As we close in on the first couple post-launch weeks for Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the team at Treyarch have been slowly but surely teasing their plans for Season 1. Described as “biggest Season 01 ever” a full content roadmap has been shared, featuring a ton of new additions across every single mode.
Half a dozen returning field upgrades / equipment from BO6
Zombies
Astra Malorum main zombies map
Featuring new traps, a wonder weapon, main quest and more
Exit 115 Survival map
Zarya Cosmodrome Survival map
Ashes of the Damned Directed mode
Jingle Hells LTM
Mule Kick perk with new augments
5 returning field upgrades / ammo mods with new augments
Leaderboard events
New Gobblegums
Warzone
Full integration with Black Ops 7
New Verdansk POIs
Revamped perks
Haven’s Hollow Resurgence map
CODmas LTM
Of course, alongside these mode specific pieces of content, Season 1 also brings with it a bunch of game-wide additions, including but not limited to:
7 new weapons
6 new attachments for existing weapons
Weekly challenges
Limited events
Seasonal camos
S01 Battle Pass
As mentioned, the blog post itself is incredibly lengthy and goes into far more depth regarding all aspects of each addition (including changes made to Battle Pass XP earn rates, challenge rewards and more).
Black Ops 7 is in an interesting spot right now. While the game itself represents a strong entry for Call of Duty, years of anti-consumer practices and a lack of listening to fans has tainted the series – with BO7 feeling the brunt of this.
That said, there is no denying that Treyarch seems to be trying their best to address fan complaints, and Season 1 appears to be another solid step in this direction. Whether it will be enough to turn the tides, we will have to wait and see when Season 1 launches on the 4th of December.
KitGuru says: What do you think of the Season 1 roadmap? Are you checked out of Call of Duty for this year? When all is said and done, will fans look back fondly on Black Ops 7? Let us know your thoughts down below.
When you think of video game crossovers, one series which does not come to people’s mind is Assassin’s Creed. Despite this, the Ubisoft-published franchise has collaborated with a number of interesting franchises in the past. That said, in a highly unexpected announcement, the latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to crossover with none other than the popular anime series Attack on Titan.
Making the surprise announcement, the team at Ubisoft officially unveiled their upcoming collab – Assassin’s Creed Shadows x Attack on Titan. Set to go live on the 25th of November (today), this limited-time crossover will be available until the 15th of December and will include a new free quest to complete.
As expected however, if you wanted to get your hands on the Mikasa-themed cosmetic skin for Naoe, you’ll have to pay up (though no price has been provided so far).
As mentioned, this isn’t the first time that Assassin’s Creed has crossed over with another franchise, with the likes of AC Origins offering a Final Fantasy collab back in 2018 and Shadows itself having already crossed over with Dead by Daylight earlier this year.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an important title for Ubisoft, with the game said to have been a bit of a make or break moment for the publisher prior to its release. Whether an Attack on Titan crossover will make a major difference in this regard, we will have to wait and see, but it is welcome at the very least to see the quest itself being included for free.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this crossover? Would you prefer some more thematically-appropriate collabs? Let us know down below.
The latest addition to LaCie's popular range of Rugged external hard drives is the Rugged SSD4, a drive aimed at photographers, filmmakers and audio professionals. Using a USB4 40 Gbps interface, it offers fast performance while protecting against water, dust, and drops.
Inside the familiar bright orange rubber enclosure (designed by multi-award-winning designer Neil Poulton) sits an NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD to make the most of the USB 40 Gbps (USB4) interface. Available in 1TB, 2TB and the flagship 4TB versions, the drive is rated for up to 4,000MB/s reads and up to 3,800MB/s writes.
The official line on the protection afforded by the drive's enclosure is that it is IP54-compliant (if the cover for the USB port is firmly in place) and can withstand a 3m drop and 1 ton of pressure.
LaCie backs the drive with a 3-year warranty, and you also get a very useful three years of Seagate's Data Recovery Service included to recover your data in case of product failure.
In the lead up to each new Far Cry title, Ubisoft have released a short film or two to give fans a taste of what to expect from the next entry in this now-iconic series. That said, in a surprise announcement (though it was leaked a while back), a full proper Far Cry TV show has now been greenlit – with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob Mac set to star in the project.
As reported by the publication Variety, distribution company FX has now greenlit a series adaptation of Ubisoft’s Far Cry video game series. While details remain light at the moment, the show is seemingly set to comprise multiple seasons and will “follow an anthology format like the games and feature a different cast and setting each season.”
Speaking of the cast, Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney) is set to serve as co-creator, executive producer and will star in the show – though his role has not yet been confirmed.
