While the delay for Grand Theft Auto VI has undoubtedly disappointed many, this presents another opportunity for fans to play the now 12-year old GTA V for the umpteenth time. Fortunately, for those in such a situation, Sony is set to add GTA V to its PlayStation Plus Extra library for the 3rd time in two years.
Given this, it is highly likely that you’ll have around 6 months to enjoy the current-gen version of GTA V and Online before it is taken away once again.
While there is an understanding that game subscription services add and remove titles on a regular basis, it is far less common to see a game removed, brought back; taken away and then added again. That said, it is GTA V and so Rockstar will likely always make its inclusion a limited-time affair.
KitGuru says: Will you be hopping back into GTA V now that the sequel has been delayed? How many times have you completed the main story at this point? Let us know down below.
Dragon Ball is undeniably one of the most popular anime/manga franchises of all time, with the series having a long and successful library of video games released over the past many decades. One of the franchise’s most anticipated games in recent years was Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero – a successor to the much-loved Budokai series. Following strong initial sales, the game has continued to perform well for Bandai Namco.
As part of Bandai Namco’s most recent financial report, the publisher revealed that Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero had sold 5.4 million copies as of the 31st of March 2025 – roughly 5 and a half months following its launch in early October 2024.
As such, while it is unlikely that Sparking! Zero has hit any major sales milestones since the 31st of March, it will be interesting to see how the game performs in the wake of its Nintendo Switch launch in just a few days’ time.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Sparking! Zero one year on? Is it the Budokai successor you were hoping for? Could the game reach 10 million sales given enough time, as many other Dragon Ball games have managed? Let us know your thoughts down below.
Black Friday has come early at a lot of of places here in the UK. Today, PCSpecialist unveiled its round of deals for the rest of the month, discounting three pre-built gaming PCs and a custom gaming laptop, with options for Intel or AMD based systems, as well as GeForce RTX or Radeon graphics cards.
The Vortex is built around AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor and paired with an ASUS PRIME B850 motherboard. It comes with 32GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 running at 6000MHz, an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, and a 2TB Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD. Originally priced at £2,098, it’s discounted to £1,799.
The Fusion also uses an ASUS PRSIME B850 board but swaps in the Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU. It has the same 32GB of Corsair DDR5 memory, but graphics are handled by AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT. Storage is again a 2TB Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD. Its price drops from £1,882 to £1,599.
The Ignite is an Intel-based option, powered by the Core i7-12700F and an ASUS PRIME B760 motherboard. It includes 32GB of PCS PRO DDR5 memory, an NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU, and a 1TB Crucial P310 Gen 4 SSD. The system is reduced from £1,123 to £999.
Finally, the Ionico Ultra is a laptop with a 16-inch matte QHD+ 180Hz display. It runs on Intel’s Core Ultra 9 275HX, with 32GB of Crucial DDR5 memory, an NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU, and a 1TB Crucial P310 SSD. Its price is cut from £1,503 to £1,399.
Each PCSpecialist system also comes with a 1-month subscription to PC Game Pass, granting access to a library of hundreds of games through the Xbox PC app. This also includes day-one titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, so you'll be able to get right into a number of games as soon as your system arrives.
You can find all of the PCSpecialist Black Friday deals, HERE.
KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up anything new during the Black Friday deals this month?
Ever since the arrival of Demon’s Souls, FromSoftware have gone from strength-to-strength, with each new release seemingly not only being better than the last (with few exceptions) but seeing an ever-increasing rise in popularity – culminating with the juggernaut that was Elden Ring. Even so, the original Dark Souls Trilogy has continued to find new fans, with the series having now surpassed 40 million copies sold.
As part of Bandai Namco’s latest fiscal report, the publisher revealed updated sales stats for many of its most popular franchises. Alongside confirmation that their Tekken franchise had passed 60 million total sales, Bandai confirmed (as reported by Tech4Gamers) that the Dark Souls Trilogy has reached a total of 39.71 million copies sold as of the end of March 2025.
Given that the Souls series has been self-published by FromSoftware in Japan (with Bandai handling the rest of the world), the trilogy has in total easily surpassed the 40 million mark.
Of course, Elden Ring would not have been nearly as successful had it not been for the ever-growing rise of the Dark Souls series (as well as Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne) putting FromSoftware on the map. It will be interesting to see if FromSoft ever returns to the Dark Souls series in particular – or whether 2016’s DS3 marked the definitive conclusion to this beloved franchise.
KitGuru says: When did you get into FromSoftware games? What’s your favourite Dark Souls entry in the trilogy? What about your least favourite? Let us know down below.
Black Friday deals continue to roll in well ahead of the actual day. This week, CyberPowerPC has rolled out its own deals, available over the next few weeks, offering up gaming PCs based around RTX 5060, RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards, as well as discounts on several popular laptop models.
The CyberPowerPC Ultra 85 Black Friday Gaming PC comes in at £799, offering up an RTX 5060 graphics card, paired with an AMD Ryzen 5 8400F processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD. A step above that is the Ultra 75 Black Friday Gaming PC, which uses a Ryzen 5 7500F instead, but bumps the graphics card up to an RTX 5070, perfect for those looking to achieve higher frame rates and move beyond 1080p.
