Echo VR, the zero-G multiplayer game from Ready at Dawn, is now out of beta for Oculus Quest. Although it only includes Echo Arena, the zero-g team sport and not the team shooter Echo Combat, the free game seems to have struck a chord with Quest users since it launched into open beta back in March.
Update (September 1st, 2020): Ready at Dawn says in a developer blog post that the Echo Arena half of Echo VR is now out of beta.
During its stint in open beta, the game has managed to garner nearly 4,000 user reviews, rating it a near [5/5], putting it higher than Echo VR on Rift, which sits at around [4.4/5] at the time of this writing.
There’s still no word on whether Echo Combat, the paid team shooter half of the Echo VR equation, will also see a similar Quest-native port, however considering the team has put a fine polish on Echo Arena for Quest, it’s possible the studio is just waiting for the right timing.
Update (April 30th, 2020): Developer Ready at Dawn today announced a shift in its approach to the Echo VR Quest beta strategy. Starting May 5th, the company will open the Echo VR beta to all Quest users, and keep it open until the game’s full launch later this year.
The studio said the decision was prompted by realizing how important VR has been for the studio itself to stay connected while working remotely.
With our work from home situation forcing us to be disconnected physically, VR has allowed us to reconnect in a new way, not only with our teammates, but also with the community at large. We are therefore making our upcoming Open Beta for Echo VR on Oculus Quest available to everyone until the official launch later this year. Starting Tuesday, May 5th, we invite you to join us and collaborate with everyone at RAD, in continuing to build Echo VR on Quest.
The original article, which highlight the studio’s prior plans for staggered beta windows, continues below.
Original Article (April 8th, 2020): In the game’s next closed alpha, the studio will be including select players ranging from levels of 5 – 49, as the first wave of participants admitted to the initial closed alpha stage were picked from a pool of Level 50 players.
At the conclusion of the closed alphas, a closed beta will begin. The studio says that all players who signed up for testing will join existing community testers from the previous phases, and that testers will be able to access Tutorials, VS. AI, the Lobby, and the ‘Echo Arena’ game itself.
Unlike the Rift version, it appears Echo VR for Quest will only include ‘Echo Arena’, the VR sports game, and not ‘Echo Combat’, the team-based shooter. Both are accessible on Rift under the Echo VR umbrella launcher, with ‘Echo Arena’ provided as a free game whilst ‘Echo Combat’ requires an in-app purchase of $10 to play. ‘Echo Arena’ is said to provide cross-play between Quest and Rift.
After the final invite-only phase concludes, a general open beta will begin which anyone can take part in.
Exactly when all of this will take place still isn’t certain; the studio says more info will be shared in subsequent blog posts and that dates have been omitted “to more easily flow between phases and pivot when necessary.”
If you’re interested in taking part of any part of testing Echo VR on Quest, head over to the registration form here.