Given the fact that the show will consist of multiple Seasons in an anthology-like format, it will be interesting to see whether the series will directly adapt each game’s story/narrative, or whether it’ll simply be used more for inspiration.
Additionally, Rob Mac as an actor is known best for his comedic roles, and so the shift to what will likely be a more serious tone is worthy of note. Speaking on the project, Mac stated: “Ubisoft has been remarkably generous, entrusting us with one of the most iconic video-game worlds ever created. And through it all, my FX family continues to lift me up with their constant belief and support.”
Full comments from Rob Mac; co-creator Noah Hawley; FX and more can be found HERE.
KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? How would you like a Far Cry show to be structured? Would you like them to directly adapt the games’ stories? Let us know down below.
Last week, the team at Sucker Punch Productions announced that they would be releasing a major patch for Ghost of Yotei, featuring a bunch of new additions including NewGame+; a harder difficulty option; new cosmetics and more. Available right now, patch 1.1 actually brings with it much more than expected – including a bunch of new graphics options; quality of life improvements; VRR support and more.
While all of this is of course welcome to see, patch 1.1 brings a number of even more exciting additions which they did not mention previously, including:
VRR support (smoothed or uncapped)
New 40fps ‘Balanced’ and ‘Ray Tracing Balanced’ graphics mode
Fall damage toggle
Auto-loot enemies toggle
Additional loadout slot
More controller customisation
Option to display a visual indicator when being led by gold birds, foxes, and the wolf
Many first-party PlayStation titles have offered similarly significant 1.1 updates in the months following their initial release. Even so, it is welcome to see Ghost of Yotei continuing this trend while also offering even more than initially promised.
KitGuru says: Have you been waiting for this update? Will you be hopping into NewGame+? Is 40fps a good sweet spot for you performance-wise? Let us know down below.
Considering the success Hit-Point has had with Neko Atsume on both mobile and VR, it’s been a surprising wait for the company to make a dog-themed follow-up to the pet care simulator that won the hearts of millions. Rather than making its way to the platform after finding success elsewhere, Inu Atsume VR is debuting in mixed and virtual reality. As more of a dog person myself, I’m delighted.
Inu Atsume VR will be instantly familiar to anyone who enjoyed their time with Neko Atsume Purrfect. There isn’t an adventure to beat, just pets to meet, photograph, play with, adopt, befriend, train, and love for as long as you like. It's an immersive Nintendogs offering everything you need to pretend you have a dog without the cleaning or vet bills that come with one.
Dogs are very different animals from cats, so there are certainly gameplay aspects that have changed compared to Neko Atsume Purrfect. You pick your first dog by playing fetch with a frisbee in the park and giving them a collar, though you can also play with and befriend any dogs you encounter without the commitment of bringing them home when you visit in the future. After that, they live with you, and you need to give them enough to keep them entertained.
They’ll need a bed and food and water, naturally, but you can also get more toys and presents for them. You can teach them tricks and, if incentivized by enough treats, they’ll learn them permanently. You can have them sit or lie down on command at any time.
If they’re done digging holes in the garden to find currency for new toys, gizmos, and other surprises, you can simply call them over and pet and stroke them. Endlessly. Having lived with dogs for much of my life while living in the UK, I've only been able to see the family dog through a screen since moving abroad. Even spotting a dog while on a walk and sometimes getting to greet them can be a highlight. Getting to do that at any time in Inu Atsume VR, especially with how adorable they are, is worth the price of admission. I could watch them run and stroke these virtual dogs in my pets-not-allowed apartment for hours.
Actually, I think I spent close to an hour doing this before I even realized it during my first session.
With dogs being more active creatures than the aloof and independent feline, Inu Atsume VR offers a few features not found in its predecessor for interacting with your dog. You can take them to events - simplistic minigames such as maze navigation offer a break from the more passive experience found elsewhere. In this maze game, for example, you can navigate your dog through simplistic labyrinths using either a navigation panel in front of you or voice commands. Unfortunately, voice recognition is very poor and rarely works. Attempting to call and have my dog respond is neat, yet I found myself going to menus and buttons both in and out of minigames. It's only worked for me around 10% of the time during my experience with the title.
That said, it’s the returning Mixed Reality mode from Neko Atsume Purrfect that remains a highlight. Using your room as a space for this dog to roam, playing with them, or simply watching them walk around is one of the platform's best uses. I say that as someone who misses the joy a dog’s mere presence can bring to any room. I watch George scratch at my shoes with joy, not anger, and find myself doing odd tasks with my Quest headset in this mode in a way I haven’t in other mixed reality modes, just so I can occasionally spot them having fun as I clean my room.
Mixed reality often falls short, not from poor execution but from how unnatural it feels to have these events taking place in the real world. Yet despite the stylized appearance of these dogs, it simply feels right. I actually felt a little sad when the headset was put away and George wasn’t around, which I didn’t expect.
Mostly, though, this isn’t a game to pick up and play for long sessions. Your coins needed to play minigames and get toys are only drip-fed, and once you’ve fed and played with your pets, it’s perfectly acceptable to go about your life until returning the following day. The daily login system encourages this further, offering goodies for every day you log in.
A dog lover like myself would inevitably prefer Inu Atsume VR compared to Neko Atsume Purrfect, but Hit-Point has done more than a species swap with this new game. It's taken advantage of VR to bring new features and ideas that feel natural to the medium and make this an engaging and adorable pet simulator that can stick with you for months. Now, if you don’t mind, George needs some food, and then we’re off to play frisbee.
Inu Atsume VR is out now on the Meta Quest platform.
CleanSheet Pro, a subscription-based VR soccer sim for goalkeepers, is now available on Quest.
Developed by Belfast studio INCISIV, we first learned about this CleanSheet Soccer successor back in May. Described as a simulator built for serious athletes, CleanSheet Pro sees you moving between five divisions in a progression-based career mode as you hit promotion targets to move up the ranks. Similarly, poor performance gives you relegation targets to avoid dropping.
0:00
/1:11
Progressing through this career mode gradually unlocks more stadiums, new cosmetics for the footballs and gloves, and the ability to transfer to new clubs. This comes with three fictional teams: Forgehill Rovers, Waveport City, and Stanton United, each with its own identity and environment. Different clubs offer different coaches, stadiums, and more.
Further CleanSheet Pro features include scenarios designed to emulate real-life soccer moments, seeing you face corner kicks and penalty shootouts alike. INCISIV states these are based off motion-captured data from professional footballers.
Other options include a custom shot creator, mixed reality support, and a monthly standardized test through a 'Profiler Mode' to recalibrate the game's difficulty. A companion app for tracking progress and scheduling sessions is also available on iOS and Android.
CleanSheet Pro is now available on Quest through monthly ($29.99) and annual ($239.99) subscriptions, with a free seven-day trial and 50% off the first month. You can find out more in our previous interview below.
Seriously folks, we could go on all day here, but the TL;DR is: you can get 40% off almost every major title on Quest for the next week. A notable exception is Deadpool VR, which isn't eligible since it only came out last week. You'll still need to fork out $50 for it.
To apply the 40% discount for the eligible titles, just enter the code BFCM25 at checkout.
You can use it as many times as you want, up until 11:59 pm PT on December 2, a week from now.
Meta's WorldGen AI system generates trimesh 3D worlds from text prompts, though the company doesn't think it's ready for Horizon Worlds yet.
Meta first teased that its Horizon Worlds creation tools would get the ability to AI-generate entire 3D worlds back in May, when announcing the related AssetGen 2.0 model. Then, in June, the company revealed that this feature would be called Environment Generation, teased example generations, and said it would launch "very soon".
Environment Generation launched in August, but it was (and remains) only capable of generating a very specific kind of island, a very limited scope compared to the goal of generic world creation.
What Is Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor?
Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor is a flatscreen Windows PC application Meta released in early access in February, alongside deprecating the in-VR creation tools of Horizon Worlds.
The editor offers the ability to import 3D assets, images, and sound files, place them in a 3D landscape, and implement game logic and other functionality using TypeScript, a popular offshoot of JavaScript. These worlds are then immediately playable and multiplayer-capable in Horizon Worlds.
In the US, UK, Canada, EU, Australia, and New Zealand, creators can also AI-generate 3D meshes, textures, skyboxes, sound effects, ambient audio, and TypeScript.
You can download Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor here.
At Connect 2025 in September, Meta teased an overhaul of its Horizon Worlds creation tools, called Horizon Studio, which hasn't yet launched. The tease depicted an AI Assistant capable of generating just about anything a creator wants, including entire worlds, specific assets, custom NPCs, and specific gameplay mechanics, in a matter of seconds or minutes. But it's unclear whether what Meta was showing was notional or representative of real technology it was waiting to deploy.
That brings us to WorldGen, the new AI system Meta published a paper for.
Meta describes it as "a state-of-the-art end-to-end system for generating interactive and navigable 3D worlds from a single text prompt", leveraging a chain of 2D and 3D techniques, rather than being a single model.
"WorldGen is built on a combination of procedural reasoning, diffusion-based 3D generation, and object-aware scene decomposition. The result is geometrically consistent, visually rich, and render-efficient 3D worlds for gaming, simulation, and immersive social environments."
To be clear, this is not producing a Gaussian splat like World Labs' Marble, nor an interactive video stream like Google DeepMind's Genie 3.
Meta's WorldGen creates a layout of traditional trimesh 3D assets, making it fully compatible with traditional game engines and rendering pipelines. And it also includes a navmesh for collision detection and NPC traversal.
0:00
/1:28
Here's the underlying sequence WorldGen goes through after you input a prompt, according to Meta:
(2) Reconstruction 1. Image-to-3D base model 2. Navmesh-based scene generation 3. Initial scene texture generation
(3) Decomposition 1. Part extraction with accelerated AutoPartGen for scenes 2. Data curation for scene decomposition
(4) Refinement 1. Image enhancement 2. Mesh refinement model 3. Texturing model
So why isn't WorldGen rolling out in Horizon Worlds Desktop Editor, or at least being announced as a launch feature for Horizon Studio?
0:00
/0:35
0:00
/0:35
0:00
/0:35
0:00
/0:35
Meta says it's not satisfied with the fact that WorldGen currently only produces 50×50 meter spaces, and that it takes a long time to do so. The company says it's working to address both limitations.
It seems like a greatly upgraded future version of WorldGen will be necessary to deliver on the promise of Horizon Studio that Meta teased at Connect, and given the rate of advancement in AI, it's very possible that the company will be able to achieve exactly that sometime in 2026.
Notepad used to be a lovely plain text editor, useful for stripping out odd formatting and characters from documents that had been through one too many conversions. You could usually count on…
It's an interesting time in the retro gaming world. Thanks to ongoing decompilation efforts, games formerly exclusive to a given platform are being made available on competing, rival platforms, including some that feature signature characters. Super Mario 64 and Spyro The Dragon, for example, are now playable on opposing platforms. That's
Apple has made some significant hardware and software updates this year, with the debut of the ultra-thin iPhone Air and overhauled user interface of its operating systems with the Liquid Glass design language. The company will be focusing on stability and performance for the next version of iOS, however, while attempting to bolster its AI
If you feel like Windows 11 has been trending less and less stable over the last few months, you're not imagining things. Microsoft has confirmed a nasty bug in Windows 11 version 24H2 (stemming from cumulative updates starting in July 2025) that's knocking out critical system components. According to support article KB5072911, several core
The latest Windows Insider build for Windows 11 features numerous performance fixes and additions, especially for File Explorer. One of the fixes, pictured below, is a reorganized right-click context menu in File Explorer. Perhaps the most interesting change is that Microsoft is considering pre-loading File Explorer in an effort to improve
Here at KitGuru we know you are sick of hearing about AI, however we have more bad news in this episode of Leo Says and it's all about the impact of AI. The shock is that Nvidia only has a minor part in this particular drama with the spotlight falling on Sam Altman of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
Previously we have blamed Nvidia for the runaway price of gaming graphics cards and now we can point the finger at OpenAI as we tell you about horrible, terrible and shocking things that are happening in the memory market where the cost of DDR5 has doubled in just the past two months.
Kitguru says: We are used to surges and pricing cycles but this time it feels different and we have a strong feeling that things won't change for the better in 2026 and may persist through 2027. Buckle up, it's going to get rough
We've covered many of MSI's Black Friday deals so far, focussed around monitors and DIY PC hardware. Today, MSI rolled out its list of laptop deals, cutting prices across gaming and business-oriented models.
Then MSI Prestige 14 AI Studio laptop is down from £1,399 to £979, packing an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory and an RTX 3050 laptop GPU. For something with a bit more gaming grunt, there is the MSI Thin 15 with its 144Hz display, 13th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and RTX 4050 GPU, giving you access to more modern features like DLSS Frame Generation in supported titles. Normally, this model goes for £999 but is now down to £599.
The MSI Vector 16 HX AI houses a 16″ 16:10 QHD+ 240Hz display, an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX, 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti for £1,499, down from its usual £1,899 price. For a cheaper option, the MSI Cyborg 15 Gaming Laptop has an Intel i7-13620H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 for £939.99.
If you are after a laptop with a current-gen GPU, then this newer MSI Cyborg 15 model with an RTX 5060 GPU instead is currently down to £1,049.
These are just a handful of the best deals, if you shop around at retailers like Currys, SCAN, Overclockers UK and even CyberPowerPC, you'll find a host of models at a discount for the next week or so.
Microsoft has released the first public preview build of the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE), expanding its availability beyond handheld devices. The feature, previously limited to sub-10-inch displays like the ROG Xbox Ally X, is now officially accessible for testing on traditional desktops, laptops, and tablets via the Xbox Insider program.
The Full Screen Experience is designed with console-style navigation in mind, transforming the standard Windows 11 desktop into a streamlined, controller-first environment. Microsoft states that this mode also pauses background maintenance activities and mutes notifications to ensure consistent frame delivery. Furthermore, running FSE instead of the standard Windows Explorer shell can reportedly save approximately up to 2GB of system memory.