The final desktop system on sale this month is the Ultra 87 Black Friday Gaming PC, which comes in at £1499, packing a Ryzen 7 8700F processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD and an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, making it ideal for high refresh QHD gaming, or running AAA titles at 4K.
If you need a monitor to go with your brand-new desktop, then CyberPowerPC also has discounted prices on two excellent monitors. The MSI MPG 272URX and MPG 321URXW both sport QD-OLED panels with lightning fast response times and a high 240Hz refresh rate. The key difference between them is that one is 4K at 27-inches, giving more pixel density, while the other is 4K in a larger 32-inch size. The former is now discounted to £549 while the latter is available for £698.
On the laptop side, the MSI Cyborg 15 B2RWEKG-021UK is available for £949, down from £1,099. It offers a 15.6-inch FHD 144Hz display, Intel Core 7 240H processor, RTX 5050 graphics, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD, perfect for entry-level gaming on the go. For £999, you can get the Cyborg 15 B2RWFKG-020UK, which upgrades the GPU to an RTX 5060, allowing you to achieve higher graphics settings and frame rates.
The final laptop being discounted today is the MSI Katana 15 HX B14WGK-053UK, which is now £1,329, down from £1,499. It features a 15.6-inch QHD 165Hz panel, Intel Core i7-14650HX processor, RTX 5070 graphics, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The upgrade to an RTX 5070 will allow you to make full use of the QHD display. With DLSS 4, you should be able to max out the display's refresh rate in supported titles too.
CyberPowerPC is also running a ‘win your money back' promotion, so one lucky buyer will get their PC for free. The company also has a set of peripheral bundles available too, so you can get yourself a mouse, keyboard and headset all in one package to ensure you are good to go as soon as the PC arrives.
You can find all of CyberPowerPC UK's Black Friday deals, HERE.
KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up anything during the Black Friday sales this month?
If you've ever wanted to review tech, then this is a perfect opportunity as we are now hiring for a new reviewer to join our team! Prior experience is not strictly necessary, but we would like to see some example works from applicants.
We are looking for someone who will be able to produce reviews of a range of tech gear in video format and in the KitGuru style. Any experience in this sector is beneficial, however we are open to all applicants provided you can give us a sample of your written and video work so we can assess your abilities.
KitGuru is a great company to work with, we are all tech enthusiasts who enjoy gaming, so we all have very similar interests. Behind the scenes it is very close-knit environment and many of our team have been with us for several years.
To be considered for this position you need:
Skillset to present well on camera – and in English.
The ability to meet tight deadlines.
Strong communication skills.
Some knowledge of video editing would be useful, but we have that capability in-house if we find the right candidate.
Strong writing ability.
This is a freelance position.
The successful applicant must be based in the United Kingdom, and we pay very well for this kind of work. If you are interested and feel you can meet the criteria above and want to work in this fast-moving sector then please send your CV along with any samples of your work to our Editor in Chief, Allan Campbell – allan(at)kitguru.net.
KitGuru says: We look forward to receiving your application!
Each month, Amazon offers a number of games for free to all those with a Prime Gaming (now Amazon Luna) subscription. For the month of November, members can claim a baker’s dozen worth of games, including Fallout 76; New Tales from the Borderlands; Gas Station Simulator and more.
Big Adventure: Trip to Europe 6 Collector's Edition [Legacy]
While far from the strongest of months, those wanting to beef up their GOG libraries will have plenty to look forward to. In addition, Fallout 76 is arriving just in time for the live-service game’s big ‘Burning Springs’ expansion/update arriving in early December.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this month’s offerings? Have you been trying to use GOG more? Let us know down below.
Less than a week since arriving in early access, VR FPS Forefront took #6 for top-earning games by weekly revenue on Quest.
Launched on November 6 in early access, Forefront is a 16v16 VR shooter from Triangle Factory that features semi-destructible maps where you split into four-person squads. Four days after that initial launch, it's reached #6 at the time of writing with a 4.6-star rating on the Meta Horizon Store after 490 user reviews, while Steam lists a “very positive” rating at 298 reviews.
Elsewhere in the charts, the top 10 earners this week remain a mostly familiar sight that's a mix of paid apps and free-to-play titles. UG is at #1 and now boasts the most user reviews on the Horizon Store at 172k. That now surpasses Gorilla Tag, which is currently at 164k user reviews.
Meta Horizon Store: Top-earning games this week by revenue as of November 10, 2025
Beat Saber holds #2, which we'd speculate was further boosted by the recent Spooky Scary Skeletons DLC for Halloween, and that's followed respectively by Animal Company, VRChat, and Gorilla Tag. Rounding out the top 10 in order after Forefront are Blade & Sorcery: Nomad, PokerStars - Vegas Infinite, Bonelab, and FitXR.
We'll continue monitoring these standings, and this list may evolve as the week goes on. You can find the full charts here, which cover the top 49 games and account for all forms of revenue. It's a different approach to the top 50 best-selling Quest games of all-time charts, which only factor in paid app sales without including DLC, and that recently saw Assassin's Creed Nexus join the list.
Thrasher receives its remastered edition with a visual update, flatscreen mode, and more today on Steam.
Released on Quest and Apple Vision Pro last year, Thrasher is a cosmic action racer that tasks you with controlling a space eel through obstacle-filled levels, and we previously named it our favorite Apple Vision Pro game of 2024. Following September's PC VR demo release, developer Puddle has launched it today on Steam, with a price drop to $9.99 on all platforms.
