating the garden maze to find an item that could be used as a makeshift ladder rung and using a yo-yo of all things to move between rooms is very creative and rewards thinking outside the box.

The more I played, the more I was reminded of both Eye of the Temple and The 7th Guest VR. The Amusement combines the physical movement (climbing and navigating) of the former with the environmental, sometimes tabletop-based puzzle solving of the latter.

Despite the roomscale movement not really adding anything to the experience, The Amusement demo is still well worth playing. If you enjoy story-based puzzle games and have been waiting for a new one after last year's stellar Ghost Town, this is one to watch.

The Amusement can be wishlisted now on Steam and Meta Quest and is slated for a Spring 2026 release.

It's time to update your AIDA install, or think about grabbing a copy if you like to know exactly what's going on in your system and have the ability to post detailed…

The Mchose V9 Turbo enters the highly competitive £100 wireless gaming headset market with some bold hardware features. Boasting a clever magnetic charging dock, seamless 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, and a battery that refuses to die, it looks like a fantastic all-in-one package on paper. But can it deliver a balanced experience, or will it compromise where it matters most?

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:59 Build Quality, Materials and Controls
02:07 Weight and Shape
02:42 Charging on the Dock
03:07 Battery Life
04:13 Dock and RGB
04:38 The App and files
05:40 Firmware update for English
06:06 Virtual Surround
06:59 AI Noise reduction
08:19 Equaliser settings and audio
10:05 Gamer 1 Profile and tweaks
11:41 Gaming Audio Experience
13:38 Carlos' closing thoughts

Specifications:

• Driver Type & Size: 60mm Composite Diaphragm Driver.
• Connection Modes: Wireless 2.4GHz / BT Wireless / Wireless Type-C / Wired.
• Battery: 2000mAh.
• Weight: Approx. 320g (excluding microphone) 330g (with microphone)
• Charging Base: RGB Magnetic Charging Base Station.
• Ear Cushions: Ice-Cooling Protein Leather (Replacement fabric ear cups included).
• Microphone: Detachable AI Noise-Canceling Microphone with 360° Voice Pickup.
• Software & Features: MCHOSE M HUB (7.1 Virtual Surround Sound, Custom EQ Modes, Battery Display).
• Compatible Platforms: PC / Laptop / PS5 / PS4 / Switch / Mobile / Tablet.

Closing Thoughts

The Mchose V9 Turbo is a headset that gets the physical hardware incredibly right, but stumbles on the execution of what makes a headphone great. On the positive side, the magnetic charging dock is brilliant – simply dropping the headphones into place via the volume knob cutout is effortless. Comfort is great, especially when using the included fabric pads, and the battery life is pretty solid.

There is definitely a software bug that makes the battery report a solid 100% life remaining even after 75 hours of active use, but with the convenient charging station I see no use-case where battery will be a concern. The 2.4GHz wireless latency is also spot-on for gaming which is always a must for any wireless headsets.

Unfortunately, the audio experience lets it down. The sound profile feels small, thin, and shouty, severely lacking in low-end energy and sporting recessed mid-frequencies. It is a fatiguing listen for both music and gaming. Even with tools like Equalizer APO, you are fighting against the built-in DSP, making it hard to find an enjoyable tuning, let alone if you just stick with the built-in equalizer on the Mchose app.

The microphone is equally only OK, delivering a muffled, highly compressed sound that easily picks up keyboard noise, requiring noise reduction that further makes it muffled and compressed.

I also spotted some software quirks that could be easily addressed, such as stealthy background processes even when closed, a max 45-minute auto-power-off timer that given the convenient dock setup could have offered a off setting, and a blinding green LED on the dongle.

For £100, I would personally prefer moving to a £20-30 set of IEMs and an external USB microphone on a boom arm, but if you need flawless wireless and are ok with compromising on sound quality, these are worth considering.

You can buy the Mchose V9 Turbo for around £100 HERE.

Pros:

• Brilliant magnetic charging dock makes top-ups effortless.
• Strong battery life that lasts for weeks.
• Excellent 2.4GHz wireless performance with consistently low latency.
• Comfortable fit, especially with the included fabric earpads.

Cons:

• Audio is thin and a little fatiguing thanks to poor mid/low-end energy.
• Muffled, highly compressed microphone with unimpressive clarity.
• Some annoying software quirks (always on bright green dongle LED, background running processes, battery percentage reporting is broken).

KitGuru says: The Mchose V9 Turbo nails the wireless experience, but it is ultimately let down by fatiguing audio and an only OK microphone.