Once the FSE is enabled in Windows Settings, the interface can be accessed via Task View, Game Bar settings, or by pressing Windows key + F11. To access the official preview, users must be enrolled in both the Xbox Insider Program and the Windows Insider Program (Dev and Beta Channels). To join the Windows Insider and Xbox Insider programs, you first need to sign up for the Xbox Insider Program and install and open the Xbox Insider Hub application. In the app, go to Previews > Preview of PC Games, then select Join. Moreover, you'll also have to sign up for the Windows Insider Program and join the beta or dev channels.
The functionality is rolling out gradually with the latest Windows 11 preview release, 26220.7271. Microsoft expects that the Xbox Full Screen Experience will be rolled out to all Windows 11 users sometime next year.
Google and Nvidia have teamed up to introduce the GeForce Now Fast Pass, a new cloud gaming subscription tier built exclusively for Chromebook owners. The service offers access to over 2,000 “Ready-to-Play” titles from users' existing game libraries (Steam, Epic, Xbox, etc.), and every new Chromebook purchase now includes a one-year subscription for you to try it out.
The Fast Pass is positioned as a significant upgrade over the existing free service. It eliminates pre-roll advertisements and grants priority server access, allowing Chromebook users to skip the potentially long waiting queues often associated with the free plan. The service connects users to Nvidia's GeForce RTX servers, although not the latest RTX 5080 servers. The service also tops out at 1080p/60FPS at this tier, while Ultimate members get access to more resolution and frame rate options.
However, the new tier does come with a strict usage cap. Fast Pass members are limited to 10 hours of cloud gaming per month. While up to five unused hours can be carried over to the following month, this limitation positions the tier as a casual gaming supplement rather than a replacement for paid plans. For comparison, Nvidia's higher-tier subscriptions, which start at $9.99 per month, offer up to 100 hours of monthly playtime.
Neither company has confirmed the pricing of the Fast Pass outside of the one-year Chromebook bundle.
The slow performance of the Windows 11 File Explorer has been a complaint since the operating system's debut. Microsoft has finally addressed this fundamental shortcoming, though the solution is less an architectural fix and more a clever workaround.
Microsoft (via Windows Central) has officially acknowledged the performance problems and is testing a solution in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview builds, specifically 26220.7271. The key change is that File Explorer will now be preloaded into memory by default when the system boots or is idle. This keeps the necessary components resident in RAM, drastically reducing the “cold start” latency experienced when the user clicks the taskbar icon.
The company's motivation for this brute-force fix is clear: users often compare the sluggish start to the near-instantaneous file managers found in competing operating systems, with many pointing out that the problem did not exist in Windows 10. The performance degradation is widely attributed to the blending of modern XAML and WinUI components with the older Win32 shell, which supposedly creates unnecessary initialisation overhead.
While the fix should provide a snappy, near-instant launch, it has been met with skepticism, as some argue it masks the root cause of the inefficiency in how File Explorer was programmed. For users concerned about the permanent memory footprint, Microsoft has included a user-facing option in File Explorer's Folder Options to disable background preloading. The feature is expected to roll out to all Windows 11 users in a future update next year.
KitGuru says: Have you ever felt File Explorer was slow? Will you enable this option when your system supports it, or would you prefer to have more free memory?
Chieftec has introduced a new Micro-ATX chassis, The Cube, that draws design inspiration from large audio speakers. As the name suggests, the case sports a minimalist, boxy design, with its signature look provided by a large circular front vent covered in breathable fabric, reminiscent of a subwoofer.
The Chieftec The Cube is a compact 34.1-liter enclosure that measures 385 x 265 x 355mm (DxWxH). Despite its size, the case offers solid component compatibility, including support for mATX and Mini-ITX motherboards. There's also space for graphics cards up to 335mm long and CPU coolers up to 160mm tall. The chassis also supports standard ATX power supplies up to 160mm long (depending on whether internal drive bays are used). For storage, the system can house two 3.5-inch HDDs and two 2.5-inch SSDs simultaneously.
The unique front design houses a single 200mm PWM fan that comes pre-installed, ensuring high-volume, quiet airflow. The top of the chassis supports additional cooling, including up to two 120mm fans (or a single 200mm fan) or a 240mm liquid cooling radiator. There's also space for a 120mm fan at the rear.
The connectivity panel is located above the front grille and features dual USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and audio jacks. The case is currently available only in black. The product is already available in the EU, priced at approximately €70.
KitGuru says: The case looks interesting and could certainly pass for a subwoofer, although we do wonder if the fabric covering the vent may restrict airflow.
Last month, IO Interactive made headlines with its latest HITMAN elusive target mission, bringing legendary martial artist Bruce Lee into the game. Now, IO Interactive has a new target for Agents to take out, the one and only Slim Shady.
Eminem vs Slim Shady is the latest elusive target contract for HITMAN: World of Assassination. The new mission will see players take on a mission from the rapper himself, as he looks to put his Slim Shady persona to rest for good. The mission takes place in a reworked version of an existing Hitman map, but rearranged to look like an asylum, complete with a radio broadcasting studio, all littered with references to past Eminem albums. Yes, that does include a poisoned plate of Mom's Spaghetti.
IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak called the collaboration “something truly special and unique”. Better yet, the mission will be free to all owners of the game across PlayStation, Xbox and Switch consoles, as well as PC, mobile platforms and even the VR versions of the game.
Eminem is the latest in a growing list of celebrity cameos within Hitman. We recently, saw Bruce Lee added to the game, but other past appearances have included Sean Bean, Jean‑Claude Van Damme, Conor McGregor and more.
AI can bring real-world objects into VR as 3D assets in seconds, with Meta's new SAM 3D Objects model setting a new standard for quality.
It has been possible for years now to generate a 3D model of a real-world object by capturing dozens of images of it from surrounding angles, leveraging traditional photogrammetry techniques. Epic's RealityScan, for example, takes around 15–45 minutes of cloud processing, while Apple offers an on-device Object Capture API for iPhone Pro models that takes around 5 minutes.
But over the past year or so, advanced AI models have emerged that can produce 3D assets from a single image in a matter of seconds. And while they don't offer the same quality of photogrammetry, the quality has steadily improved with each new model release, mirroring the overall rapid advancement of AI.
0:00
/1:21
EchoTheReality on SideQuest, which uses an old AI model from 2024.
For an example of how this applies to VR, Takahiro “Poly” Horikawa published a Quest app on SideQuest that uses hand tracking to let you frame a specific real-world object and take a photo of it, leveraging Meta's passthrough camera API. This image is then provided to Stability AI's Stable Fast 3D API, based on the TripoSR model, and the result is spawned as a virtual object beside the image capture spot.
TripoSR is now almost two years old, though. And a few days ago, Meta launched SAM 3D Objects, the new state-of-the-art model for generating 3D assets from a single image.
0:00
/0:11
Meta SAM 3D Objects
You can test out SAM 3D Objects for free in your web browser on the Meta AI Demos page. Just provide it with an image and you'll be able to select which object you want to convert to a 3D model. Seconds later, you'll see a 3D view where you can pan around the object with your mouse or finger.
Meta's site isn't designed for mobile screens, so you'll probably want to use a PC, laptop, tablet, or VR headset. Also note that the model is only designed for inanimate objects, not people or animals.
This free public demo does not let you download the 3D model. But SAM 3D Objects is open source, available on GitHub and Hugging Face. That means developers should be able to host it on a cloud computing platform that offers GPUs, and use it to provide the experience of that EchoTheReality demo but with higher quality output – essentially pulling an object from reality into VR.
Social VR platforms, for example, could let you conduct show-and-tell for objects in your real room in a matter of seconds. Or decorate your home space with items you crafted in the real world. Meta has no announced plan to add this to Horizon Worlds, but it would seem like a natural future step, complementing the Hyperscape worlds it just launched.
Marble, an AI model from World Labs, can turn a single image into a volumetric scene that you can view in WebXR in a matter of minutes.
World Labs was founded last year by Fei-Fei Li, one of the pioneers of modern AI. She's best known for creating the ImageNet dataset that helped enable the rapid advancement of computer vision in the 2010s, having the insight that the lack of high-quality labeled data was a critical bottleneck.
As with almost all of the remarkable advancements in 3D reconstruction over the past few years, Marble generates Gaussian splats, fitting millions of semitransparent colored blobs (Gaussians) in 3D space so that arbitrary viewpoints can be rendered realistically in real-time. But Marble's variety of supported input types and the speed of its output are unprecedented.
While other splat generation systems like Meta's Horizon Hyperscape and Varjo Teleport require hundreds of input frames and hours of processing, in its simplest mode Marble can generate a splat from a single input image or text prompt in a matter of minutes.
For more advanced outputs, if you pay for the $20/month subscription Marble can take multiple images as input, or a short video, or even a 3D structure, using a tool World Labs calls Chisel.
Chisel lets you lay out a scene with crude 3D shapes, as you would in a game editor, and then use a text prompt to turn it into a detailed volumetric scene.
With the subscription, Marble outputs support interactive editing, expanding, and the ability to combine multiple worlds together. And you can export as a high-quality traditional 3D mesh, though this takes multiple hours of conversion time.
Because of the unique capability set of Marble, World Labs describes it as a "first-in-class generative multimodal world model".
On the Marble web app you can generate your own scenes for free, and view the output in VR via WebXR using the web browser of your headset.
0:00
/0:49
UploadVR testing Marble with a single image of the Steam Dev Days 2014 VR room.
Trying out Marble on Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, by turning a single image of the Steam Dev Days 2014 VR room into a volumetric scene, I found the quality to be noticeably inferior to Meta's Hyperscape worlds and Varjo Teleport, more akin to (but notably better than) Niantic Scaniverse. While the details directly brought in from your input image are relatively detailed, the further away you move from this, the more typical Gaussian splat visual artifacts you'll see.
And of course, the elephant in the room here is that details beyond the image frame are hallucinated, so will be very different from what was actually there behind the camera, unless you provide multiple input images.
Still, the limitations aside, the ability to generate volumetric scenes in minutes from a single image or sentence is remarkable, and that you can then edit them with a combination of an editor UI and natural language is even more so.
Further, the ability to then export these scenes as traditional 3D worlds, with geometric steerability via Chisel, seems like it could have huge potential for VR developers to build environments for their interactive apps and games.
You can try out Marble at marble.worldlabs.ai. Note that if you don't pay, any scenes you create will be publicly listed. You'll need the $20/month subscription to create a private scene, alongside unlocking the more advanced creation, editing, and export features.
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked is a mostly natural crossover and a fitting evolution for the VR tabletop RPG. Read on for our full review.
Resolution Games created something special with the original Demeo, offering a compelling social VR experience with the turn-based dungeon crawler. Though it gradually evolved through post-launch updates, the initial release was rather bare and it's a testament to the concept's replayability that I'd keep coming back for more. Four years later, Demeo x D&D takes its potential even further.
The Facts
What is it?: An official crossover between Demeo and Dungeons & Dragons that supports up to four players with cross-platform multiplayer. Platforms: Quest, PC VR, PS VR2 (Reviewed on Quest 3) Release Date: Out now Developer/Publisher: Resolution Games Price: $29.99
Demeo x D&D delivers that same moreish strategy with a more refined package, boasting two sizable campaigns that took my party roughly six hours each to beat. There's considerably more here than what the original Demeo offered at launch, so you'll be busy for a fair while. Using Wizards of the Coast's famous Forgotten Realms setting across Neverwinter and Icewind Dale is an undeniably great fit.
For the unfamiliar, Demeo emulates the tabletop experience by giving you figurines for each character that you can physically move across tile-based maps; hand-tracking controls remain supported on Quest, though controllers offer better precision. Co-location is also pleasingly available on Meta's headset too, letting your whole party sit around the same digital board together.
This time, Resolution's swapped the basement setting for a more modern second-floor room. You've got that same freedom to change your board positioning with minimal fuss, while artwork for the first game's campaigns gives your background environment some nostalgic decoration. Getting up close with each map shows crisp visuals on Quest 3, bringing the digital tabletop fantasy to life well.
Screenshot taken by UploadVR on Quest 3
Like before, movement and skills work well with this turn-based strategy card battler. You have two action points per turn and some ability cards, like healing potions and poison antidotes, can be freely used if you've got points left, since turns automatically end when you run out. Movement, attacks, and more powerful abilities require one point, forcing you to consider each move carefully. Watching your carefully planned strategies pay off feels quite rewarding, though you still need to roll the dice to land a hit. Crits and fails haven't gone anywhere.
Six character classes are currently available with unique moves, offering familiar choices between a fighter, paladin, sorcerer, rogue, ranger, and bard. It's well balanced, as each class comes with its own strengths and drawbacks; setting off fireballs as the sorcerer never gets old with crowd control, nor does the paladin smiting his foes into oblivion in delightfully over-the-top fashion.
They could benefit from a greater range of voice lines, though; there are only so many times a bard can use the same vicious mockery insults before they get stale, even with decent voice acting. I'd like to see some wider options for character creation, too. Much of the joy in D&D comes from creating your own heroes, but right now, you're stuck with limited cosmetic adjustments using the existing base character for each class.
Comfort
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked uses a third-person, tabletop perspective, making this a comfortable game to play for newcomers or anyone susceptible to motion sickness. As such, many common comfort options aren't here because they aren't necessary.
Moving across the board is done by hitting one of your controller's triggers and pulling yourself to a location, while rotating the board requires doing this with both hands. Hand tracking support is available exclusively on Quest, though I found controllers to be more precise throughout. Steam and PS5 also have optional flatscreen modes.
Out of the few options here, a vignette can be activated while moving. Quest also supports mixed reality, letting you play off a digital board while viewing your real-world surroundings.
