Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is Respawn Entertainment’s first VR game and one of the most anticipated upcoming VR games. Despite potential disruptions from the Coronavirus pandemic, the game is still on track for a 2020 release date.
While several anticipated VR games like Lone Echo II and Iron Man VR have unfortunately been delayed in part due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is still expected to launch in 2020, Oculus tells Road to VR.
Medal of Honor was initially expected to launch in 2019, though by the time the game was formally revealed in September 2019, the expected release date was shifted to 2020, well before the Coronavirus began to spread.
As a more specific release date for Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has not been given, we don’t know for sure if the pandemic has hindered development of the game in some way, but at a minimum we now know that it won’t slip beyond 2020.
Developed by Respawn Entertainment and set in WWII, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond promises to deliver an action packed story-driven VR shooter. The game is an Oculus exclusive title and is expected to launch on Rift but not Quest.
Respawn is the famed studio behind the Titanfall franchise, Apex Legends, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The studio’s pedigree is one reason why Medal of Honor VR is highly anticipated, but also because it’s being funded by Oculus Studios and because it will be the continuation of the long-running Medal of Honor franchise.
Typically we’d expect to hear updates on a game like Medal of Honor VR around E3, the annual mid-Summer games conference. However, like many key VR events, this year’s E3 has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, so it isn’t clear how that will influence Oculus’ marketing calendar. A likely move then is that the company may choose to reveal more about the game during Oculus Connect 7—usually held around the end of the third-quarter—which will be hosted as a digital event for the first time this year. If so, we’d expect a holiday 2020 release date for Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.