As detailed in September, Thrasher's remastered Steam release promises improved visuals compared to standalone platforms. Puddle states the new PC VR controls are more responsive too, letting you pick either controllers or hand tracking support. UX and UI changes are also included, there's an optional flatscreen mode on PC with gamepad and mouse controls, and Steam Deck compatibility at 90 FPS.
Other changes include a new Play+ mode that aims to provide a harder challenge for advanced players, while Time Trials test your speed at clearing levels with no combo bonuses. When asked by UploadVR if these modes will eventually come to Quest or Apple Vision Pro, Puddle advised it has no updates to share about other platforms at this time.
The Steam release also follows Puddle releasing Thrasher's remastered version as a launch title for Samsung Galaxy XR, joining the list of Android XR games currently available. Much like the Steam edition, this also runs at 90 fps on Samsung's headset with the new modes and support for both hand tracking and controllers.
This article was updated shortly after publication with a response from Puddle and following the official launch of a Samsung Galaxy XR port. It was updated again when the Steam release launched.
Constellations: Touch the Stars lets you scan the night sky with a connect the dots experience.
It's the latest experience from developer Grant Hinkson via Parietal Lab, who previously released Connectome earlier this year using the same “connect the dots” engine. Constellations: Touch the Stars includes all 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), letting you trace and connect each constellation until the pattern is complete.
It's been designed using a “hands-first” philosophy with hand tracking support, using a thumb tap motion to bring constellations forward. The sky is positioned based on the user’s location to determine which constellations you see, and Constellations: Touch the Stars comes with fully immersive environments in early access.
Further updates are planned following the initial launch, such as a mixed reality stargazing mode that sees stars overlaid against their real positions. This pulls up constellation names and data using the immersive view's overlay. Other promised features are a 'lie-back' mode for looking up at the stars while lying down, social stargazing with friends, and creating your own constellation patterns.
Constellations will launch in early access on Meta Quest 3/3S, arriving in the first half of December. Pre-early access builds are also available by joining the official Discord server.
Retro-futuristic puzzler UnLoop reaches PC VR in early access next week.
Published by CM Games (Into the Radius) and developed by Superposition NULL, UnLoop is a sci-fi puzzle game built around self-cooperation and time manipulation that's reminiscent of We Are One. Set on a remote space station called the Temporal Research Hub, you create copies of yourself each loop and replay your past actions in real time as you retrieve data.
Following its full release on Quest and Pico, CM Games has chosen early access on Steam to gather feedback about “optimization, player experience, graphics, and to address possible PCVR-related feature requests.” It still contains content parity with the standalone edition, and a Version 1.1 update is planned this December that promises new puzzles and a story continuation.
On the hardware side, UnLoop on Steam will initially support using Quest, Pico, and Valve Index headsets. A Steam FAQ confirms the developer will explore compatibility with additional headsets and controllers depending on community feedback, and PC VR visual improvements are also planned.
We had positive impressions in our UnLoop hands-on back in September, considering it a “clever self-co-op experience” held back by a “few rough edges.”
UnLoop looks to be a promising head-scratcher for players who love time-looping puzzles and self-orchestrated hijinks. Its core concept is compelling and clever, but a few rough edges keep it from being a standout recommendation just yet. With a bit of polish and hopefully some patches, this could be one to loop back to.
Homeworld: Vast Reaches brings the real-time strategy game to SteamVR with upgraded visuals.
Developed by FarBridge, Homeworld: Vast Reaches takes place between the events of Homeworld 1 and Homeworld 2, setting adventurous astronauts on a fresh journey within the series’ universe. You play as Tyrra Soban, a new Fleet Commander, guided by Karan S’jet as they tackle an unknown evil. Originally launched on Quest last year, it's out today on Steam after originally targeting an October 23 launch.
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Traditionally a flatscreen series, Homeworld: Vast Reaches adapts the controls for VR, allowing players to immerse themselves in their space war strategies up close and from 'any angle.' Using a virtual command module located on your wrist, clever tacticians can create ships and direct formations in your search for victory.
In addition to visual improvements, the SteamVR version introduces new Challenge Levels designed to test experienced players. Those levels are also available on Quest with a new free update.
“When we launched on Meta Quest initially, some core strategy players reported they had mastered the gameplay in Vast Reaches and wanted harder missions, so we built three new Challenge Levels for this new version with them in mind,” said FarBridge Creative Director Richard Rouse. “Get ready!”
In our previous impressions on Quest, we felt Homeworld: Vast Reaches maintained the strategic depth and storytelling chops of its predecessors.
“This new adventure successfully translates the complex, strategic gameplay of the Homeworld series, all while bringing the franchise into a new and immersive medium, making Vast Reaches a standout title in the VR RTS genre and one that we feel is a must-play for both fans of the long-running series and newcomers to VR and MR gaming.”
Homeworld: Vast Reaches is out now on Steam and Quest.
RUSH: Apex Edition brings the 2017 wingsuit racer back today on PlayStation VR2, read on for our full impressions.
The Binary Mill has been going all in on PlayStation VR2 this last year, delivering high quality ports for Into Black and Resist while taking full advantage of PS5 Pro enhancements. More than eight years since RUSH first appeared on Gear VR, later followed by subsequent ports and updates, it's now returned with some welcome changes, like expanding online multiplayer to support 12 players.
