Pixelopus announced their next game, Concrete Genie, way back at Paris Games Week in 2017. Now, the studio says two separate PSVR modes are coming to the PlayStation exclusive game at launch, which is set for later this fall.
Concrete Genie promises to be a vivid, atmospheric game centered around a bullied teenager named Ash, who escapes his troubles by painting living landscapes and a cast of mischievous creatures throughout his abandoned hometown of Denska. By painting the walls, Ash discovers he can purify Denska, and bring it back to life. This is the full game however, which is exclusive to PS4 and PS4 Pro.
According to a PS blogpost by Sony San Mateo Studio creative director Jeff Brown, the first PSVR mode, aptly named ‘VR Experience’, tasks you with “following a curious Genie named Splotch beneath Denska’s ominous lighthouse on a quest to unlock a mysterious power while using your Living Paint in a completely new way.”
Pixelopus is staying tight-lipped on further detail, although more information is said to arrive in the coming months leading up to launch.
“While looking at other possible PS VR modes for the game, everybody had a simple, common desire – to stand in one of Denska’s alleyways, paintbrush in hand, using Living Paint to bring our surroundings to life. A completely immersive, first-person painting experience,” Brown says, referring to the game’s second VR mode.
Dubbed Concrete Genie PS VR Free Paint mode, you’re given the choice between four Denska locations “where you can play and experiment with all the Living Paint and Genie creation brushes you collect during your Concrete Genie adventures,” Brown elaborates.
The studio says that players must first complete ‘VR Experience’ to unlock ‘VR Free Paint’. Both modes require two PS Move motion controllers.
While it’s somewhat disheartening to hear that such a visually intense game won’t be fully playable in PSVR, this represents the studio’s first dive in VR; we certainly hope it isn’t their last.
Check out the campaign (non-PSVR) trailer below: