Text/VRPinea Welkin

Europe's largest gaming event, Gamescom 2025, is currently being held from August 20th to 24th. This year, the total exhibition area has expanded to 233,000 square meters, attracting over 1,500 exhibitors from 72 countries and regions around the world, breaking multiple records for this industry event. Games from Chinese developers such as "Black Myth: Zhong Kui", "Shadow Blade Zero", and "Gu Jian" shone brightly at this year's exhibition.

Unfortunately, the large XR exhibition area from last year, Home of XR, which gathered 19 VR companies to showcase VR games, did not continue this year, and there was also a lack of VR experiences on site that attracted audiences with big IPs like last year's "World of Warcraft: Inside War". This year, the largest XR-related exhibition area was dedicated to Meta's Quest 3 exclusive game, "Deadpool VR"; Esports Virtual Arenas, which focuses on VR esports, also set aside a large area to host offline VR gaming competitions; and on the hardware front, VITURE exhibited its new AR glasses, Luma Ultra.

Below is a summary of the pre-show livestreams (including Opening Night Live, Future Games Show, and Level Infinite Showcase) and XR-related information from the exhibition site by VRPinea. If there are any omissions, please feel free to comment and supplement. (Note: The following text is sorted by the first letter of the company names.)

Image Source: Internet

Basement Bunker Labs

Basement Bunker Labs, a Canadian VR developer with 9 years of experience in VR escape room games, exhibited a multiplayer social Roguelite VR game.

"Heroes Together VR" is themed around dungeon exploration and supports 4-player online play. The game features 4 classes – swordsman, archer, mage, and fist fighter, and each player's different combat styles will contribute to the team. Each playthrough will recombine rooms, encounters, battles, and loot in new ways. The game is scheduled for release in 2026 on Quest and Steam platforms.

Heroes Together VR (Image Source: Steam)

Breach

Based in Norway, Breach is a team of over 50 XR experts from around the world who collaborated with Creative Europe to showcase a demo of "FYR: The Lost Island".

This is a psychological horror VR game that does not focus on combat but rather on puzzles and storytelling. The stage is set on an abandoned and desolate island in Norway, with ferocious monsters constantly chasing the player in the shadows. The protagonist has no weapons and must use light and sound to distract enemies, and light can also help uncover hidden clues.

FYR: The Lost Island (Image Source: Steam)

Build the Light

The French studio Build the Light Studio brought their new game, "The Bounds VR", to the exhibition and provided demos. This is also a horror-themed adventure game scheduled for release on Steam in Q4 2025, with a port to PS VR2 planned for 2026.

The game is part of "PROJECT LOUISIANA" and is inspired by classics such as "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill". The story takes place in a cursed mansion in New Orleans, USA, where the protagonist must investigate the disappearance of their daughter and uncover the mysteries of the Voodoo cult. In addition to exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving, the development team has stated that the game will have multiple endings.

The Bounds VR (Image Source: Steam)

Coffee Moth Games

Coffee Moth Games is a game development and outsourcing studio based in New York, USA. The game they exhibited, "Neon Overdrive", is set in a retro-futuristic sci-fi world inspired by the 1980s.

As a Rogue-like shooter, the levels are procedurally generated, and players can choose from 4 classes, each with its own exclusive weapons, special abilities, and skill combinations, allowing for unique combat styles. The levels also feature a "Dynamic Difficulty Adjuster" called OVERDRIVE, which gives enemies new abilities, enhanced attributes, and new appearances to satisfy players' desire for a challenge.

Neon Overdrive (Image Source: Steam)

Esports Virtual Arenas

Esports Virtual Arenas (EVA), a Swiss virtual esports arena, offers offline large-space VR gaming experiences with exclusive VR games such as "After-H Battle Arena" and "Moon of The Dead". At the exhibition site, a 500-square-meter venue was planned, allowing 10 players per round to be divided into two teams, wearing VR headsets and holding networked firearms to compete against each other.

At Gamescom, EVA also hosted an invitational tournament on public opening day, with 6 teams from France, Spain, Switzerland, Romania, Germany, and Belgium participating in Groups A and B. The winners of each group will advance to the 2025 finals, where the VR esports world champion will be determined.

Image Source: EVA

KUKRGAME

Chengdu KUKRGAME Co., Ltd., a company from China, announced their new VR game, "Dread Meridian", during the Level Infinite Showcase livestream.

This is a survival horror adventure game set on the frozen tundra of Oglanbyen. The protagonist, Daniela, travels to this remote Arctic island to search for her missing twin sister, Isabella. With limited combat resources such as ammunition, players must make tactical choices when confronting the twisted creatures lurking on this land and can also customize their weapons with accessories.

Dread Meridian (Image Source: Steam)

L&L Technology

The VR table tennis game "Timo Boll VR Table Tennis", authorized by German table tennis player and men's singles world champion Timo Boll, was released on Quest on April 20th and will also be available on the PICO platform in September. Players can train and compete with this legendary star in the game, record analysis data for each practice session, and receive personalized advice. The developer, L&L Studio, is a game studio based in Melbourne, Australia.

Timo Boll VR Table Tennis (Image Source: Quest)

Meta

Developed primarily by Meta's Twisted Pixel Games studio, the VR game "Deadpool VR", based on the popular comic book IP "Deadpool", confirmed its release date of November 18th during the pre-show Opening Night Live livestream and will be exclusive to Quest 3/3S.

In the latest trailer, classic characters from the original work such as Mojo, Omega Red, Mephisto, and Lady Deathstrike make an appearance. The game blends parkour with a free-form combat system, allowing players to be creative with hacking and shooting. When Deadpool accumulates a "special meter", he gains iconic "Mojo-version" Marvel equipment, such as Thor's hammer and Gambit's magic cards, as new weapons.

Marvel's Deadpool VR (Image Source: VoodooDE VR/X)

nDreams

Since its establishment in 2022, the Elevation studio under British company nDreams has been working towards creating a 3A-level VR game, "Reach", aiming to achieve "high freedom, cinematic scale, and full-body immersion with haptic feedback". Now, the game has finally confirmed its release date of October 16th during the Future Games Show livestream, and will be available on PS VR2, Quest 3/3S, and Steam.

Players will take on the role of an unwilling hero on a dangerous journey filled with "deep haptic interactions" to uncover the secrets of an underground civilization. The system blends parkour, climbing, jumping, and other movements with combat using weapons such as bows, guns, and shields. The Full Body Awareness (FBA) system allows players to have a full-body avatar in the game that interacts with the environment in a realistic way.

Reach (Image Source: Steam)

Nieko Games

Nieko is a multinational VR/AR studio composed of professionals from across Europe. After releasing "Crystal Raiders VR" in 2021, they are currently developing two VR games.

"Remembrance" focuses on puzzle-solving and is scheduled for release in Q1 2026. Players will delve into the fragmented memories of a dying scientist to experience an intricate world and emotional story from an immersive perspective. Each memory is a puzzle, and the puzzle design reflects the professor's split psyche. Only by piecing together the truth can the world on the brink of collapse be saved.

"Kiipluu" is an action game that was available for open demos on site and is scheduled for release in 2027. Players will immerse themselves in a Neolithic world as Kiipluu, a young hunter. The game features a dynamic combat system that includes melee, ranged, and stealth attacks to confront hostile tribes and natural predators. Players can collect materials, hunt animals, and craft everything necessary for survival. Choices made throughout the game will affect tribal relations, resources, and the future of the entire tribe.

Image Source: Nieko Games

Owlchemy Labs

American game developer Owlchemy Labs, best known for "Job Simulator" and "Vacation Simulator", is currently focusing on creating paid content for their F2P VR game, "Dimensional Double Shift". The game surpassed 500,000 downloads within 5 months of its Quest launch, making it the fastest-growing game in the studio's history.

They provided media and VR content creators attending Gamescom with an early demo of the new expansion pack, "New Joysey". The game's DLC allows any player to purchase it and bring their entire team of friends online, making it ideal for socializing and spreading the word.