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RUSH: Apex Edition adds some appreciated visual upgrades like revamped lighting and textures, and it looks great in motion. Subtle touches like your mask showing frost in the corners as you glide through this icy mountain are rather nice, though I do wish the landings were smoother as you reach the end. Performance feels great at a native 120fps on PS5 Pro, while the base PS5 supports 90fps.
Four solo modes are included alongside online multiplayer. Standard 'Races' against the AI earn medals for a top three finish, and those convert into points, unlocking more courses and wingsuit customization options. 'Time Attack' involves beating your own scores, 'Score Challenge' adds an interesting twist where gliding through a specific part of a checkpoint ring gets a better score. Finally, 'Free flight' mode lets you explore without any course restrictions.
Races are RUSH's biggest draw. Visually diverse environments set the scene well and each hosts dozens of courses that follow different paths, though said courses begin feeling very similar after a while. Even still, there's an initial rush (no pun intended) as you descend, gliding your way across these courses in hopes of being first. Failing to reach a checkpoint adds a five second penalty, forcing you to follow a specific path to have any chance of winning.
The initial platform jump uses gaze tracking to determine you're looking forward, asking you to hold this for three seconds before the race begins. That's tracked by a pointer and while you can swap to a less noticeable one, not using eye tracking for this feels like a missed opportunity. It's moments like this that show the game's aging foundations, something that also applies to the control scheme.
Screenshot captured by UploadVR on PlayStation VR2
Gliding through and steering involve lifting your arms up to different positions. Raise both at once to ascend, down to descend, or alternate your hand movements here for going left and right. A functional but basic approach that leaves you holding your arms out, though it's a better choice than using analog sticks. For greater immersion, putting a fan on feels great as the cold “wind” hits you while racing.
You can build up speed boosts in two ways: either reaching checkpoints or gliding close to a wall and the ground, and I enjoy how RUSH: Apex Edition rewards risk takers with the latter. It's a critical balancing act as those boosts can be the difference between 1st and 2nd, but a single collision is all it takes to end your run. Boosting also benefits from adaptive trigger support on PlayStation VR2.
Descending through these courses remains satisfying, though that feeling becomes fleeting in longer stints. I'm having plenty of fun messing around in the lobbies where you can shoot some hoops, or shoot other players with dart guns; I'm just not compelled to stick it out much longer with the main game.
Given that PlayStation VR2 lacks backward compatibility with the original PlayStation VR, I'm pleased more games are getting a second life, though RUSH's aging gameplay makes it a harder recommendation in 2025. Still, Apex Edition is a great remaster effort from The Binary Mill that's the best way to play.
Forefront, a 32-player VR FPS from the Breachers studio, is out now in early access on Quest, Steam, and Pico.
Developed by Triangle Factory, Forefront is a 16v16 VR shooter with expansive, semi-destructible maps where each team splits into four-person squads. Featuring four playable classes, four maps, a friends system, alongside customization and attachments for weapons, it's now entered early access on all three platforms with cross-platform multiplayer support.
Forefront takes place in a near-future setting of 2035, where an energy corporation called O.R.E. has gone to war with local governments over control of a rare mineral. Battles feature over 20 types of weapons and 10 vehicles covering land, air, and sea, while you can choose between four classes with their own unique weapons and gadgets: Assault, Engineer, Medic, or Sniper.
Detailing its release plans in a Steam FAQ, Triangle Factory states that Forefront will approximately remain in Early Access for "8-12 months." Planned additions for the full release include more maps, vehicles, and gadgets, joined by class perks, performance improvements. Updated PC VR graphics are also mentioned, and the studio plans to "gradually raise the price" as new content gets introduced.
Forefront's current roadmap
Forefront is out now in early access on Quest, Steam, and Pico. We'll be bringing you our full early access impressions as soon as we can.
Elements Divided, the Avatar-inspired multiplayer action game, is leaving Early Access today on Quest.
Developed by Loco Motion Devs and published by Fast Travel Games (Mannequin), Elements Divided is a PvP brawler for up to eight people that allows battle-hungry players the opportunity to wield the powers of fire, water, earth, and air. After debuting in April this year, the multiplayer action game was already in full release on Steam, and it's now leaving Early Access on Quest.
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During our hands-on with the Early Access build, we believed that Elements Divided is a great addition to the VR brawler genre, going on to say, “The matches are fast enough to just hop in for some quick rounds whenever else you have spare time, and frenetic enough that you'll work up a bit of a sweat doing so.”
Today's update also introduces sub-elements to combat. Loco Motion Devs is currently working on further free content updates that include more sub-elements, four new maps, and cosmetics, as well as a specific Winter Map update. While there aren't any exact dates specified for these additions, Fast Travel Games confirmed they will arrive between 'now and until January 2026.'
Elements Divided is available on Quest and Steam for $9.99, the former of which offers a free 30-minute trial.
Little Critters does many things right. It minds the little details. The game is frenetic, accessible, and fun. And it just works, in the way Steve Jobs famously described the magic of early iPhone devices. But better than a casual iPhone time-killer for the subway… this “tower defense” game brings the tower home.
What if the tower in “tower defense” is your living room?
In 2025, tower defense games often use more established formulas than wider innovations.
Little Critters’ core innovation is its point of view: you're not an omniscient invisible presence up above; you’re on the ground next to the tower. Enemies don’t attack from just 360 degrees - you’ll need to prepare fully spherical defense coverage as hordes crawl from below and swoop from up high.
It deftly leverages VR tech and industry best practices. The slingshot is a delight: aim via the relative position of your two controllers, pull & release via the grip button, then pile on the chaos of the horde. You’ve got a weapon that’s exactly as accurate as necessary - more accurate (or less!) and mowing down critters simply wouldn’t be as fun. Spatial audio works perfectly to cue me to turn around to my blind spot and catch up on the spawn point I’ve been neglecting; no HUD needed.
Mostly it’s just a thrill to watch these monsters emerge from the wall and hop on my couch before jumping down to the floor. (Of course… moments before I splatter them!)
Perfect Little Details
Your robo-companion doesn’t just dance when you start a wave…
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… they do the wave.
Even staring straight at it, you might not make the connection, or you might shrug it off as a cheesy pun. As a critic, the signal here is quite loud: Developer Purple Yonder could put anything here, or nothing, and it chose to put something perfect. This inconsequential but briefly visible detail telegraphs the countless other truly invisible details where the team applied critical decision-making and taste.
When collecting slimeballs, the in-game currency, nearly every toss to your bank is a swish as long as there’s nothing physically obstructing your path.
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This detail is likewise subtle, but there’s real gameplay impact: In later levels, as the difficulty ramps up, you’ll need to buff up your defense forces mid-wave. Few things would be as frustrating as losing a run because your slimeball missed the hoop. Or losing because you need to periodically abandon your tower to literally dunk the slimeball because soft tosses from any greater distance are too unreliable.
One final little detail that’s even more abstract: Little Critters doesn’t really have a main menu or “home” landing scene. Many games drop you at a menu where you can select between “start” and “options,” or might bog you down with the preamble. Little Critters is remarkable in how hastily it gets you to your first wave of foes.
These details add up: This is the kind of game you could drop a Quest first-timer into, offering the kind of title that a more experienced gamer will likely relish too.
Scaling the Tower
Your weapons level up as you progress. While I wish I could choose where to apply my upgrades, Little Critters choosing for me encourages me to overcome waves using the whole weapons suite instead of winnowing down to (and more rapidly growing bored with) my early favorites.
I have mixed feelings about weapon effectiveness and combos: wall weapons seem best to place near the horde’s spawn points, but wherever you place them gets rendered useless as soon as said spawn points relocate. To boot, from the natural limitations of mixed reality gaming, wall weapons can be the most frustrating to reattach to a new area in a hurry.
For the floor weapons, it’s hard to tell whether, say, the bubble gun or the pie launcher provides more effective ground defense; perhaps they work best in tandem. The bubble gun slows them down and your pie launcher knocks them out, or perhaps the difference is mostly aesthetic.
My only lament is that I’ve unlocked the second “realm” available, which brings with it a new cohort of baddies… but the “realm” itself is still my living room. That’s more than a word choice nit: Games gain depth by transporting you to new locales; Mythic Realms does it well enough, but this is difficult for any game operating on the MR pretense of being in your own room.
In hindsight, if I'm really motivated to seek a new “realm,” I could physically relocate from my living room to my kitchen, where I’d navigate the fridge and countertop instead of the couch and coffee table.
While a more sophisticated game might offer stat bars and DPS calculations, what makes Little Critters a rush is dialing that part of your brain down and pelting numerous ogres with pies or tomatoes. It's a worthy addition to your library following Purple Yonder's work on Little Cities, and it's out now on Quest 3/3S.
The Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition 2025 will award new Quest apps and "significant" updates a total of $1.5 million in 32 prizes of up to $100,000.
Meta Horizon Start, originally called Oculus Start years ago, is a program run by Meta that gives VR/MR developers direct access to Meta developer relations staff as well as a community Discord and "exclusive Meta events, advanced technical education, community mentorship, software credits, go-to-market guidance, and more".
Now, Meta is running a competition for Horizon Start Program developers to build or significantly update Quest apps across entertainment, "lifestyle", and gaming. Here's the list of the main awards and prizes:
Best Entertainment Experience: "An experience that makes consuming or watching content more immersive, interactive, and innovative than traditional formats."
$100,000 winner
$60,000 runner-up
$30,000 honorable mention
Best Lifestyle Experience: "An experience that enhances peoples’ daily lives, how they get things done, learn new skills, or connect with others around shared interests."
$100,000 winner
$60,000 runner-up
$30,000 honorable mention
Best Social Game: "A game that connects people in real time to play together online or in a colocated space."
$100,000 winner
$60,000 runner-up
$30,000 honorable mention
Best Casual Game: "A game that is accessible, single-player, and designed for quick, engaging fun."
$100,000 winner
$60,000 runner-up
$30,000 honorable mention
Judge’s Choice: "This award is given to experiences that push the boundaries of what’s possible and have created something truly unique and innovative."