Back in 2022, former Forza Horizon developers started up a new independent studio with the goal of creating a new open-world driving game. This new game was set to be published by Amazon Games but a recent shake-up of Amazon's game development and publishing business has now led to the deal being scrapped.

Amazon Games has withdrawn from its publishing agreement with Maverick Games. The decision leaves Maverick’s debut project, a narrative‑led open‑world driving game for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, without a publisher.

In its statement on the move, an Amazon spokesperson told The Game Business:

“As part of our strategic evolution to focus on projects that leverage Amazon’s unique strengths and scale, including the recent re-launch of Luna and our Tomb Raider franchise partnership with Crystal Dynamics, we have decided to release Maverick Games from their publishing agreement with Amazon Game Studios. We have tremendous respect for the Maverick Games team and the compelling narrative-led driving experience they’re creating. This decision allows Maverick Games the flexibility to find a publishing partner whose strategic priorities are better aligned with bringing their game to market.”

Maverick Games has already confirmed plans to continue working on the game and it will be searching for a new publishing partner. At this point, the game should be quite far along, so it could feasibly be ready for a 2027 release window.

The move comes during a period of significant contraction for Amazon’s gaming ambitions. Over the past year, the company has cut most of its MMO development staff, including teams behind New World: Aeternum and an untitled Lord of the Rings MMO. Amazon has also shut down the recently released co‑op title King of Meat and sold the unreleased MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft.

While Amazon has scaled back its gaming operations quite significantly, Amazon does still have some key publishing projects coming up, including two new Tomb Raider games from Crystal Dynamics.

KitGuru Says: With so many gaming companies making cuts in recent years, this does not feel like a good time to be in search of funding.

It has been quite a while since Slay the Spire 2 was first announced but the wait is finally coming to an end. The game will begin its Early Access development phase soon, with an early version of the game becoming available on Steam next week.

Mega Crit has confirmed that Slay the Spire 2 will launch into Early Access on Steam on March 5th, accompanied by a new animated trailer highlighting the sequel's expanded scope and newly added four‑player online co‑op.

The original Slay the Spire became a widely loved indie hit thanks to its fusion of roguelike progression and deck-building mechanics, with each run through the game offering something fresh. Slay the Spire 2 builds on that foundation with a substantial list of additions, including new cards, characters, relics, potions, events, enemies, and alternate acts designed to keep you coming back for another run.

We do not yet know how long Slay the Spire 2 will remain in Early Access for, but we expect to see a number of feedback-driven content updates in the year ahead.

KitGuru Says: Slay the Spire 2 has been one of my most anticipated indie games for a while now. Are you planning on picking it up during Early Access?

While sentiment surrounding PlayStation right now is far from its peak, thanks in part to the recent closure of BluePoint Games Studio, the console maker is continuing on with its live-service efforts. Alongside the upcoming Marathon playtest, Sony has now confirmed that the recently-announced Horizon Hunters Gathering is getting its first closed playtest this weekend.

Making the announcement via the game’s Steam page, the team at Guerrilla Games confirmed that the first closed playtest for their upcoming live-service project ‘Horizon Hunters Gathering’ is set to go live this weekend.

Available to those who are signed up to PlayStation’s beta program, the playtest will kick off on the 27th of February and will conclude on the 1st of March. Unfortunately, this first session is limited to those in North America and Europe – though both PS5 and Steam users can get in on the action at the very least.

Of course, the playtest will feature just a slice of the full experience, with Guerrilla confirming the following will be present and playable:

• Three characters to choose from
  • Axle
  • Rem
  • Sun
• Two game modes
  • Machine Incursion (Normal / Hard)
  • Cauldron Descent (Normal)
• 1 region to explore (Colorado Springs)
• Access to the ‘Gathering’ (social hub)

As mentioned, those interested in checking out the game ahead of time will need to sign up to PlayStation’s beta program. While this won’t guarantee you access, make sure to check out your emails over the coming days in case you are selected to join.

Considering the fact that Sony’s track record when it comes to live-service titles has been a bit spotty, it is encouraging to see that the console maker is hosting multiple playtests in order to ensure the final product is one which players actually want to engage with and return to on a regular basis. It will be interesting to see what fans think of Hunters Gathering when it goes live this weekend.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Horizon Hunters Gathering? Are you planning to sign up? Let us know down below.

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With Blizzard seemingly successfully reviving the Overwatch franchise in the wake of its recent overhaul, the team looks set to expand the IP out into new mediums. While the mainline Overwatch remains a console/PC only experience, a brand new mobile-exclusive spin-off has now been announced in the form of the top-down 4v4 shooter Overwatch Rush.