Source: Owlchemy Labs

Played With Fire

Polish indie studio Played With Fire, known for original VR games like "Stargaze" and "Mixture," has suddenly announced that it will be developing "Star Trek: Infection VR," a VR adaptation of the classic sci-fi IP "Star Trek." The game is scheduled to release on Quest 3 and PC VR in 2025.

The game focuses on "narrative survival" with horror elements. Players take on the role of a Vulcan Starfleet officer on a secret mission aboard the "Lumen." An infection affects the protagonist's body, unlocking unstable new powers that players must learn to control and utilize. Additionally, players can use classic equipment like tricorders and phasers, and leverage tools and workstations to physically craft items and devices.

Star Trek: Infection VR (Source: Steam)

Q-Games

"Dreams Of Another," showcased at the Future Games Show, supports VR mode. The developer is Q-Games, an indie studio based in Kyoto, Japan, best known for the "PixelJunk" series.

The game's world uses point cloud technology to create an ethereal, impressionistic dreamscape. Instead of destroying objects or environments like in traditional TPS games, players can materialize and interact with the abstract environment composed of countless particles. This unique mechanism offers a novel gaming experience.

Dreams Of Another (Source: Q-Games)

Selkies Interactive

German studio Selkies Interactive, founded in Berlin in 2023, is an all-female game team. Their demo game, "Echoes of Mora," supports both VR and non-VR modes.

Players navigate the underwater world by swinging their arms, diving into a village submerged for years. By finding "echoes," players can use these time portals to return to moments before the flood, witnessing the village's beauty before the disaster and listening to villagers' conversations. This allows players to collect hidden clues, uncover the truth behind Mora's brother's disappearance, and even prevent the flood from happening.

Echoes of Mora (Source: Steam)

Soul Assembly

UK-based studio Soul Assembly, founded in 2022 by former members of Pixel Toys, specializes in VR game development. Their previous works include "Home Invasion," "Last Stand," and "Drop Dead: The Cabin."

The demoed "Street Gods" is a Roguelite action game set in the decaying streets of New York, featuring an American comic book art style and a soundtrack with a distinct street vibe. Players wield Mjolnir, defeating enemies with a physics-based combat system. Besides throwing and recalling the hammer, new powers are gradually unlocked throughout the game.

Street Gods (Source: Quest)

SUPER AC

French game developer SUPER AC brought four titles to the event, two of which are VR games.

"Cinescape VR" takes place in a movie studio and uses gesture tracking technology, eliminating the need for controllers. The protagonist, a prop master, possesses the special ability of "Shadow Shifting," which allows them to turn real objects into props and vice versa. The game's puzzles revolve around this core mechanic, and "Shadow Shifting" evolves as the game progresses, tackling more complex puzzles.

"SKY LEGENDS - An Aeropostal Epic" is a cartoon-rendered VR flight game. Players embody iconic pioneers of French civil aviation in the 1920s, using gesture tracking to pilot classic aircraft and relive historical events, while completing reconnaissance and formation flying challenges.

Source: SUPER AC

Thoughtfish

Thoughtfish is a German game studio that released the MR game "Living Room" last year. The exhibited "How to God" is a sandbox god simulation game inspired by the classic "Black & White." Players embody deities, choosing how to shape the world. An alchemy system allows players to create new elements. There are often two ways to solve the same task, good and evil, such as building more houses or driving out locals to reduce the population, both of which can address the housing crisis.

How to God (Source: Quest)

VITURE

AR hardware manufacturer VITURE showcased their new product, Luma Ultra. As a screen-extension AR glasses focused on gaming and movie-watching, VITURE Luma Ultra features a Sony Micro-OLED screen, electrochromic film, one RGB camera, two grayscale cameras, and one microphone, enabling 6DoF, spatial tracking, and gesture functions. With a FoV of 52 degrees, a single-eye resolution of 1920×1200, and a peak brightness of 1250 nits.

Source: VITURE