$30,000 each for 6 winners
Additionally, there are eight "special awards" for implementing specific features or using specific SDKs and toolkits:
Best Implementation of Hand Interactions
$50,000 each for 3 winners
Best Use of Passthrough Camera Access with AI
$50,000 each for 3 winners
Best Immersive Experience Built with Spatial SDK
$50,000 each for 2 winners
Best Immersive Experience Built with Immersive Web SDK
$30,000 each for 2 winners
Best Android App Leveraging Features Unique to Meta Quest
$25,000 winner
Best Android Utility App
$25,000 winner
Best Android App for Travel Mode
$25,000 winner
Best Experience Built with React Native
$25,000 winner
Entries can be entirely new projects or "significant" updates for an existing Quest app, with Meta citing adding hand tracking support, mixed reality, or multiplayer as examples of "significant". Essentially, for an update to enter it will need to bring a new modality.
The new competition comes late in a year where Meta has awarded the creators of smartphone-focused Horizon Worlds a total of $3.5 million across three competitions, and may allay some concerns that the company is only focused on Horizon Worlds with no further interest in apps.
The deadline for submitting a project for consideration is December 9, and interested developers can enter the competition at this URL. If you're not already a Meta Horizon Start member, you'll need to apply first.
Cambridge and Meta researchers conducted a study confirming that "retinal" resolution is far higher than the 60 pixels per degree figure often cited.
While you'll usually see only the panel resolution of a headset mentioned on its spec sheet, what really matters is its angular resolution, or how many pixels occupy each degree of the field of view: the pixels per degree (PPD). For an extreme example, if two headsets used the exact same panels but one had a field of view twice as wide, it would have half the angular resolution.
Since Oculus widely demoed the DK1 over a decade ago, we've seen the angular resolution of affordable headsets advance from 6 PPD, an acuity that would classify a person as legally blind, to now 25 PPD, while higher-end headsets like Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR reach around 35 PPD, and Varjo XR-4 even achieves 51 PPD in the center. But what's the limit past which the human eye can no longer discern a difference?
In the XR industry, people often say that it's "generally accepted" that the limit is 60 PPD, since in theory, on paper, it offers 20/20 vision. Meta's Butterscotch prototype from a few years ago with 56 PPD was described as "near-retinal", for example. However, there has been significant skepticism of the 60 PPD figure among AR and VR experts for a long time now.
I tried Meta's 90 PPD "beyond retinal" Tiramisu prototype earlier this year, and while the demo wasn't set up to allow dynamically adjusting the resolution, the researchers behind it told me that they have done so in the lab and could clearly see a difference between 60 and 90. But this was only anecdotal.
Now, three researchers have conducted a study with 18 participants at the University of Cambridge, experimentally confirming the idea that 60 PPD is not the limit of human perception of detail.
Of the three authors of the paper, one is a Cambridge researcher, one is from Meta's Applied Perception Science team, and the third is at both.
The experiment setup.
Their experiment placed a 27-inch 4K monitor on a 1.6-meter motorized sliding rail in front of the participants, who had their heads fixed on a chin rest and were asked to discern specific visual features head-on as the conditions were varied.
The participants were presented with two different types of stimuli throughout the experiment: square-wave grating patterns (both with and without color) and text (both white-on-black and black-on-white).
Square-wave gratings, the researchers explain in the paper, are used in vision experiments because prior research suggests that "the foundational visual detectors of the human visual system are likely optimised for similar waveforms".
The resolution was varied both by moving the display closer or further away (between 1.1m and 2.7m, distance) and by upsampling or downsampling the spatial frequency of the patterns. The researchers also adjusted the viewing angle between 0°, 1°, and 20°.
For the full details of the experimental methods, you should read the paper in Nature Communications. It's an interesting read and you'll learn a lot about how this kind of perceptual science research is conducted.But it's the results that have fascinating implications for VR and AR.
The findings of the experiments.
The findings of the experiment, according to the researchers, are that the participants could discern grayscale details up to 94 PPD on average, red-green patterns at 89 PPD, and 53 PPD for yellow-violet patterns.
One participant in the study was even able to reach 120 PPD for grayscale, suggesting that for some people the threshold for "retinal" is double the generally accepted figure.
It will be a long, long time before shipping headsets reach anywhere near these resolutions. Meta's Tiramisu prototype hit 90 PPD only over a tiny 33° field of view, and Tiramisu 2 is aiming for 60 PPD over a 90° field of view instead as a better balance of specs. And while the study demonstrates that there is a difference, in my experience headsets with even "just" 56 PPD can feel incredibly real to the point where I suspect we won't want to trade off other aspects for further resolution any time soon.
Still, it's important that a formal study has been conducted to discover exactly where the limit to what the human eye can truly discern lies, and it reinforces the fact that while smartphones and tablets are plateauing, VR and AR hardware still has decades of runway for meaningful improvements to steadily arrive.
One point of skepticism here, however, is that a stationary display system like the one in the experiment does not benefit from the spatial temporal supersampling effect you get for free in a positionally tracked VR headset from the natural micromovements of your head.
Quest 3S and the 512GB Quest 3 certified refurbished are just $216 and $360 respectively this week on Meta's official US eBay page.
First spotted by IGN, you can find the Quest 3S deal here and the Quest 3 deal here. For both headsets, you need to enter eBay's discount code TECH4THEM to get the lowest price.
The code expires after 11:59pm Pacific Time on Sunday, the end of this week.
Meta claims that its certified refurbished headsets "are inspected and thoroughly tested, professionally cleaned, and restored to original factory settings so they function and look like new and include the same accessories and cables as new devices". And eBay is offering a two-year certified refurbished warranty, a year longer than you'd get even if buying a new headset from Meta.com.