Taking to their blog to make the announcement, the team at Blizzard officially unveiled their latest project, writing: “Today, we’re introducing Overwatch Rush, a new top-down Hero shooter designed specifically for mobile set in the Overwatch universe.”

Being developed internally at Blizzard (though by a new team separate from the mainline Overwatch devs), Rush is described as “an entirely new game – not a port – built specifically for mobile players”. This is quite evident from the early development footage shared, showing a game which is clearly Overwatch but operates in an entirely new top-down / isometric perspective.

As of now, very few additional details have been shared, with the team confirming that “there remains a lot of work to do”. Those interested in following Overwatch Rush’s progress directly can do so via the game’s Discord server.

Bringing live-service titles to mobile is always an interesting endeavour, with some trying to port the game as is, while others go for a more dedicated mobile-first experience. Both methods have had their successes and failures, and so it will be interesting to see what becomes of Overwatch Rush once it eventually launches on mobile.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? Should Rush share progress with the main game? Would you have preferred a more direct port of Overwatch instead? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Boomer Shooters have seen a notable surge in recent years, with players finding comfort in titles which offer satisfying gameplay loops, engaging combat and interesting visuals – focusing on the dopamine hits associated with turning your enemies into giblets. Available now for the next two weeks, the Boomer Shooter Blueprint bundle features a bunch of fun and fast-paced experiences, including but not limited to Mullet Madjack, I Am Your Beast and Selaco.

Put together by ‘Kirk Collects’ and the curation site Digiphile, the ‘Boomer Shooter Blueprint’ bundle is available to purchase from now until the 11th of March. Costing $17, fans of the genre will have plenty to get stuck into no matter your preferred visual aesthetics – with 7 titles in total being offered:

• Selaco
• I Am Your Beast
• Mullet Madjack
• Beyond Citadel
• Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun
• Incision
• CULTIC Chapter One

I Am Your Beast is a level-based boomer shooter which puts emphasis on speed and accuracy, giving you limited weapons and ammo initially in a Hotline Miami-styled gameplay loop of try, die and try again. Featuring a surprisingly emotional narrative, I Am Your Beast is certainly worth giving a go.

Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun on the other hand is another entry in the ever-expanding Warhammer universe. Featuring an early-90s visual set-up blended with Warhammer iconography, Boltgun is worth checking out regardless of your opinion on the IP.

Beyond Citadel meanwhile offers a blend of OG DOOM and classic anime, while upping the gameplay to line-up closer with more modern titles.

Another anime-inspired entry is Mullet Madjack: “a HIGH-OCTANE-ACTION SHOOTER” featuring a cel-shaded aesthetic and vibrant visuals, with an emphasis on completing levels as quickly and efficiently as possible. Full details on all of the included titles can be found HERE.

As with most bundles, a portion of the money will go towards charity, with the Boomer Shooter Blueprint bundle supporting ‘Whale and Dolphin Conservation’ – “the leading charity dedicated to the protection of whales and dolphins.”

KitGuru says: What do you think of this bundle? Will you be picking it up? What’s your favourite modern boomer shooter? Let us know down below.

Xbox recently underwent a massive shake-up, confirming the retirement of long-time head Phil Spencer alongside the announcement that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be stepping down from her role. In the wake of this, Xbox’s new CEO (Asha Sharma) and COO Matt Booty sat down to discuss these latest events and what’s next for the brand.

Taking part in an interview conducted by Windows Central’s Jez Corden, the new heads of Xbox Asha Sharma and Matt Booty spoke on their roles within the company. The interview itself is rather lengthy and covers all manner of topics ranging from the notion of ‘return to Xbox’, AI and more.

In discussing Xbox’s new strategy following these latest shake-ups, Sharma offered a bit of a contrasting take, stating that “the plan's the plan until it's not the plan” (a strategy which does not seem too different to what they were operating under previously).

Given Sharma’s ties to AI in previous roles, the new CEO was also asked about the controversial technology and its place within Xbox. According to Sharma: “I think that with any new technology, it brings possibilities as a tool, but even more important, especially now — we need to draw lines on what we won't do. That's what I attempted to do when I shared my opening letter. I will not flood our ecosystem with slop. We won't have careless output, we won't have derivative work. I deeply believe in the words that I shared previously there.”

This statement is particularly interesting as Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella wrote back in January that “we need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs sophistication”. Of course, Nadella’s statement was met with a ton of backlash, and so it’s possible that Sharma’s comment was made with that in mind.

Of course, talk is cheap and so we will have to wait and see whether Sharma and Booty put their money where their mouths are. Regardless, 2026 is set to be an interesting time for Xbox. The full interview can be found HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of these new appointees? Can they right the Xbox ship? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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