‘Echo Arena’, the popular zero-G arena mini-game that’s part of Echo VR, was set to launch on Quest this year but has been delayed into 2020.

Update (November 6th, 2019): In a short announcement on the official Echo VR blog today, developer Ready at Dawn announced that ‘Echo Arena’ won’t launch on Quest until 2020:

To release the highest quality game possible, we’ve decided to delay Echo Arena’s launch on Quest until 2020. We’re excited to bring Echo Arena, and all of its zero-g glory, to Quest soon! Thank you all for your patience and continued support.

This follows Lone Echo II which was also delayed from 2019 to Q1 2020.

The original article continues below, updated with the delayed release date.

Original Article (October 4th, 2019): The latest version of Echo VR, patch 25.0, launched this week and brought with it a number of enhancements ahead of the game’s Quest release. Perhaps the biggest is that ‘Echo Arena’, the zero-G ultimate frisbee game, is getting AI opponents so that for the first time players can play against (or with) computer-controlled players. Users will be able to queue up AI matches at the matchmaking podium. You’ll be able to join with friends to play against AI too, and choose between three levels of difficulty. Players will earn the usual experience and rewards from AI matches though at a slightly reduced rate.

In addition to AI opponents, the update also adds an enhanced ‘New Player Experience’ which tutorializes the game (especially useful for upcoming Quest players who won’t have the benefit of learning how everything works from Echo VR’s sibling single player title Lone Echo). The new player experience will show players the basics like how to use the arm-computer and how to queue up for a match. It’ll also run them through a practice ‘Echo Arena’ match that must be completed before they can dive into public matches.

The update also brings a host of optimizations to the game. Developer Ready at Dawn says that while these optimizations were intended to help the game run on Quest, some have also carried into the Rift version for improved performance.

Echo VR Cross-platform Multiplayer Confirmed

This was expected, but now it has been explicitly confirmed: Quest and Rift players of Echo VR will share the same lobby space and be able to queue for ‘Echo Arena’ matches together. Unfortunately it seems like ‘Echo Combat’ will remain Rift-only.

It’s great to know that players will share the same lobby no matter if they are on Quest or Rift because floating around and playing with the various toys and activities in the lobby is half the fun.

Echo VR Quest Release Date and Price

The Echo VR release date for Quest is delayed to 2020, but a specific release date hasn’t been specified. However, Oculus has confirmed the game will be free on Quest just like on Rift.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Guygasm

    FYI. This patch was delayed due to bugs found in the AI per an official discord channel announcement.

    • Good to know!

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  • Yeshaya

    Think they’ll add AI opponents to Echo Combat too?

  • This AI thing is good because I find it quite irritating to go into Echo Arena and encounter ‘The Educators.’

    Players who feel the need to teach you how to play so you don’t ruin their game.

    I don’t want to be taught, and if I ruin your game… so what?

    • No Spam

      There’s no winning sometimes. People try to create a welcoming environment by helping bring newcomers up the learning curve so everyone can have more fun, faster…only for it to be considered “quite irritating.”

      • David Wilhelm

        Hang out in the lobby and use the practice zones first! :P

      • To be more serious, I have met some really nice people in Echo Arena who were actually quite good at giving tips.

  • Justos

    They should delay it until they can bring combat with it

  • Better a delayed game than a buggy game. I second this decision!

  • PJ

    Disappointing, but it’s better to a working product than a buggy unfinished game

  • Missourimedic

    Echo Arena is an otherwise amazing game on the Vive, marred only by the tether making it nearly unplayable. I can’t wait to see what it’s like on the Quest.
    The same goes for Onward, one of my all-time favorites games, on any platform.

  • plip plop

    suck one Kasey