Quest 3S certified refurbished is normally $270, and the lowest we've seen it sold at brand new is $250, so the $216 offer here represents by far the lowest price we've ever seen for a fully standalone headset with included tracked controllers, hand tracking, and color mixed reality.
Meanwhile, Quest 3 certified refurbished at $360 is arguably an even better deal, as the only remaining 512GB model certified refurbished is normally $450.
While Quest 3S can run all the same content as Quest 3, and has the same fundamental capabilities (including the same XR2 Gen 2 chipset and 8GB RAM), if you have the funds we always recommend Quest 3 over Quest 3S. The proper Quest 3 features Meta's advanced pancake lenses which are clearer and sharper over a wider area, have a wider field of view, and are fully horizontally adjustable, suitable for essentially everyone's eyes. These pancake lenses also enable Quest 3 to be thinner, which makes the headset feel slightly less heavy.
Still, at just $216, Quest 3S certified refurbished enters the realm of an impulse buy for many, or perhaps an impulse gift for the holiday season to bring a friend or loved one into VR.
Assassin's Creed Nexus has joined the top 50 best-selling paid Quest games of all time, with Bonelab now in the top 10.
You may recall that back in April, Meta revealed the 50 best-selling paid Quest games of all time via a then-new section of Quest's Horizon Store. This excludes free-to-play games unless they initially launched as a paid title, such as Population: One, and the lineup has seen some slight changes in the past six months.
We're not certain when this list was last updated, but compared to April's charts, Assassin's Creed Nexus is arguably the biggest new name to arrive at #50. NightClub Simulator is the only other new entry at #46. Exiting the list are the former #50, Please, Don’t Touch Anything, and former #48, Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs.
It's worth remembering this list is unlikely to include Asgard's Wrath 2 and Batman: Arkham Shadow. The former was initially bundled for free with every new Quest 3, and Arkham Shadow did the same for new Quest 3 and Quest 3S purchases. These activations wouldn't be considered sales. Titles in the Horizon+ games catalog are also less likely to appear, since subscribers can access them without a separate purchase.
For everything else, here's Meta's full list of the best-selling paid Quest titles of all time as of November 5, 2025:
Beat Saber
Job Simulator
Superhot VR
Blade & Sorcery: Nomad
The Thrill of the Fight
Virtual Desktop
Among Us 3D
Vader Immortal Episode I
Onward
Bonelab
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
Creed: Rise to Glory
Vader Immortal Episode III
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted
Vader Immortal Episode II
GOLF+
Population: One
Eleven Table Tennis
Drunkn Bar Fight
Walkabout Mini Golf
I Am Cat
Contractors
GORN
Resident Evil 4
NFL Pro Era
Pistol Whip
The Thrill of the Fight 2
Vacation Simulator
Ghosts of Tabor
Real VR Fishing
Waltz of the Wizard
Wander
A Township Tale
The Climb 2
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge
Pavlov Shack
Fruit Ninja
Hand Physics Lab
Arizona Sunshine
I Am Security
I Expect You To Die
Gun Club VR
Warplanes: WW1 Fighters
Shave & Stuff
The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Nightclub Simulator
Skybox VR Video Player
The Climb
Moss
Assassin's Creed Nexus
Did you expect any wider changes or any other games to appear? Let us know in the comments below.
A wizard arrives precisely when he means to this week with the early access release of Laser Dance in mixed reality.
The wizard in question is Cubism developer Thomas Van Bouwel and his newest creation gives reason to scan your living room with a Meta Quest 3 or 3S headset for breakthrough mixed reality gameplay in Laser Dance.
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Laser Dance clip provided by Thomas Van Bouwel
Released over two years ago now, Quest 3 was pitched as a "next-gen mixed reality device" with high quality passthrough and the promise of a new class of experience using your physical environment as the backdrop to its gameplay. We've seen some interesting work in this space with Starship Home, releasing last year, being one of the first examples of what a game could do with your room as a backdrop.
The Facts
What is it? Figure out how to get past the lasers to touch a button on the opposite wall. This is a mixed reality game that requires an accurate room scan to work properly and can be played with hand tracking or tracked controllers. Platforms: Quest 3/3S Release Date: November 6, 2025 (Early Access) Developer/Publisher: Vanbo BV Price: $9.99
Laser Dance is more accessible than established hits like Beat Saber, given it works with or without controllers. If you cast the view from Quest in a party setting, watching your friend crawl across the living room to avoid a low laser is likely far more engaging than watching them slice boxes. Even after Laser Dance comes off your head, there's going to be joy in watching others dodge lasers.
Gameplay consists of getting from one end of your room to the other. The only rule is that your head, arms and spine cannot cross paths with one of the lasers. The game uses Quest's upper body tracking to figure out where you are and you can learn through progression alone that your legs aren't tracked. That means your legs can't collide with the lasers, nor end your run across the room. It's up to you whether you let that affect your strategies around the lasers or not. You can use it like people who cheat in laser tag by covering their body-worn sensors, or you can just continue to carefully step over lasers near the ground because it's fun to imagine the system could track that danger too.
Big red buttons on opposing walls mark the start and end points of each level and you set up each playspace yourself by selecting the spots on the walls where the buttons go. As you would expect, difficulty stacks over your successive trips back and forth across the room, with lasers that move or blink in patterns you need to think about for a little bit before making your move.
