Sniper Elite is coming to VR. The gritty sniper-focused shooter developed by Rebellion Developments is known for its brutal depictions of long range sniper combat and stealthy action. Now the studio says it’s working on a standalone made-for-VR title for the series in partnership with developer Just Add Water.
The Sniper Elite franchise kicked off in 2005 and now spans eight titles, with the latest, Sniper Elite 4, released in 2017. Today developer and publisher Rebellion Developments announced that four new Sniper Elite projects are in the works including, for the first time, a made-for-VR game.
The studio confirmed development on Sniper Elite V2 Remastered, Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition for Switch, and the “next major title in the Sniper Elite series,” as well as “a new, standalone Sniper Elite game for VR devices.”
Details are thin on the ground, but Rebellon says that the Sniper Elite VR game is being developed in partnership with studio Just Add Water, known for their work on Gravity Crash (2009) and the Oddworld series.
Rebellion promises “a full reveal” of the new Sniper Elite VR game later this year, but hasn’t said when the game might launch or what platforms it will be on. With significant PlayStation experience under the belts of both studios, PSVR seems like a likely bet, but with Just Add Water’s expertise in mobile development for PlayStation Vita, Oculus Quest could be a smart play too. There’s a good chance the game will reach PC VR headsets too, as Rebellion’s other VR projects have all made their way to PC VR platforms.
Rebellion released the fully VR compatible hover-tank shooter Battlezone as a launch title on PSVR back in 2016, and brought the title to PC VR headsets in 2017. The studio also launched Arca’s Path (2018), a VR third-person platformer-puzzler for PSVR, PC VR, and Oculus mobile headsets.
Sniper Elite however is a totally different beast from the cockpit-based Battlezone and third-person Arca’s Path. The game title will need to take a completely new approach to VR game design, now incorporating motion input, first person embodiment/movement, and item interactions.
The Sniper Elite series is well known for its signature slow motion depictions of bullets blasting through the skulls of bad guys, often slinging the camera hundreds of meters across the landscape to see the action up close.
Exactly how (or if) this kind of visualization mechanic makes it into the Sniper Elite VR game is unclear, but if they can figure it out, the immersiveness of VR would surely make it a sight to behold.