Battles remain challenging, though usually not overwhelmingly so like it could sometimes feel before. Enemies don't spawn nearly as often in Demeo x D&D. You often need to find the way out or defeat the boss, collecting gold to buy new cards along the way from the local bazaar or after individual stages in longer dungeons. My co-op partner and our two hirelings - we each controlled one of these extra characters - only really struggled as we reached the first campaign's end.
It's worth clearing out all the enemies and clearing side quests, as you'll gradually earn more XP that unlocks new abilities, and you pick one of three options from three separate categories each time. That's based on your chosen class and primary/secondary abilities you hold proficiency in, such as strength or constitution. This delivers useful upgrades like extra hit points, less damage from specific attacks, healing if you kill enemies, and more.
Screenshot taken by UploadVR on Quest 3
You can also reuse previous characters too, giving some nice continuity for these otherwise standalone campaigns. What's slightly annoying is that hirelings don't level up with you, which leaves you disadvantaged in a campaign's later stages if you're playing solo or without a full team of four. This leaves some of your party stuck at level one and that gradually feels more unbalanced as you progress, so I'd love to see Resolution address this in a future update. Days after launch, I'm also encountering connection issues that keep interrupting games even after the hotfix. Infrequent enough that it's not a major issue, though no less annoying when it does happen. At least you can jump back into a session easily enough.
This is roughly the extent of D&D's gameplay influence here, since ability checks are mostly limited to one-off actions that only have a marginal impact. Battles often limit this to avoiding obstacles or traps, while outside of combat throws in a few choices with NPCs - usually with side quests - on how best to deal with enemies. You can't choose a specific character to handle checks either, meaning you're stuck using the party leader or whoever activated an event. Perfectly fine with traps but for story situations, continuously failing rolls can get frustrating when another party member is proficient with the required checks.
How Does It Compare On Steam & PS VR2?
For the majority of this review, my co-op partners hosted a game in flatscreen mode on Steam while I joined via Quest 3 natively. However, I've dived in a couple of times on both PS VR2 and SteamVR as well, connecting to the latter with my Quest 3.
Minus the Quest-specific features (mixed reality, hand tracking, and co-location support), I can't really say I've noticed much difference when playing across PS VR2 and Steam beyond a perceived resolution increase. Everything works well and for PC VR, I encountered no issues with either Virtual Desktop or Steam Link via Quest 3.
For reference, my desktop uses an Intel i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900 (Up to 5.1GHz), 32GB RAM - Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz, and a 16GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super. You can find the minimum and recommended specs on the Steam page to learn more.
Battlemarked largely sticks to the original Demeo's established mechanics with the appropriate Dungeons & Dragons set dressing, which feels fitting enough and evolves upon the original game well. But it's these moments where I believe Resolution could take slightly better advantage of what such a crossover can provide.
I'm not expecting Baldur's Gate 3 levels of branching narrative, but Dungeons & Dragons is all about theater of the mind. A good DM won't just let anything fly; an even better one will give you choices while subtly guiding you on a certain path. Choosing a DM-less system is understandable given the base game it's working from, though I'd love to see more meaningful story choices beyond some side quests. What's here is a deliberately simplified take on Wizards of the Coast's tabletop hit, though I'm still having a great time with friends.
Screenshot taken by UploadVR on Quest 3
Demeo x D&D is a great way to introduce newcomers to the Forgotten Realms that's highly enjoyable for more veteran players of both. Returning to these iconic locations in a new way continues to intrigue me, scratching an itch I've had since leaving my regular Dungeons & Dragons campaign two years ago. Progress saves as you advance, and reaching each chapter's end ultimately feels worth it for that sense of accomplishment.
I can only hope it'll be a similar story when Resolution Games begins releasing additional campaigns via future DLC. Given the lengthier nature of Embers of Chaos and Crown of Frost, I'm hopeful for what comes next. As an added touch, unlocking lengthier missions as one-shot dungeons upon completing them is a welcome touch for those of us after something a little more brief.
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked - Final Verdict
Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked is a fitting evolution that's both newcomer-friendly and expands upon the original Demeo well. This crossover packs more expansive campaigns, better difficulty balancing with enemy spawns, lovely visuals, and a greater story focus that better complements these gameplay systems.
I do wish this offered a little more gameplay freedom to better fit D&D. Further narrative freedom would leave your decisions feeling more impactful, leveling up hirelings would help solo players, and I'd love a more expansive custom character creator. Still, Demeo x D&D gets a strong recommendation from me and if you enjoyed Resolution's older hit, you'll feel right at home here.
UploadVR uses a 5-Star rating system for our game reviews – you can read a breakdown of each star rating in our review guidelines.
Connexion