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Laser Dance clip provided by Thomas Van Bouwel
Over a couple hours of play, only a couple times do I feel like the system unfairly matches my body movements to a laser, forcing me to walk back across my living room half a dozen times in a row to try again. The solution, I found with one particular level, is to crawl across my floor just a little bit further than I thought I should have been required to get past a laser colliding with my back. By the end of my time playing with only hand tracking, I find myself holding my hands up in front of my face to ensure the headset sees them and doesn't think my elbows are behind me.
There are timed and no fail challenges.
Comfort
Laser Dance adapts each level to both your room layout and body dimensions, the latter of which can be adjusted in the "accessibility" tab for the options menu. There are no artificial locomotion options, you must move directly across your environment.
You can register player height, shoulder width, and also set the lowest height you can go if mobility is an issue. Player height can be adjusted automatically, and you can also halve the speed of moving and blinking lasers.
Room-scale mixed reality was promised by Meta for Quest 3 when it released in 2023. In 2025, Laser Dance becomes the most accessible way to show why mixed reality is best in a VR headset and hand tracking is the future.
Laser Dance Around Your Furniture
I finished Laser Dance's included early access levels without controllers in hand, sweating under the headset, after moving in my Quest 3 through spots in my home where I've never taken a headset and creating solid memories as I went. I've never experienced anything like this in a headset and, even in early access, Laser Dance becomes one of the first experiences you should drop a friend into so they can understand what's possible in mixed reality with a Quest 3 or 3S.
Laser Dance is one of the easiest games to play ever made. It's not endlessly replayable, at least not yet, but it belongs in most libraries and should be a go-to party game. Thomas Van Bouwel is introducing us to the idea that dodging your furniture is just part of the fun as mixed reality lasers buzz when you get too close and cut into your carpeting with murderous energy.
UploadVR normally uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines. As an early access release, this review is unscored.
Realize Music: Sing, a self-care singing app, relaunches next week on Quest.
Following an initial “soft launch” earlier this year, Realize Music: Sing by Realize Music - a studio co-founded by Devolver Digital co-founder Mike Wilson - is returning on November 13. Boasting a music catalog of over 1 million licensed tracks, it aims to amplify singing as a tool for joyful expression. While we had considerable criticisms back in February, this new release comes with a changed access model and expanded features.
Notably, you no longer need a subscription to jump in since you can now preview a selection of tracks for free, though a subscription model remains in place elsewhere for unlimited catalog access. Songs and albums are now purchasable individually, while Realize Music also promises improvements to song discovery across this library and word-by-word lyrics.
Two new gameplay modes are available that include a 'Song Hero' mode that sees you competing for the high scores across leaderboards, while Singadelic Mode is a non-scoring option “that turns every track into a freeform, expressive wellness experience.” New tracks will also be added weekly, too.
Realize Music states it's aiming to create a “safe, judgment-free space to sing” with a reactive world that responds to your voice. Two new gameplay modes are available: 'Song Hero' sees you compete for the high scores across leaderboards, while Singadelic Mode is a non-scoring option. New tracks will also be added weekly, too.
Realize Music: Sing will relaunch on November 13 on Quest in the United States, with plans to follow in additional regions as licensing expands. An introductory offer lets you optionally subscribe for $9.99 per month for the first three months, which then increases to $14.99 per month or $119.99 per year.
Roboquest VR brings the roguelite action shooter to Steam and PlayStation VR2 later this month, followed by Quest next year.
Originally developed by RyseUp Studios, Roboquest originally launched two years ago as a flatscreen PC game, and we've been anticipating Roboquest VR ever since our preview in March. Playing as a Guardian, this FPS roguelite with a comic book-inspired art style sees you taking down mechanical foes across randomly generated environments while navigating bullet hell battles. Now, we've learned it's launching later this month.
As seen on PlayStation Blog, Flat2VR Studios confirmed this upcoming adaptation has been “fully rebuilt for VR” with new features including manual reloading and interactive weapon handling. Co-op support will arrive in a future update in early 2026, while other PS VR2-specific features include adaptive trigger support, controller haptics, headset rumble, and eye-tracked foveated rendering.
Futuristic racing game VRacer Hoverbike just launched on PlayStation VR2.
First released on Steam Early Access seven years ago, VRacer Hoverbike by VertexBreakers entered full release this June alongside a new Quest port. Offering a simcade hoverbike racer where you fly down one of 30 futuristic tracks, it's out today on PS VR2 with cross-platform multiplayer support, dynamic foveated rendering, headset rumble, and adaptive triggers.
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Much like VRider SBK, VRacer Hoverbike uses a ‘chest-leaning control system’ instead of traditional analog stick-based controls. Seven gameplay modes are available that include a career mode, time trials, and weekly challenges. You can also select a combat mode which introduces items like missiles, drones, and EMPs into the mix.
We recommended VRacer Hoverbike in our August review across Quest 3 and Steam, considering it an enjoyable VR racing game that “feels fast, tactical, and physically engaging.”
It’s a worthy step forward for the futuristic-racer genre, with innovative leaning mechanics taking players deeper into the action and making them feel like they're in control. Add in customizable content and the smart design choices that make every race more thrilling than the next, and you have the makings of a solid racer that delivers a nice rush of adrenaline every time you play.
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